Do you have an upcoming job interview or important meeting, or just want to look a little more polished at the office day-to-day? An updo is one way to keep your hair up and out of your face when you’re tired of always pulling it back into a ponytail or messy bun. While there’s no shortage of hair tutorials on YouTube, including hairstyles and updos for the office — low buns, side buns, curly hair, straight hair, long hair, medium hair — we’ve selected some of the easy-to-follow YouTube updo tutorials for a variety of styles and hair types.
If you’re looking for more talk about office hairstyles, we’ve discussed how long do you spend on your hair for work, how to make a blowout last for days, your favorite dry shampoo, easy office updos, how to style long hair for job interviews, and lots more about office hairstyles in general — but we wanted to feature some easy-to-follow YouTube tutorials that make it even easier to get that polished look.
So gather up some bobby pins, a few hair elastics of various sizes, and maybe a hair donut or other hair accessories, and see if any of these will work with your busy routine.
Looking for an easy way to do an updo? Check out this reader-favorite clip!
YouTube Tutorials for Updos for Long, Wavy Hair
(All screenshots link to the YouTube tutorial in question; we’ve also got a bit more text beneath all screenshots. If you’re one of the YouTubers we included in this story and you don’t want to be included, please email me and we’ll take you out — thank you!)
This semi-formal updo by Kate Bryan from The Small Things only looks complicated. Her helpful suggestion that can be applied to many updo styles is to add texture with dry shampoo instead of hairspray.
Kate’s messy low bun is quicker but looks less formal.
YouTube Tutorials for Updos for Long, Straight Hair
Tina Lee from MakeupWearables provides instructions for a 2-minute bun for long hair with minimal accessories.
Kayley Melissa offers several options of office styles in her video for long, straight hair. We like “The CEO,” which starts around the 3-minute mark.
Sarah Angius offers five easy updos for long, straight hair using just bobby pins and ponytail holders. The folded bun (left) starts around 1:20, and the knot bun (right) starts around 3:50.
Mimi Ikonn from Luxy Hair has “running-late hairstyles” for long hair, including a simple side bun that starts at about the 2-minute mark and only requires a hair donut, bobby pins, and a hair elastic.
YouTube Tutorials for Updos for Shoulder-Length Curly Hair
Tasha Arnall suggests how to do a French twist-inspired updo for naturally curly hair.
She also has this simpler updo tutorial that’s a little less formal.
Amarilys Rivera suggests a few professional hairstyles for curly hair, including an updo that uses a headband, which starts at about 8:30.
Brighton Curly G shares five office hairstyles, including a pretty twist out bun with a side braid that starts at 6:50.
First Class Curls also covers office hairstyles for curly hair for job interviews and the office, including a couple options for professional buns, one starting at 3:50.
YouTube Tutorials for Updos for Short Hair
For shorter hair, Patry Jordan has you covered with five office hairstyles, including the very simple low bun that starts at about 1:50 and only requires a ponytail holder and a couple bobby pins.
Another option for short hair is this style by Lilith Moon, where her short layers in the front make the end result looks like a polished bob in the front.
If you try any of these easy-to-follow office up-do tutorials, let us know! Or if you have easy-to-follow YouTube office hair tutorials, or YouTube channels you follow for office hair help, or other tips and tricks for updos that you want to recommend to other readers, please feel free to share.
anon8
My paralegal is leaving the firm at the end of the week. Her decision to leave is due to a difficult partner with whom she also works. Our relationship was professional, relatively friendly, but there have been repeat performance and attendance issues that may have eventually led to her termination. My question: do I need to give any sort of going away gift or do anything? My instinct is no, but I haven’t come across a similar situation in the past so I’m not what the appropriate protocol is.
Anonymous
Do you have to? No. But it would be nice to do a small gift card, or a nice lunch on her last day.
Anonymous
Not necessary.
Anonymous
Anyone want to do some vicarious shopping? I am looking for a beach coverup that covers my shoulders and is airy but not just a giant bag. Something like this but I can’t imagine spending over a hundred dollars for a coverup: http://us.asos.com/seafolly/seafolly-palm-beach-caftan/prd/8754407?clr=moss&SearchQuery=cover%20ups&gridcolumn=1&gridrow=4&gridsize=4&pge=2&pgesize=72&totalstyles=246
Pompom
I was recently in the swim section at Target, and they had a lot of cute stuff! Check there (online), or Old Navy, which has a few jungle/palm-y prints.
https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=68082&pcid=68066&vid=1&pid=145049002
Anonymous
What? I Love This! How did I forget about Old Navy? And $15 is about right for something that will get covered in sand and thrown in a bag.
Diana Barry
Help! I need to redo my firm photo and it is the dreaded full body photo.
Should I wear sheath dress and blazer, or pantsuit? I have dresses in black, grey, red, and purple that I like and would probably wear with grey or black blazer. (Not all black, too dark for photos.) Also, hose? Tights? What SHOES? Argh!
Last time I wore a grey pantsuit and it was fine, but I notice most of the other women in the firm have dress/blazer or skirt suits in their pictures.
Full of ideas
Where the outfit that you feel most comfortable in – I think this always translates to the photo. Don’t worry about what other people are wearing – do you! I think jewel tones look best.
Marie
We just did this last year (waist up shot, which was enough of a nightmare), and there was similar angst about suit vs. dress and blazer. About half the women wore suits and half wore dresses with a blazer. A few also went for long sleeve or 3/4 sleeve dresses in a solid color. I think all of these choices looked professional in the final photos. We didn’t need to worry about shoes and tights, but I say if you feel like tights/hose create a smoother line or you feel like they look more professional with your chosen outfit, go for it (I personally wouldn’t wear a suit without hose). One thing to remember is that often they photoshop these pictures and can digitally “iron out” a wrinkle or creases in clothing due to the pose, so if you want them to be able to do that, you need to wear a solid color and nothing with even a light pinstripe.
Sending you lots of empathy, because this topic was the cause of much (probably unecessary) angst in my firm when we updated our photos.
Anonymous
I want to wear my hair up more often – but when I try to put it in a pony tail, I get this big untamable bumps of hair on the part that should be smooth. Flipping my head upside down and/or using a brush doesn’t fix it. Trying to fix one inevitably leads to another. Since high schools I’ve seen girls create smooth buns and ponytails with ease, but have no idea why I cannot replicate it.