I get questions about my messy bun all the time on instagram, and have always been hesitant to do a tutorial.  It’s kind of a style that I just throw my hair into quickly when I don’t feel like really doing my hair, and it’s a little difficult to explain. However, with warmer days just around corner, it felt appropriate to finally break down this look.  As with any hair tutorial, the steps are going to vary with your hair length and thickness, so hopefully the steps below give you a starting point and you can fine-tune it from there.

What you’ll need: one elastic hair tie, bobby pins, hair spray. This style works best on second-day hair, but you can always add a bit of texturing spray if you’re doing it on freshly washed hair.

Step 1: Start by making a high pony tail, on the top of your head. If you have bangs, section those off, along with some fly away pieces to frame your face.

Step 2: Only pull your hair fully through the hair tie once. (This will depend on the thickness of your hair. Doing it this way, will keep the bun loose and give you room to pull pieces in the end to create fullness.)

Step 3: Half way through the second wrap around, only pull the pony tail through half way.  Keep your hands in position for the next step — don’t let go of the hair tie.

Step 4: With your hands still in position and hair pulled half way through the hair tie, pull the hair tie around the remaining hair sticking out and bun.  At this point, it will most likely look like a mess — don’t worry.  The next steps are all about fine tuning it. 😉

Step 5: So now you have this little bun on your head with half the hair from your pony tail sticking out. Kind of funny, right?

Step 6: The bun/half pony tail part, somewhat resembles a fan right about now.  Pull the sides of your fan-like bun down to your head, we’re gonna pin those down in a minute. This is the step where I really like to pull the bun apart and make it look full.

Step 7: Pin down the sides of the bun, along with the rest of the hair from earlier.  There’s really no right or wrong way to do this part, and every time it’s a bit different.  You can pin the pieces in front, or pull some to the back.  They will probably be all different lengths, depending on how you pulled apart the top part of the bun. I also like to “anchor” the bun in the back with some bobby-pins.  This just keeps the height and full look throughout the day.

Step 8: Add a little hair spray and you’re ready to go!

Hope this was helpful! Please let us know if there’s anything else/other styles you’d like to see. 

You can see some other hair and beauty posts here:
Hair Essentials | Milk Braids Tutorial | Healthy Hair with Moroccanoil

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