Once the preserve of brides and Princess Anne, up-dos are finding their way into that most fashionable of worlds – the international runway. Where the catwalks lead, the red carpet follows and so does the high street. Jed Hamill of Graham Webb International looks up the up-do.

There is always something sophisticated about an up-do - it can dramatically change your look and emphasise your best features. A good up-do can be casual as well as elegant, but just because it’s casual it doesn’t mean it has to lose any of its sophistication and chic.

Why does an up-do work? Well, hair up suits almost anyone in some form. It can elongate your neck, make you look taller, slim down your face.

Obviously there are boundaries – anyone with a large forehead should beware and add a sloping or full fringe to their up-do, and beyond a certain age it’s much more flattering and soft on the features to pull bits of the hair down to gently frame the face.

While a harshly pulled back pony can give you an instant facelift, it’s not always the most elegant of looks unless you are very young, very beautiful or both! Too tight is too Vicky Pollard is the general rule!

Celebrities are taking their lead from the catwalks now and we are seeing an array of different up-dos every time we open the pages of Heat, lots of them with added texture and a slightly ‘undone’ feeling to them and lots and lots of accessories.

What we mean by ‘undone’ is lightly messed up. Too neat and tidy and you are treading into Princess Anne territory, which is fine for her, but let’s face it not really that youthful!

Add a modern multi-stranded Alice band which looks as though it is laced across the crown, pull a few strands out at the sides and hey presto, you’ve got yourself a look!

How do you stop it from falling flat I hear you cry? Well, preparation is the key to keeping your up-do up! Wash the hair with a volumising shampoo, such as Clynol’s id care volume energize volumising shampoo (£7.95 250ml), but don’t add too much conditioner or it will be too soft. Follow with a product such as Clynol Viton Go Blonde Brighten volumizing mousse (£7.70 200ml) or Clynol Look at Me Naughty styling fluid (£12.20 200ml) and then blow-dry with a large round barreled brush. Backcomb the hair you are putting up, it adds texture and helps fix the pins in place (they’ll just fall straight out if hair is silky soft).

Don’t forget to match the grips to your hair - there’s no point spoiling a lovely blonde do with a load of ugly black pins or vice versa.

Finish with a generous helping of super strong hold hairspray like Clynol Look at Me Delicious boosting hairspray (£10.40 300ml) but for heaven’s sake don’t be shy, it’s the difference between a make or break up-do!