With all the excitement of the Oscars red carpet it’s easy to forget that many, many more celebs are out on the town at Oscars parties than are in attendance at the actual event. One such star with a noteworthy ‘do is Natalie Portman. Celebrity stylist and Nexxus Creative Director Kevin Mancuso created her glam look.

“I really wanted to give her a Bridget Bardot meets Audrey Hepburn style,” said Mancuso. “There’s nothing like an old Hollywood style for a young Hollywood actress!”

To prep the hair, body building shampoo and conditioner Nexxus Diametress and Sublime Volume were used to help give hair lift. Paul Mitchell Extra Body Daily Shampoo and Conditioner are also a good bet.

Mancuso used volumizing spray gel, Nexxus Lavish Body, on roots to ends and blew dry with a paddle brush directing hair up and away from the face and lifting at the root. This drying technique is really key in getting the maximum volume out of your blow-out. If you’re always blowing your hair down, of course it’s going to lay super flat on your head. Mancuso switched to a round brush when roots were almost dry, to help smooth hair.

One-inch sections of Portman’s hair were rolled up in Velcro rollers and allowed to cool. Rollers were removed and hair was tousled with Nexxus Sleek Finish smoothing lotion. You could also try Tigi S-Factor Smoothing Lusterizer.

Remove a one-inch front section, you may need to use a curling iron for this piece if it doesn’t come out right from the roller. Pull the rest of the hair gently back into a mid-level ponytail, securing with an elastic and using boby pins to artfully sculpt ends into a soft updo.

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The hair at Jason Wu’s Fall 2010 New York Fashion Week show was very pretty, swept back in a braided knot.

Lead Aveda hairstylist Odil described the look as “something feminine and easy, something a woman could do for day or evening.”

Hair was started with a casual center part, and smoothed with Aveda Smooth Infusion Glossing Straightener. It was then “attached in a very soft way with an elastic, very innocent, soft, natural with a touch of sophistication.”

The look was finished off with a new Aveda hairspray debuting this June called Control Force, which Odil said was very efficient and would last all day.

She also said Wu’s collection was “fabulous, not pretentious, his clothes are easy to wear and you feel fabulous in them.”

Guess which styler popped up today in The Zoe Report, celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe’s musings on all things chic? The GHD IV mini! And since her hair is probably Zoe’s signature feature, we were totally excited to hear that she uses this to sculpt her famous waves. She says its the best way to achieve “beach ready, laid-back tresses.”

“For a deep-set wave that looks natural and not too done, get your hands on today’s gadget,” Zoe says. “This lightweight tool, favored by many runway hair directors, creates my go-to bed head waves with the help of my other ghd addictions: Obedience Cream and Sea Spray.”

She even links to this video to help you get the look.

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Looked through our Christmas Shop and still not sure what to get? I’ve culled through the gift sets on offer to find a few that should be easy to match up to the different giftees in your life.

For your little sister:

Younger girls will love the names of and products in Tigi Bed Head’s gift sets. There’s Foxy Flirt for curly girls or Party Girl if she loves to spend hours on her hair.

The hard-partying BFF:

You know she dries, fries and tortures her hair and her arsenal of products is legendary. The Fudge Special Detox Hair Care Gift Set can help your partner in crime use any post holiday downtime to get her tresses back in order.

Something for her, something for you:

Get a free handbag size quick dry hair spray with every Redken gift set you purchase. The best thing about Redken Gift Sets is how personalized they are – for curly or straight, redhead or blonde, it’s easy to show you were really thinking of her while kind of thinking of yourself, too!

For men:

I think beauty products are great gifts for guys because they’ll rarely buy them for themselves, but will appreciate them once they have them. Tigi Bed Head For Men Man Made Grooming Kit is very masculine if he’s really not going to be into anything that could even seem like a girl’s product. It’s a simple shampoo, conditioner and styling wax set.

If red carpet appearances aren’t a part of your life, then weddings and holidays are probably when you pull out your updo skills (or head to the salon) most often. Trying to do it at home may seem less daunting this party season with the words of Redken Creative Consultant Guido Palau echoing in your ears:  “Gone is the day of the perfect updo.”

