Ariana DeBose's Long Ponytail Is the Ultimate Updo Inspiration

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 19 January 2024

Styling your hair day after day can feel monotonous. There are only so many updos, braids, and down-dos in your repertoire, making it hard to mix your style up . For that reason, I often take my hair inspiration from celebrities, who have entire teams of stylists and artists devoted to keeping their hair interesting. As we head into this weekend, my hair inspiration is none other than Ariana DeBose, singer, actress, and former Marie Claire cover star.

DeBose has been on a roll lately. Hot off of her highly publicized success in musicals like Hamilton and West Side Story, DeBose has more recently been doing press for Argylle and I.S.S. DeBose appeared last night on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon ahead of her movies' release. For the interview, the actress wore her long black hair in a stylish, slicked back low ponytail styled with a middle part.

A post shared by Ariana DeBose
A photo posted by arianadebose on

The on-trend look uniquely featured a portion of hair hanging loose in the front on one side, which gave the classic style a more interesting, asymmetrical silhouette. In the back, DeBose had her hair wrapped around the ponytail holder—a go-to move that updo enthusiasts everywhere are more than familiar with.

DeBose’s style comes courtesy of Takisha Sturdivant-Drew, a celebrity hair stylist and founder of the hair extension brand TSD Hair Extensions. Drew used her own brand’s extensions to elongate DeBose’s ponytail, and the result was a seamless, chic look that’s sure to inspire hair enthusiasts everywhere—including me.

Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, politics, culture, and fashion at Marie Claire and at publications including The New York Times, HuffPost Personal, Bustle, Alma, Muskrat Magazine, O'Bheal, and elsewhere. Her personal essay in The New York Times' Modern Love column kickstarted her professional writing career in 2018, and that piece has since been printed in the 2019 revised edition of the Modern Love book. Having studied history, international relations, and film, she has made films on politics and gender equity in addition to writing about cinema for Film Ireland, University College Cork, and on her personal blog, gabrielleulubay.medium.com. Before working with Marie Claire, Gabrielle worked in local government, higher education, and sales, and has resided in four countries and counting. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, and spent two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy.

Deeply political, she believes that skincare, haircare, and sexual wellness are central tenets to one's overall health and fights for them to be taken seriously, especially for people of color. She also loves studying makeup as a means of artistic expression, drawing on her experience as an artist in her analysis of beauty trends. She's based in New York City, where she can be found watching movies or running her art business when she isn't writing. Find her on Twitter at @GabrielleUlubay or on Instagram at @gabrielle.ulubay, or follow her art at @suburban.graffiti.art

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