So you’re strolling along until all of a sudden, a hairstylist ambushes you with a hair makeover. But wait, that’s not it; it’s not just any hairstylist, but the one and only Johnny Lavoy, L’Oréal Paris hair expert extraordinaire!

Don’t pretend this isn’t a recurring dream of yours. Well, the dream has become reality! Tuesday, L’Oréal Paris kicked off their “Elnett Car,” which travels around midtown/Lincoln Center in NYC making L’Oréal’s fave styling staples accessible to city gals. Tons of lucky New Yorkers clamored for free samples of celeb must-haves and styling consultations with the L’Oréal Paris Pro Team. One absolute can’t miss product: L’Oréal Paris’s Elnett Satin Hairspray, the legendary and versatile hairspray of choice for red carpet extravaganzas that gets your hair instantly spotlight-ready for a star-worthy shine and strong, clean hold that will last all day.

Every day from noon to 5pm until September 14, the Elnett Car’s location will be tweeted (@johnnylavoy and @lorealparisusa), so if you’re lucky enough to be in NYC for the week, make sure to check your Twitter more often than usual for your chance to scoop up some free goods and expert advice!

by Alison Zeidman

When you have curly hair, summer is one long humidity-sponsored frizzfest.  Even with the best products, summer weather often just won’t let you have a good curly hair day.

For girls that don’t have curls, a bad hair day can be hidden or even completely turned around by a ponytail; but I think I speak for a lot of curly girls when I say I can’t pull that off.  When I put my hair in what should be a ponytail, it looks more like there’s a pony afro exploding out of the back of my head.  There’s just too much poof going on for it to look cute.

For years, I’ve dabbled in other updos, but now I’ve finally found one I can commit to.  Ladies (both straight and curly), I give you the topknot: my new go-to pulled back hairstyle, good for bad hair days, lazy hair days, “I overslept” hair days, and especially frizzy summer hair days.

loose topknot

tight topknot

A topknot is super chic on anyone, and super easy to put together.  My technique is to pull my hair into a very high ponytail at or close to the top of my head, fasten it with a hair tie, and then wrap the tail around the tie to create a tight bun.  To secure it, I first tuck the end of the ponytail under the hair tie, then stick in some bobby pins to keep everything in place and to make it stand up higher.

topknot with braid

As you can see, the basic topknot technique can be modified to produce a number of looks.  I usually let mine be a little less perfect—the slightly undone topknot is a less severe look, and better for casual everyday wear.  When I want to look more polished, I’ll wrap the bun more tightly; and if I’m having a day where I’m feeling particularly adventurous and think I have enough hair savvy, I might add a tiny braid.

One brilliant, brand new topknot is brought to us by the lovely Ms. Hilary Duff.  In these pictures from the Teen Choice Awards, we see Hilary’s hair french braided loosely on top to give her an amazing textured pompadour, and the rest of her hair pulled into a purposefully disheveled topknot.  If you look closely, you can see that the braid continues back into the knot.

Hilary’s unique topknot style is a little bit complicated, but it’s such an innovative and gorgeous look that it’s worth spending the time to put together.  I’m still working on perfecting mine, but as soon as it’s ready you can be sure I’ll be wearing it often!