A few months ago, someone I hang out with regularly made a passing comment that they had never seen my hair in a ponytail. I normally see this person in “going out” settings, so it made sense – usually my hair is down – but it also made me realize I almost never “go out” with my hair up. There’s just something about a basic ass ponytail that doesn’t do it for me, and I think I look better with my hair down and spread around my shoulders. However, in an effort to switch things up, I decided I was going to try my hand at “going out ponytails,” but they would need to be better than your regular, run of the mill hairstyle. The first place I looked for inspiration? Well, TikTok of course.
After a few minutes of scrolling, I came across a video that I hoped would change my hair game. This tutorial was posted by hairstylist Matt Newman with the screen caption “To whoever created this invisible hair tie hair hack, you’re the real hero of TikTok.” The video has already racked up over 1.6 million likes, so immediately after watching I knew I needed to give it a try. If you’ve ever seen (or had) a hairstylist wrap an extra piece of hair around your ponytail to “hide” your hair tie and elevate your look but haven’t been unable to do it on your own – this trick is for you.
Mastering the invisible hair tie ponytail hack was easier than I thought it was going to be, especially because I’ve tried doing it on my own (not using this trick) in the past with no luck. Even if I had an endless number of hair ties and bobby pins at my disposal, the hair that was supposed to “hide” my elastic always ended up coming loose or my bobby pins ended up falling out entirely.
The best part? All I needed to try it was two hair ties. I’ve been using the Amazon Hoyols Seamless Hairties ($7) because I find that they work the best on my fine hair without snagging. Once I had two ties (in different colors) I sat down in front of the mirror to test it out. My hair was a little dirty, so I decided to blow dry through my curtain bangs using a blowdryer and a round brush after spraying the Oribe Gold Lust Dry Heat Protection Spray ($46). From there, I left my bangs out and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Then, I took my second hair tie and placed it through the elastic that was around my hair, pulled the tie through, and I was done. (If it sounds a little confusing, don’t worry – it’s fairly easy to get the hang of once you watch the video.)
The end result left me with a ponytail that was a lot better than what I was used to seeing. As I mentioned, typically, whenever I try to hide my hair tie with a loop of my hair, the entire thing ends up falling apart within a few minutes. This hack gave my hair a perfectly sleek look, and it managed to stay in place through an entire night of dinner and drinks with my girlfriends. (I’ve yet to test it out during a night on the dance floor but I’ll keep you posted.) I’ve been making use of this hack practically every time I leave the house wearing a ponytail because it’s the easiest way to level things up.
One thing to note: if you have lots of layers, make sure to grab one of the longer pieces of hair to wrap around your ponytail. Mine is mostly all one length, so it was easy for me to do, but if you’ve got shorter hair or an overly layered style, opt for a longer piece or one that comes from the top of your ponytail.
Renee Rodriguez (she/her) is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for the PS TikTok and Instagram accounts.
