This article is brought by Ashley Taylor of Greg Malloy Hairdressing Penrith. This month she talks through pinning up hair and quick and easy solutions for getting your hair up.

Early this year I wrote about the upcoming hairstyles and touched on the pin up looks that are going to be hot this year. Whilst plaits and tousled hair are in this spring we will see much hair tied up as it is not yet quite bright or warm enough to release our locks! Getting your hair up and looking fashionable is now not as hard as it once was. As the current fashion is messy and unstructured  this makes our lives easier.

One way to pin is to twist sections at the side and then secure with pins at the base of the neck. This can be easily done with one section each side or you could take numerous smaller sections to build a more detailed look. This is good for hair that is wavy/curly.

A simple pleat can be created by gathering your hair in a ponytail at the back of your neck in your hands and twisting it upwards until you have a sausage shaped piece of hair running vertically up the back of your head. Then you hold the hair in place whilst putting pins in horizontally across the pleat into the crease. Any hair left at the top of the roll can be fanned out to give a soft look. You can also buy decorative crocodile type clips that will hold the entire roll without the need for grips. This look is ideal for all ages.

A great way to secure a pin-up is to start with a ponytail. Then place pieces of the ponytail in little rolls and pin or scrunch sections and pin for a rougher effect. A really good way to secure the ponytail is to use a small elastic hairband (although I often use horse plaiting bands as they are stronger!) and pop two Kirby grips on it. Gather the hair into a ponytail and whilst holding it pop the Kirby grip into the base of the ponytail then wrap the elastic around the ponytail whist keeping your thumb on top of the inserted grip you must do at least one rotation around then pop the remaining grip into the base of the ponytail also. This is a more secure way than the traditional method and often gives an instant facelift!! A really current trend for the younger generation this spring is the top knot which would start with a secure ponytail and then twist the ponytail and wrap it around its own base and pin it. This season the higher this is placed the better!!!