The Easy Way To Relax An Uptight Bun
Posted by: Nina Carbone
Filed in:
style
3:40PM, Monday September 21st 2009
This past weekend I was a bridesmaid in a good friend’s wedding and, as is seemingly customary these days, the bridesmaids had their hair did for the walk down the aisle as well as for the endless photo sessions. I decided, Hey, it’s a wind tunnel out there; do I really want to fight with my hair all day/night? Why don’t I go for an updo? (And it’s not like I don’t spend my days talking about updos ad nauseum on The Frisky anyway—so it was time to start really living what I’ve been preaching!) As is always my problem, I had trouble explaining exactly what I wanted. I did manage to communicate that I wanted a bun but not a super-tight one and I wanted it to look like I did it myself. Basically, I wanted nothing to do with one of those intense, huge, tight, donut-shaped Jennifer Lopez hairdos. One of the other bridesmaids so perfectly described the size I wanted: “Less Cinnabon, more Dunkin Donuts.” Great. And as Jenn, my stylist, was soaking in all my wants/needs/crazy talk, she passed on one amazing nugget of a hair trick ...
When you are getting a bun done in a salon and want it to feel organic, don’t use an elastic. (This was sort of mind-blowing advice, I must say.) Instead, pull pieces back and pin them with large bobby pins in the same vicinity on your head. This way your hair will not only look more substantial (it’s not smushed into a tight elastic after all) but also less “done up.” Basically, she pulled the top bits of hair back to where the bun would be and pinned. Then pin one side of hair in the same area, followed by the other side and finally the bottom strands. After, she took the pieces and twisted, folded and pinned them in place randomly but neatly. The result was elegant chaos. And loads of compliments.
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spatula
wrote on September 21 2009 @ 02:44 pm: [report]
sweet! i do that all the time. I’ts so easy too!
loursblanc
wrote on September 21 2009 @ 03:20 pm: [report]
ah i want pictures of this beaut
Lynn
wrote on September 21 2009 @ 03:37 pm: [report]
gah I’m so bad at buns. I’ve been trying to do a halfsie version of this that I saw online, where you pull it back in a pony with an elastic but the use pins to make the actual bun, and it just totally falls out all the time! My pins can’t stay! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. My hair is too fine or too slippery or something. Arg.
kl_savage
wrote on September 21 2009 @ 04:02 pm: [report]
@Lynn: I too suffer from the baby-hair blessing… it’s pin straight, it’s super soft, but try to get it to stay where you want it without product??... no dice. Try some mousse or spray wax before pinning to add texture. That Blonde line by John Freida makes a really nice lightweight wax that washes out really easily and doesn’t make you feel like you have a candle melted in your hair. Don’t let the brand fool you though, it’s perfectly fine to use it on brown/red/purple/blue with pink dots hair too. Good luck!
Lynn
wrote on September 21 2009 @ 04:16 pm: [report]
Thanks kl_savage! I don’t think I’ve ever tried adding product to it before putting it up, actually, so that will be my experiment tomorrow!
lea322
wrote on September 21 2009 @ 05:45 pm: [report]
Not washing your hair the day of also helps with up-dos.
Nina Carbone
wrote on September 22 2009 @ 11:57 am: [report]
Hi Lynn! Def start with at day old “dirty” hair—when hair is freshly washed it’s wicked slippery. As for pins—this past weekend the stylist used three different types of pins to put up my hair—the bigger, thicker bobby pins, the regular sized pins and then she finished with sticking in the hair pins that are U-shaped. And the newer the pins the better—they’ll be tightest and will grip the best right out of the package. Good luck!
Lynn
wrote on September 22 2009 @ 04:07 pm: [report]
Thanks everybody!!