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If you’re looking for a hairstyle that covers up two/three/four-day hair perfectly and makes the perfect style to wear running errands and into the office, you can’t go wrong with a slick bar hair look.

There’s a reason that people like Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, and Bella Hadid have all been sporting the slicked-back style. It’s more than a hair trend that you’ll see at fashion week or an off-duty model paparazzi shoot, it’s a great way to transform your greasy hair into a sleek hairstyle.

Whether it’s your aversion to showering, or your dream to recreate the snatched, slicked back hairstyles that seem to be gracing the streets and runways in equal measure, achieving the perfect ponytail or bun doesn’t have to seem like quite as much of a hassle.

If you want to embrace this classic style, whatever your hair length, keep on reading to find out how.

The best products for slicked back hair

Like any hair styling routine, the art of the ultimate slicked back haircut all lies in having the right hair products on hand. Whether you want to create a sleek low bun, a slick. back bun, or a slicked-back ponytail, you’re going to need some products to make it possible.

We’ve rounded up a collection of hair products that are key to the slicked back hair look, but don’t think that you need to get all of these.

You’ll only need a couple of these products, it just depends on your hair texture, length, and how you want to go with this hairstyle.

Kristin Ess One Signature Hair Water

Now, this may be the most extra hair product of all time, or it could be your hair’s next must-have. Yes, this product may be glorified water but, it’s no different for your hair than our holy grail Avene Thermal Spring Water is for your face — an unnecessary, yet totally necessary product.

This Signature Hair Water is a light mist that contains a small amount of castor oil that helps to moisturize your hair and keep it hydrated throughout the day. It doesn’t add much shine to your hair, but the best part of this product is that it does all of the prep work for you, so you know that your slicked-back bun look will look perfect without having to wash hair beforehand.

You can use this hair spray to wet down your hair before you start brushing it into your slicked back style. It makes your hair easy to work with and you can easily achieve that flat, frizz-free look that a good slicked back hairstyle should always have.

scunci Black Bobby Pins for All Hair Types

Whether you’ve got bangs, or have unruly longer hair that doesn’t quite want to lay flat, bobby pins are an absolute essential for all hair textures, long hair, wavy hair, short hair… you name it.

Keep everything tucked into place and hair slicked back into the perfect style, with a few bobby pins in there for good measure.

Especially if you have frizzy hair, layers, or bangs, a few bobby pins will help you to achieve an effortless, smooth finish so your hair doesn’t look too messy slicked back.

We like the scunci bobby pins as they work for all hair types and aren’t too expensive — so you don’t have to worry too much if a few go missing.

Cantu Narrow Wood Updo Bristle Hair Brush

Another essential that you absolutely need no matter what slicked back hairstyles you’re planning is a boar bristle hair brush.

You could use a wide tooth comb or a regular hair brush, but it’s a boar bristle brush that’s really going to help you slick back your hair to perfection.

Rather than brushing through your hair, a boar bristle brush will help to lay everything flat, won’t make your hair look like a frizzy mess, and will give you that wet-look, slick back hairstyle that we’re all trying to achieve.

We like the Cantu Narrow brushes as it’s super small and precise so can really slick back every last strand of hair to perfection.

Kristin Ess Instant Lift Volumizing Mousse

We have mentioned before that Kristin Ess is one of our favorite affordable hair styling products, and this article just proves this point further.

The Instant Lift Volumizing Mousse may be something that you should only use to give your hair that extra oomph but, it’s perfect for slicking back your hair and holding it in place all day long.

Spray a generous amount of this product into your dry or damp hair, and it will provide enough grit and hold to achieve a classic slick style, and hold it firmly in place no matter what weather conditions you’ll be putting your hair through.

Tigi Bed Head Hair Stick

You may have seen this product doing the rounds on TikTok — and for good reason, this really makes slicking back your hair the easiest thing in the world.

Hair wax sticks resemble more of a stick deoderant than a hair product, this hair stick was initially designed for men, but it’s found to be the most useful for those who want to create the perfect slicked back ponytail.

Just put your hair up in a bun or hair tie, then use this water-based pomade directly on your scalp to slick hair back and tame your flyaways for a great slick look. For the best results, apply a light layer across all the hair you want to slick back, and then go in with your brush over top to smooth everything out for full slick back styles.

Redken Triple Take 32 Extreme High-Hold Hairspray

Another essential, that you probably already have lying about on your shelves, is a good strong-hold hairspray.

Any strong hold hairspray will do for a slick back hair look, you just need something that you can spray over your hair once you’ve finished styling to really make sure that your new hairstyle really isn’t going anywhere.

You can’t go wrong with a Redken hairspray, and this Extreme High-Hold Hairspray really looks your hair in place all day long. Just apply a light layer of hair spray to your luscious locks for a polished look that keeps your slick back bun in place all day long.

IGK EXPENSIVE Hi-Shine Gloss Treatment

Not for ones who are hoping for a matte finish to their hairstyle, this super cool, high shine gloss treatment isn’t the traditional styling product that you would use for these kinds of hair styles, but we love it for when we’re trying to get a slick, shiny finish.

All you need is a small amount of this — we want to look shiny, not greasy! — to slick back your hair, and it gives the usual slicked back look a glowing, modern twist.

Amika Soulfood Hair Mask

If you have fragile or dry hair that needs a bit of extra TLC, you could also use a leave-in hair mask to create your sleek buns. The best way to apply this is to pick up some product, rub it between your hands and apply generously to your hair.

We like the Amika Soulfood Hair Mask, a celebrity hairstylist favorite to smooth strands down and tame flyaways while hydrating our hair.

How to achieve the slicked back style

Now that we’ve gone through some of our favorite products to help you achieve the best slick back hairstyles, it’s now time to get into the step-by-step tutorial of how you can actually use these products to create the best slicked-back styles.

How to slick back thick hair

If you have thick, long hair or curly hair that can be hard to tame and hold in place, it’s not important to create your own slicked back hairstyles — you’ll just need to make sure you’re using the right products to slick everything back. A slicked-back hairstyle suits all different hair types, you may just need to use more product to get the sleek look depending on your hair type.

For wavy slick back hairstyles, you will want to use products that have a stronger hold to slick back textured hair. Rather than a light-hold hairspray, you will want to use something that has extreme hold and you will want to look for stronger hair pastes, like the Got2be gels to hold everything in place.

Also, if you have fine hair, you may just want to use lighter products that don’t cause too much build-up. For example, choosing pomades that have flexible hold for fine, straight hair that won’t lead to lots of build-up around the hair cuticle and make your hair extremely greasy.

Your next favorite slicked back hairstyle

If you’d like some more tips on hair to create perfect slicked back hairstyles, we love looking at Pinterest for some slick back hair inspiration.

Next time you feel too lazy to wash your oily hair, or want something to keep your hair out of your face at a formal event or on hot days, pull your hair back into a high ponytail, get the beauty products we mentioned above out, and enjoy the sleek style.

We hope you enjoyed reading about how to perfect the slicked back hair with a range of products that are suitable for all budgets. Whether you’re going for a ponytail, bun, or clipped back style, a slick back look is always a chic and stylish choice.

If you’ve got any of your own tips and tricks, or any products that you think we should know about, let us know in the comments!