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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Washington chapter.

Kelsey always thought she had straight hair, until it started frizzing up in the seventh grade. Suddenly, her normal colonial-style low ponytails didn’t tame her hair anymore. She looked like a lion by the time the clock buzzed at the end of her basketball games. The frizz continued for years, with Kelsey unaware of her waves screaming to be let loose. 

Finally, in her junior year of high school, Kelsey discovered a solution — the slick-back ponytail. She finally stopped drowning her waves with a brush. After many years, Kelsey has perfected her slick-back. And here’s a surprise: Kelsey is me. 

Do you want the perfect slick-back ponytail? Have you seen the “clean-girl aesthetic” tutorials and wound up confused and with masses of gel and hairspray in your hair? Look no further, here is a straight/wavy-hair guide to the perfect slick-back ponytail (NOT SPONSORED!!). 

First, brush back the parts of your hair that touch your head – I use a detangling brush from Amazon. Leave the rest of your hair unbrushed — at least if you want to show off your voluminous waves, like me. Next, put a dollop of gel (my personal favorite is the Eco Olive Oil gel) into your hands and run it through your brushed hair. 

Now begins the slicking, I start with my detangling brush, making sure all of my hair is pulled back tightly, and tying it with a hair tie. BEWARE: it won’t look perfect quite yet, it actually should look bumpy. I then go in with the tried and true bristle brush and some more gel, and I begin to smooth back all those bumps. Once I feel satisfied with my smoothing, I go back in with my detangling brush and retie the ponytail.

You’re probably thinking, why would I do that? I just undid my hard work. Fear not, this is the process that makes a pony that stands the test of time. 

Once the ponytail is retied (now a little tighter and a little smoother), I turn to my bristle brush and gel again, smoothing out the bumps. Sometimes I’ll even go in with a smaller bristle brush for the stubborn bumps. Now, you simply repeat this process until you’re satisfied! I usually repeat this two or three times. When I’m done, I have a few small bumps surrounding the hair tie, but no matter. The rest is perfect. 

I finish off with some hairspray under my ponytail to keep those short wispies in check, and I often tie a second hair tie in for an extra-tight hold. And voila!  The perfect slick-back ponytail. 

No more frizzy-haired monstrosities. Enjoy the rest of your life with a friz-free beautiful ponytail!

Abby Heinicke

Washington '26

Abby Heinicke is a second-year writer and a Contributing Editor at the Her Campus at University of Washington chapter. She enjoys writing about fashion, thrifting, food, and sustainability. Outside of Her Campus, Abby is working as an Intramural Referee for the University of Washington. She also was the Editor-in-Chief for the online publication The OLu Muse. While writing for the Muse, she wrote about many topics, some of which included the environment, conservation, and high school stress. Abby also worked for Panera Bread and Target as a part-time associate. She is currently a second-year student at the University of Washington majoring in Journalism and Public Interest. In her free time, Abby enjoys playing basketball, thrifting, trying out new coffee shops, and going to the beach when she is home in Orange, California. She loves rewatching 10 Things I Hate About You, and binging TV shows, Starting 5 on Netflix as of late. She also has four cats at home - Peggy, Natasha, Thor, and Bucky - all named after Marvel characters!