Hair
Styling Your Hair for Different Shoots
Turning up with the wrong hair for a shoot is one of those small mistakes that sticks in a photographer's memory. Learn to read the brief, understand what each type of work demands, and you'll walk on set as a professional who's already done half the job.
Hair is one of the strongest visual signals in any image. A single strand out of place doesn't matter, but arriving with freshly washed silky hair when the brief calls for textured, second-day volume, or the other way round, tells everyone you didn't prepare. The good news is that reading a brief and translating it into a hair state you can arrive with is a learnable skill. Most of it comes down to understanding a few distinct aesthetic categories, having the right tools available, and knowing how to communicate with the people working alongside you.
Always read the brief first
Before anything else, read every piece of information the client, agency or photographer has sent. Mood boards, references and call sheets are not decoration, they are instructions. Look specifically at the hair in any reference images: is it polished or textured? Sleek or voluminous? Pinned up or loose? Natural coloured or dramatically dyed?
If no hair direction is given, ask. A short message to your agent or directly to the photographer, "Should I arrive with clean, freshly washed hair or something with more texture?", takes thirty seconds and prevents a wasted hour at the start of a shoot day. If a hairstylist is listed on the call sheet, they will usually prep your hair on set, in which case arrive with clean, unstyled hair unless told otherwise.
Building your broader shoot preparation into a consistent routine is worth the effort, for the full picture on that, see our guide on building a modelling portfolio that gets you booked, which covers how professional presentation across skin, hair and styling fits into a coherent casting-ready look.
Editorial vs commercial hair
These two categories represent opposite ends of the spectrum, and understanding the difference immediately sharpens your preparation.
Editorial
Editorial work, magazine features, lookbooks, art-directed campaigns, often pushes hair into expressive, sometimes abstract territory. Structure, drama and specificity are valued. A sculptural updo, a strong sleek look, extreme volume, or a deliberately undone aesthetic can all be editorial choices. If you're working with a hairstylist, they will build the look on the day. Your job is to arrive with hair that's in its best possible base condition: clean, well conditioned, and free of heavy product so they have a clean slate to work with.
Commercial
Commercial shoots, advertising, e-commerce, catalogue work, almost always call for hair that looks healthy, natural and accessible. The goal is relatability: the viewer should be able to imagine the look on themselves. This usually means glossy, well-finished hair, slight movement, no extreme styling. If you're self-prepping for commercial work, lean toward a blowout or a clean, controlled version of your natural texture. Avoid heavy product residue, which catches light in an unflattering way on a commercial set's typically bright, even lighting.
Runway and fashion-week looks
Runway hair is almost always decided by the designer and executed by a lead hairstylist, often with a team of assistants working through every model in the lineup. Your preparation, therefore, is about being an ideal canvas: arrive clean, dry, and without product. Tell the styling team immediately if you have any sensitivities, scalp conditions, or recent chemical treatments, because they need that information before choosing products and tools.
Runway looks frequently require the hair to be quickly set and hold through multiple walks under hot lights. This means the team will typically use stronger-hold products and firm pins than you'd experience on a standard shoot. Expect some tension, particularly in updos and slicked-back styles, and don't hesitate to flag discomfort. After the show, take care removing pins carefully rather than pulling at them, see the hair care fundamentals guide for advice on post-set recovery.
Arrive as the best possible blank canvas, a hairstylist can do anything with clean, well-conditioned hair, and almost nothing with product-loaded, damaged ends.
Clean, natural, "undone" styles
Natural and undone looks are among the most requested in contemporary commercial and lifestyle work, and counterintuitively, they take effort to pull off convincingly. "Undone" doesn't mean not prepped; it means prepped to look effortlessly real.
- Second-day texture, wash hair the evening before rather than the morning of the shoot. Sleep on it loosely braided or in a low bun to encourage natural wave and volume without frizz.
- Air-dried finish, if the brief suggests air-dried or beachy texture, skip the blow-dryer entirely. Apply a lightweight texture spray or salt spray to damp hair and let it dry naturally overnight.
- Controlled frizz, wavy and curly hair asked to look "natural" still benefits from a small amount of a curl-defining cream to keep the shape consistent rather than expanding unpredictably under lights.
The trap with natural looks is going too far in either direction, so polished that it reads as over-done, or so literal that it looks unintentional. The brief and reference images will tell you where on that spectrum to land.
Tools and products to carry
You won't always be working with a dedicated hairstylist, particularly on lower-budget commercial jobs, test shoots or self-directed portfolio work. Build a compact kit that covers most situations:
- Heat protectant spray, non-negotiable before any tool use.
- A travel-size flat iron or multi-styler, for polished or sleek looks on the day.
- A paddle brush and a wide-tooth comb, for smoothing and detangling without breakage.
- Bobby pins and kirby grips, in a colour close to your hair; useful for quick fixes and pinning sections out of frame.
- A lightweight finishing serum or shine spray, a tiny amount on dry hair for a clean, polished finish without greasiness.
- A texture spray or sea salt spray, for creating body and volume in natural looks.
- A fabric scrunchie or silk hair tie, keeps hair neat between setups without leaving a crease.
Keep the kit compact and well-stocked. Running out of bobby pins at 8am on a shoot because you emptied your kit and didn't replenish it is the kind of small failure that professional models are known for avoiding.
Working well with a hairstylist
When a hairstylist is on set, your role shifts: they are in charge of the hair. That doesn't mean being passive, it means communicating clearly and being easy to work with. Tell them your hair history: any chemical treatments, heat damage, scalp sensitivities or product allergies. If they ask you to hold your head at an angle or stay still, do so. If something pulls or hurts, say so calmly and immediately.
The relationship with a good hairstylist is collaborative. They will often have a strong opinion about what will look best for a particular look; trust their expertise. At the same time, if you know your hair behaves in a specific way, for example, that it loses curl definition under heat faster than average, share that information. It helps them make better choices and gets you both a better result.
After the shoot, write a brief note about what was used on your hair and how it responded. Over multiple jobs, this builds a personal reference that helps you brief future stylists faster and spot patterns in what works for your hair type.
Quick fixes between setups
Long shoot days involve multiple setups, costume changes and sometimes travel between locations. Hair will shift. Knowing a few reliable in-the-moment fixes keeps you from losing time.
- Frizz or flyaways, press a small amount of smoothing serum between your palms and lightly press down over the affected area; never rub, which creates more static.
- Lost volume, flip the hair upside down for a few seconds and shake at the roots, or use a fine-tooth comb to gently backcomb the roots at the crown.
- Creased hair from a tie or scrunchie, mist lightly with water and work the section with your fingers while pulling slightly. A brief pass with a diffuser or hair dryer on low heat sets it back into shape.
- A sleek look losing hold, a light mist of firm-hold hairspray from 30 cm away, then smooth with your palm, not a brush.
The goal between setups is always to restore the look quickly and without introducing new products or techniques that will change the overall result. When in doubt, do less. For the habits that keep your hair genuinely healthy so quick fixes work better, see the companion piece on everyday habits for healthy, camera-ready hair.
