Holiday Party Hair Trends

It’s finally the most wonderful time of the year and that means endless opportunities to get dolled up for holiday parties and other events. The fashion forecast is predicting that winter glam looks will feature fabrics such as classic rich velvets, high-shine sequins, metallics, lamé, and sheer accents. High-impact mob-wife fur coats and feather accents, bold reds, and statement jewelry are also on trend.

Winter hair trends 2024 are in step with trending event looks and today, on the R+Co blog, we give you the eight holiday party hair ideas that will help you turn heads wherever the holidays take you.

Retro or Classic Blowout

There is a reason why a blowout has been a staple holiday party hair style – it is timeless and can be adapted to any hair length and texture. A blowout is all about showcasing beautiful hair with va-va-volume and smoothed into loose curls or waves, or straightened. Though a blowout is a typical service found at most hair salons, you can easily create your own salon-quality blowout at home.

Styling Products & Tools

One of the reasons why achieving a blowout at home is so easy is that you can use a wide variety of tools to create a blowout look.

For a classic blowout, we suggest using a hair dryer and round brush, blow drying your hair from towel dry.

For a retro blowout, we suggest using curlers or a curling iron on dry hair.

Products: Television Shampoo and Conditioner, Chainmail Hair Protectant, Dallas Thickening Spray, Outer Space Flexible Hold Hairspray.

How-To

Wash and condition hair with Television Shampoo and Conditioner to prepare your hair for the best results and selfie-worthy hair.

Once towel dried, apply Chainmail Hair Protectant to safeguard your hair from heat damage and create a voluminous, smooth finish.

Next, spray Dallas Thickening Spray or BLEU Root Booster Volume Spray for maximum volume.

Using a round brush and hair dryer, blowdry hair in sections.

Finish with your favorite flexible hold hairspray.

Lux Glossy Curls

Bouncy soft, glossy curls are on trend and complement any high-glam outfit. Like a blowout, this style looks good on any face shape, hair length, and hair texture. The key to achieving this look is the curling technique used and the finishing products you apply that create a soft pliable hold with a high gloss finish.

Styling Products & Tools

To achieve this look, you can use a curling iron or a curling wand. Because the curling iron has a clamp that keeps the hair in place, it is the best choice to create the perfect curls. If you have ever shopped for a curling iron, you will know that they come in a variety of widths – so, which one should you choose? To achieve this particular style, we suggest a medium barrel curling iron.

Products: Chainmail Hair Protectant, Outer Space Flexible Hold Hairspray , Two-Way Mirror Smoothing Oil, BLEU Reflective Shine Hairspray.

How-To

After towel-drying your hair, spritz on Chainmail Hair Protectant and blow dry your hair.

Once your hair is dry, begin curling your hair in sections.

Then, once you’ve finished curling your hair, spray your hair with Outer Space Flexible Hold Hairspray or BLEU Reflective Shine Hairspray to keep your curls bouncy and voluminous all night.

Lastly, finish with Two-Way Mirror Smoothing Oil for a lightweight but glossy, luscious finish.

Glam Waves

Glam waves are soft fluffy waves that look best on medium to long hair lengths and like curls are a timeless, sophisticated look that can pair well with a velvet dress as well as a tailored suit. Unlike beachy waves, Glam waves are refined, uniform, and have a smooth finished look. This style also works well with hair accessories such as a headband or barrettes.

Styling Products & Tools

Though you can use a curling iron or wand to create this look, we would suggest using a cylindrical wand for a uniform wave shape with a medium to large barrel width. If a conical curling wand is used, it will create waves that are looser toward the root and tighter towards the bottom of the strand.

Products: Centerpiece All-In-One Elixir Spray, Chainmail Hair Protectant, Vicious Strong Flexible Hairspray, BLEU Magnifier Thickening Spray.

How-To

After towel drying, apply Centerpiece All-In-One Elixir Spray or Chainmail Hair Protectant. Or, for an extra luscious look, use BLEU Magnifier Thickening Spray.

Dry hair completely. Then, begin using the curling wand to create waves, section by section.

Once done, gently brush out waves and use Vicious Strong Flexible Hairspray to finish the look for a long-lasting hold.

Glass Hair

If you keep up with beauty trends, you may know about glass skin, the Korean skincare trend celebrating a smooth, poreless glow that first arrived in 2015 and has made a comeback in early 2024 on the runway. Similarly, glass hair is a holiday hair style that is trending in 2024 that is similar – healthy, flawless hair, with a luminous, reflective, soft finish. Glass hair is sleek and is best achieved with hair styled straight.

Styling Products & Tools

For glass hair, you only need one tool to style your hair and that is a flat iron. We suggest using a ceramic flat iron and keeping the temperature 450 degrees or below to protect your hair from damage. Always follow the safety instructions that come with your heat tool.

Products: Two-Way Mirror Smoothing Oil, Smooth Sailing Kit, Mood Swing Straightening Spray (for curly or wavy hair), Optical Illusion Smoothing Oil.

How-To

Wash and condition your hair with Television Shampoo and Conditioner for camera-ready hair.

Use a heat protectant before blow-drying your hair.

