The x factor 2012 week seven: jamie's favourites

The X Factor week seven saw shock results for Ella Henderson, but one thing which wasn't a surprise was the consistently fabulous hair created by the show's official hairdresser, Jamie Stevens.

Here, we speak to Jamie about his favourite look and find out more about how he recreated it.

"What a shock result this weekend on The X Factor! Who could have foreseen that Ella would have left the competition at this stage and she would have been singing off against James Arthur? Certainly not me! 

"With three weekends of live shows still left, I can't believe there are no girls left in the competition and we will sorely miss having Ella there. A lovely girl and a huge talent, it also provided a great opportunity to showcase some of the braided and up-do hair looks we've been styling on her.

"In working with Ella, the key aim was to always keep her looking young and fresh, whilst incorporating trends such as plaiting & braiding which featured heavily on the catwalk for Autumn/Winter 2012."

"To create Ella's look on Saturday's live show we created a slightly off-centre parting before sectioning off the hair from one side of the parting round to the ear, following up to the crown. After running a smoothing serum through the hair, we French-braided the sections on each side of the head from parting to crown, securing with thin elastics.

"Leaving out an inch back from the braid and an inch up from the nape, we tied the rest of the hair - including the braids - into a ponytail, securing with a bungee. Splitting the ponytail into sections, we tonged the hair using medium hold hairspray and once tonged, back pushed each curl using fingers to create fatter curls and texture. 

"Pinning the hair randomly around the ponytail to create a dishevelled updo shape, we then tonged the hair outside of the ponytail and brushed this through to create a wave, before also pinning this loosely to the rest of the shape and maintaining height at the front. The look was held in place with hairspray.

"The result is a dishevelled, braided up-do with lots of texture to catch the camera lights. We've had some fantastic feedback on this look and Ella even tweeted "Thank u @jamiestevens7 and the hair team for my updo tonight! My fave style yet!! Xx you're the best!"

"So sad to see a genuine talent exit the show, but I'm certain this is only the beginning for Ella and look forward to seeing her future success in the music industry.

"As HJ's British Hairdressing Awards Men's Hairdresser of the Year 2011, I love men's hairdressing and so even though the girls are gone, I'm enjoying the prospect of concentrating on some sharp, slick looks for the guys. Let the battle of the boys commence!"