The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s new straight hair look is quickly gaining fans for its low-fuss, easily achievable style.
She’s previously stuck steadfastly to her trademark bouncy blow dry and glossy waves for periodic appearances via video messages, despite being stuck at home like the rest of the UK.
But it seems the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton has finally decided to fall instep with much of the rest of the country that hasn’t seen their hairdresser for months, and go with a more relaxed, low-fuss approach to her hair for her latest appearances.
During two video call messages posted on @Kensingtonroyal in the past couple of days. Kate has worn her locks relatively straight and smooth for the first time in recent memory, her longer length hair another relatable nod to the extra time spent at home in recent months while the UK grapples with a high number of COVID-19 cases.
In the most recent video call alongside her husband Prince William, Kate thanked Scottish NHS staff for their work during the pandemic and gifted them a haggis dinner in acknowledgement of Burns night, an annual Scottish celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, the author of many Scots poems.
Dressed in a tartan Emilia Wickstead dress she first wore during the Queen’s 2019 Christmas lunch, Kate completed the look with understated makeup and a remarkably shiny but low fuss hair look. It’s likely all the time spent at home without excess heat styling has contributed to the healthy state of her hair.
While as usual, there will be no detailed breakdown of her hair styling approach from insiders, there are a few easy steps to follow when aiming to recreate the same smooth style.
Step one: Although the actual steps required are simple and fairly quick, if you want to keep hair smooth with few flyaways, prep starts in the shower. Choose a good quality hydrating shampoo and conditioner like Joico’s Moisture Recovery Shampoo and Conditioner, $38 each, for your hair type, applying a treatment mask once a week to keep strands strong and shiny.
Step two: Towel dry gently without roughing up hair by squeezing or patting rather than rubbing.
Step Three: Before you blow dry, apply a small amount of smoothing serum or styling creme like Kérastase L’Incroyable Blowdry Lotion, $44, to fingers and run through the lengths of hair, making sure it’s evening distributed. Look for one with heat protectant that will provide nourishment and help keep the cuticles of each strand flat and smooth while warding off any damage from the heat of a hair dryer and flat irons.
Step Four: Use a blow dryer to dry your hair by angling it down from the roots of each length toward the ends of strands, gently tousling locks with your fingers to encourage drying but without causing too much movement that will contribute to frizz. Using a flat densely- bristled paddle brush to smooth out locks while drying can help with a straighter finish.
Step Five: Heated flat irons are helpful for maintaining a straight finish that lasts all day but overly pin-straight hair can look slightly lifeless. The key is not to squeeze them too tightly, nor leave them in one place too long. Instead, take wide sections and run a straightener smoothly from root to tip and then let each section fall and cool. A good quality straightener like Dyson’s Corrale Straightener, $749, will not get overly hot and will distribute heat evenly so you don’t have to do more than one pass on each section, something that can contribute to dryness and damage. For layered styles, you can try turning the ends under slightly by twisting your wrist inwards as you get to the ends so hair retains slightly more shape.
