The Nickelodeon actress turned pop star is rarely seen without her signature high ponytail.
Why does Ariana Grande wear her hair in a ponytail at all times?
Back before the singer’s glow up, she played a role in the Nickelodeon series Victorious (2010 – 2013) which required her hair to be colour bright red. The colour treatment was extremely damaging to the integrity of her hair, so when Ariana decided to take her singing career more seriously, she opted to keep it in a ponytail at all times to disguise its poor condition.
“I wear it in a ponytail because my actual hair is so broken that it looks absolutely ratchet and absurd when I let it down,” Grande said in a post on Facebook. “It’s all that works for now (AND I’m comfortable for the first time in years).”
Without knowing it was going to evolve into a full-blown thing, Ariana told Byrdie that this particular hairstyle brought the pop star endless happiness.
“It’s how I like my hair. It’s how I’ve always liked my hair […] It brings me so much joy, honestly. Every time I put my hair up, it’s like a surprise. Like, I forget how much I love it, and then I tie it back and I’m like, ‘I love this look! Ooh, girl!’ Every time I tie it up is like the first time. It’s like true love.”
Later, before she released her 2018 single “No Tears Left To Cry”, Ariana spoke to Fader, likening her ponytail to a pair of Victoria’s Secret angel wings:
“The pony has also gone through an evolution, and I’m proud of that. Old pony? I don’t know if she’s that girl. But new pony? I like her,” Grande said. “I mean, it’s like a Victoria Secret angel without angel wings. It’s still her without them, but when she’s with them it’s like, ‘Ohh, I get it, she’s an angel.'”
Okay, so now we get why she’s so into her ponytail, what’s the deal with the pain?
Ariana Grande confirms her high ponytail hurts like crazy
Following the 2018 MTV EMAs in Spain, a Twitter exchange took place between Camila Cabello and Ariana Grande over the scalp-pulling head-aching pain caused by the hairstyle.
Camilla broadcasted via tweet that her attempt of the Grande signature hairstyle “for the first time,” had been an unsuccessful one.
I just did a high ponytail for the first time and it is literally pulling on my BRAIN ITS SO PAINFUL HOW DO YOU DO IT @ArianaGrande
— camila (@Camila_Cabello) November 4, 2018
But it wasn’t for lack of trying. Videos circulated on social media showing the singers pain through forced smiles and strained expressions.
https://twitter.com/shitcamilacdoes/status/1059171918119690240
Ouch! Making full use of their friendship, Camila turned to Ariana for sympathy to which Ariana replied with telling detail. Turns out, the early-adopter of the high ponytail of our generation makes light of pain by bulking her ponytail with extensions… Before obliterating all hope and confirming that these too cause extreme pain. *sigh*.
well u actually have hair so that prolly makes it a lil more painful ….. nah jk i’m in constant pain always and don’t care at all
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) November 4, 2018
Unlike her BFF, Camila did care, lasting a whole 24 minutes before ditching the ponytail and really letting her hair down at the MTV EMAs confirming she is “literally never doing that hairstyle again.”
https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/1059175185708867584
Pain is beauty after all, and if Camila Cabello can’t do it, all the more reason to appreciate Ariana Grande and her brutal dedication to the high ponytail, no?
Scroll for Ariana Grande’s best hair moments below:
