Ken Paves reveals The X Factor hairstyle secrets

Dec 23, 2011 8:00 AM by Catherine Conelly

Posted in Beauty & Style / Hairstyles & Hair Care / Hairstyles

Behind The Chair With Celebrity Hair Stylist

Ken Paves has been the right hand man to celebs and their knockout hairstyles for nearly 20 years. Vanity Fair and Vogue are just a snippet of the magazines that have sourced Ken for transforming everyday hair into photogenic masterpieces. Now he joins The X Factor Style Team and SheKnows to give one lucky girl a new look.

Ken Paves is responsible for the star power hair styles of The X Factor contestants.

"Are you a hair extension virgin?" Ken asked our lucky SheKnows reader. She was! And by the time she left Ken's chair, she was converted and ready to join the list of Hollywood starlets who rely on hair extensions for star power appeal. "Everyone's doing it," he joked, excited to give Jenni three easy, everyday glam hairstyles.

Despite working with A-listers, Ken believes in giving his clients hairstyles that look like they could have done it themselves (except of course, when they'll be on the cover of Vogue). And though it may seem high maintenance, Ken assures us there's nothing wrong with using a hair piece to carry out an everyday hairstyle.

"Fasten your seatbelt -- it's about to get stylish," Ken warned before he got to work.

To start off Jenni's The X Factor hairstyle, he put in one full piece hair extension. Though real hair usually works best, Ken says his and Jessica Simpson's line of synthetic hair pieces, Hairdo, works just as well for a girl on a budget.

As you can see with Jenni, you just clip it in and you're good to go!

To achieve a little more glamour, Ken quickly and loosely curled Jenni's hair for our second look, "beachy glam."

"You don't need to hit each piece, you can really do it quickly and easily. I think what makes hair look modern and current is that it doesn't look too done or too finished."

For curling irons, Ken likes to use the classic brand Marcel. He also recommends Hot Tools as the best, affordable option.

quick tip

"I always recommend that you work off of air dried hair, off of your natural texture. I'm not a real big advocate of people blow drying their hair because it's incredibly damaging."

For the final look, Ken hooked Jenni up with another hair extension, the faux bang. Just as easy as the main piece, the bangs simply clip in at the crown of the head creating luscious full bangs, without the pain of a permanent cut.

He then twisted the longer hair piece around Jenni's natural ponytail and pinned it to the side. And with that, she had the full The X Factor look in less than 10 minutes!