Elizabeth Olsen’s Week of Amazing Hair
Actress Elizabeth Olsen promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron in New York City (Photo: Getty)
Elizabeth Olsen’s beauty game has been on point this week. The Avengers: Age of Ultron actress was out promoting the new film in New York City — and giving us a lot of hair inspiration along the way. Her blonde lob was styled to perfection into three chic updos by celebrity hairstylist Mark Townsend. He’s known Olsen for close to 13 years — ever since he first started working with her sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley. He first did the younger Olsen’s hair for a high school formal and has been by her side ever since. We talked to Townsend about the looks he created for the actress and how you can get them at home. Here’s to hoping her hair in the film is just as good!
Olsen at The Daily Show with hair by Mark Townsend (Photo: Instagram)
Look 1: The Daily Show
“I always look at what they are going to be wearing and I knew an updo was really going to show off the amazing sweater she was wearing,” says Townsend of The Row sweater that Olsen wore for her appearance on The Daily Show. It can be tricky to style a lob into an updo, but Townsend says the key is to work in sections. “Your length is really on top, which gives you versatility to do fun textures and get creative with the style,” he says.
For this look, Townsend wanted something soft and romantic. He started by clipping aside the top section of Olsen’s hair and pulling the rest back into a knot. With the sections of hair that fell loose from the knot, Townsend twisted and pinned them into the base — a trick that helps to lock in shorter hairs. Afterwards, he took the top section and swirled it underneath the bun, which helped to cover all of the bobby pins. The final result? A modern take on the French twist that resembled the brush strokes of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” —which is no surprise, as Townsend is constantly inspired by artwork.
The view of Olsen’s hair from the back. (Photo: Instagram)
If you’re trying this at home, make sure you’ve got some dry shampoo on hand. Townsend recommends Dove’s Refresh+Care Invigorating Dry Shampoo ($6). “This uses a starch instead of powder, so you don’t get the white marks in your hair,” says Townsend. “Starch will give the hair really great grip. I even spray dry shampoo on my bobby pins before I use them for extra grip.” Finish the look with a flexible hold hair spray — and don’t stress about a few flyaways, they add to the feminine vibe of the style.
Look 2: Apple Store Soho
To create this looped updo for Olsen’s appearance at the Apple Store, Townsend recommends to keep working in sections. He started by creating a series of loops and twists with Olsen’s hair that he then pinned back into this soft, architectural ‘do. If you’re doing this at home, you can start by separating your hair into four or five ponytails. “Do different size ponytails and then loop up each ponytail,” says Townsend. “Let some of the ends come out. You want great balance, but it isn’t about perfection.”
The look Townsend created for Olsen’s Apple Store talk. (Photo: Instagram)
“I’m obsessed with Sally Hershberger 24K Texturizing Paste,” says Townsend. “Warm up the product in your hand and rake your fingers through the hair.” This will create a piece-y texture and help to lock everything into place when you are finished. He recommends using a little bit of the paste to tame down flyaways, but to let a few remain to add to the romance of the look.
Look 3: New York City Screening
“I went straight from the second look into this look. I did it in the back of the Apple store in about 20 minutes,” says Townsend of Olsen’s look for the New York City screening of the film. He started by taking the pins out from the previous look, brushing her hair out and applying Dove Quench Absolute Crème Serum ($6)—about 10 pumps—to give hair a ton of shine. “I didn’t want it to look wet or hard and crunchy, but I wanted it to be incredibly shiny,” Townsend says of the look.
Olsen at the screening for Avengers: Age of Ultron (Photo: Instagram)
He pulled Olsen’s hair back in to a classic bun and twisted and pinned the shorter hairs under the bun. But the best part of the entire look? The three simple gold pins that were seen poking out of the bun. “I could’ve done that bun with just one of those pins,” says Townsend. “It was really about function, but once it was peeking out, it was beautiful.” He added two more of the YS Park Gold Pins ($42) to the bun and the look was complete.
Three simple gold hair pins finish off Olsen’s classic look. (Photo: Instagram)
“Don’t be afraid of accessories,” says Townsend. “Gold hair accessories are a huge trend for hair right now.” For everyday, try using just one of the pins and don’t fret if it sticks out —it’s going to look beautiful no matter what.
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