With hairstyles like – undone and messy– popping up in the hottest hair stories these days, it’s no wonder that folks are moving on from the braid to the simpler but just as stunning knot hairstyles.

It’s all about easy hair right now and there are only two strands needed for the knot, instead of three in the braid. Although there may be some of us who struggle to make a perfect braid, everybody can make a knot. Plus, they can be timely and chic, especially if you just have a few moments to spruce up.

Image: Beauty Snap

The style above is perfect for day or evening hair and works superbly on second-day or unwashed hair. Instead of dressing up your wavy style with an iron, again. Just knot it.

To get the look, pull a section from each side, twist it and tie into a knot. Place your bobby pins, directly into the base of the knot to hide them. Make a second loose knot beneath your first and pin again.

[Note: To ensure your bobby pins actually stay in, criss cross them in an X shape for added hold.]

Click here to get the full step-by-step tutorial on this hairstyle.

To take the same style hairstyle to the next level, keep going with your knots as you move down the head to achieve the style below.

Image: Beauty Snap 

Want the detailed step-by-step on the style above? Click here.

Use the knot on a timeless bun to make it fresh and current. Gone are the days of the perfect ballerina buns, in are the days of the knotted bun.

Image: Marilyn Jenkins/Flickr

To get this affect, pull dried hair back into a low pony. Make a knot with the tail of your pony and pin with bobbies. Leave a few soft pieces out to give it an effortless modern twist.

Natasha Sunshine-Antonioni is a Hairstylist and Beauty Expert, Pureology Brand Ambassador and founder of www.Beauty-Snap.com – a quick tip beauty site for the woman on the go. Natasha’s had the opportunity to work on the tresses of celebrities and models alike including Molly Sims, Ivanka Trump, Stephanie Seymour, Eva Herzigova, Dean Mcdermott and Gael Garcia Bernal, as well as being featured on The Rachel Ray and Tori & Dean Shows. 

Related on EcoSalon

2 Updos for Long Hair: The Undone Bun and Effortless Top Knots

DIY Split End Treatment Hair Mask for Seamlessly Healthy Locks

15 Celebrity Makeup, Skin and Hair Tips that Really Work

The post Are Simple and Elegant Knot Hairstyles the New Braid? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Whether you tip toed through the end of 2010 holiday parties with a naughty or nice outlook is really something between you and the man with the untamed white beard. We are already gazing ahead to spring/summer 2011, particularly with numerous fashion week line-ups now at our slush-saturated heels. An upcoming fashion trend that might surprise you in this era of recession-studded austerity is an increasing fascination with macramé, crochet, and hand-made lace. Both Fashionising and Style.com have announced that caftans and hippie-chic ponchos have been upgraded to luxurious and supremely feminine offerings for 2011. A testimony perhaps to our desire for fashion that demonstrates the labor of love that goes into quality ethical construction and accessories that also tell a story?

Mark Liu, A/W 10′

As a fiber artist I am always looking for evidence of stunning handwork in key fashion investment pieces. I have also admired how both indie and sustainable fashion designers were the first to go “knotty by nature,” ahead of celebrated names like Celine, Catherine Malandrino, Gucci, or Pucci. London-based zero-waste designer Mark Liu even created a knotting system as a way to eliminate textile waste in the creation of his Winter 2010 collection, “Singularity Point.”

Eko-Lab, A/W 10′

There is definitely something alluring about donning fiber-crafted fashion – as the cord, yarn, or ribbon simply gets softer and more malleable with wear. Knotted couture is actually an ancient phenomenon. The earliest skirt on record is a Paleolithic mini-skirt made of knotted strings that were weighted with tiny pebbles that went klickety-klack as women swished in front of the campfire. We have evidently come along way, ladies, if Roberto Cavalli is now keen on creating body-hugging string gowns for the rock-chick Venuses of our times.

Eko-Lab Crochet Panties

Xing-Zhen Chung Hilyard and Melissa Kirgan of Eko-lab have incorporated some wild and knotty crochet into their sustainably minded fashion designs, principally as organic trim elements but also as a head-to-toe testament to their slow design alchemy. I loved the crocheted top hat and fringe shawl from their AW 2010/11 collection. These “conscious fashion” pioneers also know how to whip up some superfine and sexy crocheted bikinis that rival anything that our Stone Age counterpoints might have crafted.

Michelle Lane’s Japanese cord jewelry collections twine mysticism and the patterns of physics into sculpted wearable art that creates a certain intimacy between the wearer and the object. Lane views her necklaces and bracelets as being more of an extension of clothing than jewelry, and given that she crafts each piece by hand, there is no doubt that this designer has a healthy-preoccupation with organically generated and mindful, small-scale production.

Michelle Lane

Similarly, award-winning Brit designer Tanvi Kant explores wild knots and loopy crafting in her recycled sari fabric necklaces and free form textile creations. Not only is she resourceful in her deconstruction of discarded textile materials, but her one-of-a-kind designs also allow for expression of her cultural heritage and colorful roots. Each knotted design can be artfully shaped on the body according to the individual’s accessorizing whims. Also not to missed on the recycled scrap textile front is designer Michelle Lowe-Holder’s Victorian-style “ribbon Reclaim” neck wear crafted from off-cut fabrics from previous collections and reclaimed ribbon flocked together on a crochet base. (Thanks, Sass Brown, for this tip).

Michele Lowe-Holder

A quick peruse on eBay for eco-macramé or knotted accessories offers up a whole treasure trove of hemp rope bracelets, hippie-style belts, and yes, you guessed it, hanging plant holders. One seller who really stands out, though, is Imperishable Things. Knots can be deceptively simple, and these recycled cotton and nylon rope designs caught my eye with their chic domestic interpretation of cord. Don’t you just love it when yesterday’s clothesline can become tomorrow’s cocktail party conversation starter as noose-style bling?

Imperishable Things

Top Image, Tanvi Kant via Crafts Council UK

The post Knotty By Nature appeared first on EcoSalon.