For wavy or curly hair, once your hair is dry and ready for straightening, we suggest using Mood Swing Straightening Spray to help relax your hair and humidity-proof it for easy styling.

Once straightened, finish the look with Two-Way Mirror Smoothing Oil or Optical Illusion Smoothing Oil.

If you love smooth, high-gloss hairstyles, we would recommend our Smooth Sailing Kit with all the must-have products to create this look and other sleek looks.

Bows, HeadBands, and Barrettes

Winter holiday party hair trends have predicted that bows, ribbons, headbands, and barrettes are in, and that these accessories will take your hairstyle to the next level. Bows especially aren’t going to be found just in it-girls’ hair but also on their bags, dresses, and nails. Accessories can be used to add a matching or complimenting color to your outfit or a little (or a lot) of sparkle and bling. A few ways to wear your favorite accessories include:

Wavy or curly hair that is pulled half-up or half-down and finished with a bow or ribbon A barrette with bling to rest on the top part of hair strands or to pull a section of hair back from your face.

ProTip: In an InStyle article, celebrity hairstylist Bridget Brager offered a fail-safe way to keep a barrette in fine or straight hair:

Use a vegan boar-hair brush to backcomb (also known as teasing the hair) where your barrette will sit. You can also use our Zig Zag Root Teasing + Texture Spray to create the effects of teasing without the need for a comb.

Once you’ve teased your hair, use a flatiron to flatten that area of the hair.

Teasing and flatironing this area of your hair creates a pad on which the barrette will effectively secure without sliding down and out of your hair.

Styling Products & Tools

The styling products that you will need will depend on your hairstyle and your desired finish. Shop all of our favorite finishing products including hairsprays, smoothing oils, pomades, and other stying essentials. for salon-quality results.

Embrace Natural, Big Coily Hair

Voluminous natural, coily hair is in style any time of year but this holiday season, hair trends for curly hair have added a twist – pops of festive color. The only thing you need to create this vibrant look is hair chalks, a hairdryer with a diffuser, and styling creme. If you don’t want to embrace the hair chalk trend, wear your hair naturally or use a hair accessory to add a little holiday bling.

How-To

Start with Cassette Curl Defining Masque to nourish dry ends then finish your wash with Cassette Shampoo and Conditioner.

To style, use Turntable Curl Defining Creme, Aircraft Pomade Mouse, or Rebounce Natural Texture and Curl Defining Creme.

Dry hair using the diffuser attachment on a hair dryer and dry hair in sections.

If you want to nourish your hair and achieve salon-quality results at home, shop all of our Coily and Curly hair products.

Slicked Back

Balletcore and similar slicked-back styles are still hot this winter. Some of the most popular looks are a tight bun that will keep your hair out of your face and off your shoulders all night, or a sky-high pony tail for easy day-to-night looks. If you’d prefer to have your hair long, but enjoy having it out of your face, tuck and pin the sides back and slick back the rest out of your hair away from your face. Complete any look with a bow, ribbon, or barrettes.

Styling Products & Tools

A vegan boar bristle brush is an essential tool for creating any slicked back look. Boar brushes reduce friction which can lead to frizz. Boar bristle brushes are a relatively inexpensive hair tool which is essential to have in your vanity for a variety of other styles. Shop all of our brushes.

Products: Zipper Multitasking Styling Lotion, Hyperlink Fiber Stretch Pomade, Foil Frizz + Static Control Spray, TikTok viral Dart Pomade Stick.

How-To

Apply on damp hair and comb through to evenly distribute product throughout your hair.

Style your hair into a tight bun, high pony-tail, or other slicked back look, using your vegan boar bristle brush to create a smooth look.

Apply Hyperlink Fiber Stretch Pomade to further slick back hair and Foil Frizz + Static Control Spray, if needed.

Use Dart Pomade Stick to tame any flyways and be sure to take it with you for any touch-ups throughout the night.

Curly Pixie

Styling short hair for formal events does not have to feel boring and can read “glam” as much as any other style. A curly pixie is glamorous and voluminous and can be tailored to your own personal style. Stylists suggest the key to achieving this holiday hair style is playing up your sidepart to naturally increase volume and using heat tools to create separated curls. If curls aren’t exactly your thing, you can use pomades to create a refined, pliable look that can stay in place or change with your mood.

Styling Products & Tools

To achieve a curly pixie, you will need a curling iron or hot curlers to create refined curls that stack on top of one another for volume.

Products: Backbend Workable Hold Non-Aerosol Hairspray

How-To

Apply your favorite heat protectant and dry your hair.

Once dry, apply curlers or begin curling your hair using a curling iron, working through hair in small sections.

After you have finished curling your hair, spray it with Backbend Workable Hold Non-Aerosol Hairspray for touchable hold.

No matter what style you choose, R+Co has vegan, cruelty-free, and color-safe haircare products that can make your hair look its best starting from shampoos and conditioners, masques, color care, styling products, and more. Get the most out of your holiday hair styles with dry shampoo that will keep your hair feeling clean and your style popping on day two and beyond.

New to R+Co? Take our Hair Quiz to get customized product recommendations whenever you shop our store and be sure to check out our bestselling haircare products.