Buns and up-do's

[brunette]

I have medium longish length hair but never know how to tie it up!! Did I miss the course on Buns and up-do's? I do not know how to make the upsweeps and the styles i see in the style mags. I try but always end up with bobby pin monsters. Help!!!!!!!!!

[Toni]

Hi brunette,

You say your hair is medium longish? I take it you can put in a ponytail. Would want to know how long the ponytail is and that would depend on whether your hair is all-one-length or layered.

A quick and easy route to take to any updo is through a ponytail high up in the crown area of your head. If your hair is thick or you want the overall style to be large on the crown, place your hair in three to five ponytails in this area, leaving some space in between them. You can choose to brush your hair straight back or part it on the side before pulling back and banding the hair.

Next take smaller sections of the single or multiple ponytails and curl lots of curls with curling iron. Pin lots of curls down all around the ponytails to cover the bases up so that the hair bands cannot be seen and in an evenc artful manner.

A bun would be hair wrapped all around a single ponytail and folded under on one side or the bottom pinning along that edge where folded.

PRACTICE, Practice, practice. Anyone who does their own updo or french braid just has to practice a lot. Or better yet, get a friend to help you and "play" in front of a mirror having her guidance there for the frustrating moments. The mirror will allow you to see the progress and to learn from it. Don't be afraid of hairspray or to curl your hair alot to help it coerce into your style. Most of all, have fun with it!

[locksofluv]

I try to do the buns, and every time I do, I get ends that stick out all over. My hair is one lenght and cut straight across the bottom, so I don't understand why this happens? Do I need some sort of styling balm to keep the hair together?

[Toni]

Hi Locksofluv,

A little (and I do mean a little bit) of "smoothing serum" rubbed lightly on the palms of your hands will help you grasp those ends while you work. Sounds like you may be wrapping your bun? Twist hair in towards the scalp while you wrap. Between this motion and the serum, those ends should mostly become tucked an worked in.

Some folks like to use a little, tiny bit of gel or hair paste. It's all a matter of finding the product you like best.

[karen]

Oh my gosh I am so glad I found this thread!! My daughter is in a wedding in the spring and I was just informed that the gal who will be doing everyone's hair is charging $75 to do an updo. Yikes. I've printed out your instructions and I'm going to practice until then. I think the key is going to be hairspray and more hairspray and more hairspray.

[classyhair]

Great thread! How about a French twist? I've never liked buns. Those are what I wore to ballet class, not for fun. But I'd like to be able to master a French twist. My hair is just below my shoulders with layers.

[haircarebear]

I try all of the time to put my hair in a bun but my hair I guess is too thin. How could I get it to stay up. Plus I have wavy hair and when I put my hair up in a ponytail I have short hair frizzies at my neckline. I hate them, how can I get these to go away?

[Toni]

Originally Posted by classyhair

Great thread! How about a French twist? I've never liked buns. Those are what I wore to ballet class, not for fun. But I'd like to be able to master a French twist. My hair is just below my shoulders with layers.

Hi Classyhair,

You practice and practice this movement until you get comfortable with it and are able to do it even when rushing out to work.

However, how long is your shortest layer? That's going to be the challenge. If you can gather all your hair into a low riding ponytail at the base of your skull and they will stay tucked in, you've got it made. Otherwise, we're talking pinning them down along the bottom. If you need too many pins, then French Twisting may not be for you right now.

Taking the gathered, yet not banded ponytail, begin twisting around from the underneath around towards the left. As you continue to do this into a tighter twist, bring the hair up trying to learn to do so in one motion until the twisted hair is flush against the scalp. Pin, tucking in hair up the center, smoothing as you go. Tuck in the hair at the crown. If you have problems, hair serum, or hair wax on your fingers, or a little spray in gel helps. It's always a matter of preference according to your hair type.

Here is where layered hair on top or feathered hair helps you to hide this crown area by curling and using it to help cover the tucked-ins.

This is the way to do a twist on your own head. If your hair is straight and/or silky, put some curl into it to give it body to work with so you have some density to grasp onto. The bottom line is having hair that is twisted tightly to the scalp at the bottom leading up to a fuller, loose look at the top. If your hair is thick, the top will become this way naturally. Should your hair be thin, then you will need to loosen up the curl as you near the top.

Good luck. Let us know how the practicing goes.

[Toni]

Originally Posted by haircarebear

I try all of the time to put my hair in a bun but my hair I guess is too thin. How could I get it to stay up. Plus I have wavy hair and when I put my hair up in a ponytail I have short hair frizzies at my neckline. I hate them, how can I get these to go away?

Hi again haircarebear!

Thin hair needs extra product to help it with volume, body and control. Putting some curl into it also helps give you something to hold onto to control your hair and not the other way around too. Refer to post before this for help in doing a French Twist if you'd like to try that.

As for those short hair frizzies. I wonder how long your hair is. Since you can get it in a ponytail, I'm guessing the bottom of you hair is past your shoulders at least. And if this is correct, those short hairs along your hairline sound like breakage.

Are you pulling that ponytail too tightly? Doing so will cause breakage along the hairline which can get split ends from neglect therefore causing them to frizz. The only long lasting remedy is to avoid further breakage, allow time for the already broken hair to grow keeping ends conditioned and well cared for. Slick these ends down with hair paste, wax, or hair spray.

If the hair on your neckline is just the last layer of your hair not reaching the ponytail, then curl them under or paste them into your style until all your length can catch up to that hairband.

Hope this helps.

[classyhair]

Originally Posted by Toni

Hi Classyhair,

You practice and practice this movement until you get comfortable with it and are able to do it even when rushing out to work.


Good luck. Let us know how the practicing goes.

What a great tutorial. Thank you, Toni! I will definitely practice that. I even started twisting as I was reading, and I will let you know how my practicing goes.

I'm having flashbacks to how bad my first French braids on my own head looked. LOL!