Guido, who is seen at left, says that the classic updo shapes like the twist are more modern and stylish when executed with less precision and unexpected textures.

“I tried to create a lot of variation on what real women – not just 16-year-old models – can wear,” he said of recent runway styles he has created. “If a piece falls out or bobby pins are visible, all the better.”

He also laments the cookie cutter long waves and hair extensions most of Hollywood is sporting these days. Serena hair may be in, but it doesn’t mean it will make you look like Serena.

One great messy updo was recently spotted by The Girls In The Beauty Department blog on Glamour.com. To get the texture you need for hairstyles like this, try KMS California hair play texture blast or the hair spray I see constantly backstage at New York Fashion Week – Redken Workforce hair spray. The trick when using a regular hairspray like this that’s already in your bathroom as a texturizer is to spray it on after trying hair and before styling, then you can use it as you would normally use hair spray when finished styling as well.

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On rainy days like we’ve been having, fighting the frizz is pretty futile. And no one knows how to go big and let their frizz flag fly like a redhead. Refinery29 put together a tribute of their favorite redheads (including Karen Elson (channeling Grace Coddington, natch) and Lily Cole, above) and pointed out that natural redheads are actually on the decline. So we surely must do something about preserving this natural (or sometimes not-so-natural) beauty.

Products designed specifically for certain hair colors are gaining popularity, but it’s still the most difficult to find products for redheads like Claire Oleson, pictured with Cole above. One product referred to me by blogger and ginger blogger Amber McNaught is Boots Botanics Radiant Red. And for a whole trio of products for redheads, try John Frieda Radiant Red (popular name) shampoo, conditioner and glaze.

As for the frizz that often accompanies red hair, a great product to combat that is  Redken Outshine. I smooth this on after blowing my (admittedly blonde) hair out and it really gives it a sleek look and helps keep it from puffing out. Also look through all Girlznight’s shampoos for frizzy hair to find the perfect one for you!

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Braids have been big in celebrity hair trends for a while, usually involving a discreet grouping of a few strands off the face. The style grew – both in size and popularity – recently when Alexander Wang featured glamorous, long braids on his Spring 2010 runway and Frederic Fekkai hair stylist Renato Campora quickly adapted the style for Blake Lively at the Emmy Awards. Here he tells us how to get the style.

“Whether it’s a soft and sexy loose braid or a chic and strong braid, you can start out by applying Fekkai Coiff Strong Hold Volume Mousse,” he said. (You could also try GHD Maximize Mousse.)  Campora then applied Fekkai Coiff Extra Control Styling Gel to prep the hair and make it easier to braid. (Another great gel is Matrix GelTrix Strong Hold Gel.)

He then teased all the hair to add dimension to the braid.  By adding some hair extensions, you can create extra length for a more dramatic look. For a classic braid, separate the hair into three parts and secure with clips.  Afterward, braid the entire length and fasten at the end.

Campora finished Blake’s style with Fekkai Coiff Magnifique Ultra-Light Finishing Creme. Try Paul Mitchell Express Style Quick Slip Styling Cream for an alternative.

For more braid inspiration, you could check out Diane Kruger’s Cannes Film Festival Style here, or search for pics of Jennifer Lopez at the VMAs.

The hair at the Caroline Herrera Spring 2010 fashion show was just as detailed and delicately beautiful as the clothing inspired by the intricate forms woven into Japanese baskets.

Hair Stylist Orlando Pita created fine-textured, low twisted chignons with long, delicate strings of seed beads swept throughout strands of the hair.

“We used argan-oil infused Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream to prime the hair and give it a natural-looking, frizz-free texture with a soft hold,” noted Pita.  “The beads were designed to blend subtly through the hair; appearing almost as if they’re embedded in the strands themselves.”

To create the look, Pita misted Moroccanoil Luminous Hair Spray over hair while blow drying each section. He then sectioned off the very front of the hair, from ear to ear, placing a headband with strands of beads at the part, and pulling the front section back over the band, interweaving the strands of beads with the natural hair.

He then gently twisted the beads and hair back into a knot, and twisting it under.