The Secret Behind Nina Dobrev's Sky-High Ponytail

Among the best looks at Sunday night’s MTV VMAs was Nina Dobrev‘s ponytail. You see, it wasn’t just any ponytail. It was a ponytail that carried the perfect amount of height and volume. Celebrity hairstylist Riawna Capri revealed her tips (and secret weapon!) for creating the hairstyle.

“The back of Nina’s [Zuhair Murad] dress had an intricate and cool design with a tassel tie hanging from the back, and we wanted to be able to show that off,” Capri said. “We opted for a texturized high ponytail with lots of volume.”

To get the right amount of volume, Capri applied Garnier Fructis Sky-Hi Volume Mousse ($4.29, garnierusa.com) to damp hair and then blew it out using a vent brush. Next, she put hot rollers in around Nina’s bangs to give extra lift to her roots. She then pulled Nina’s hair into a high ponytail using a ponytail hook and wrapped a piece of hair around the ponytail holder to hide it.

Once the ponytail was in place, Capri teased the roots of Dobrev’s hair and gave her bangs some volume by using the end of a tail comb to help lift the hair around the crown. She then set the whole look with an anti-humidity hairspray.

Read more: 20 Must-See Ponytails from Pinterest