Forget the resolutions that say you need to drink less, exercise more, quit smoking and seemingly everything else we’ve been trying to do for years. Here at BrandAlley HQ, we’re all about making the best of what you’ve got so rather than losing a stone and wasting your life in the gym, why not make the best of yourself using what you already have. We’re talking about a few extra minutes in the morning that will leave you feeling, and looking sensational all day. 2013 is the year of the glamour-puss trend and its 40’s waves that will take you there.

Red carpet retro locks have dominated magazine pages, blog posts and our TV screens lately. Celebs paved the way for this trend at the MET Ball last year and it wasn’t long before the rest of the world followed. We’ve been inspired by the new Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling flick set in the 1940’s Gangster Squad. Emma oozes sophistication and style in this and so we’re desperate to get the look, and here’s how.

To create this look:

1. Apply mousse and a heat protection to wet hair.

2. Roughly blow dry so that the hair is almost dry.

3. Part the hair in a side-parting and divide hair into large sections.

4. Using heated rollers, neatly wrap the hair around the barrel. On the narrow side of the parting, curl your hair under whilst on the wider side, curl over.

5. Pin curlers in place and leave to cool for 15 minutes before taking the curlers out.

6. With a standard Boar & Bristle nylon brush, tease the hair. The more you brush, the softer the look will be.

7. Tame frizz with serum. We love John Freida curl serum, and for added hold, spritz with strong hairspray.

8. Take the hair on the narrow side of the parting, pull back and pin for a totally chic speakeasy 40’s look.

Finally, add a dash of red lippie and you’ve got a red carpet ready look in less than 30 mins.

Want to see this in action? Check out the step by step here: