Finally Mastering the Messy Bun

Hey guys and welcome to the first official No Fuss Mondays! I have been searching for the perfect video to showcase the site and I've discovered one thing. It's going to be difficult to only have one post a day. I want to share everything all at once and I'm just going to have to be patient.

Today's blog is going to be about mastering the messy bun! If you already have this one under control then this one probably won't mean much to you. But for some of us it takes endless tries complete this effortless looking updo, which is an oxymoron. There are some tips you can try that have also helped me in getting it right almost every time. This style is not only easy and perfect for that Monday morning, or, let's be honest, any day of the week, when you just don't have the time or don't really care. This style isn't only for the no fuss kind of days but maybe the time when you would like to care a bit more but give off that effortless, soft, romantic, style that you're craving.

I have watched many videos and there are plenty that are great but the one that I ultimately learned the best from was the video that I'm going to show you today. It's by a woman, named Kate, who has a blog and various social media sites called The Small Things Blog. I love her blog and I know that I will be referencing her again. She's very informative and calm and always looks pulled together and has taught me ways to get the most out of your hair styles. She's also a busy mom, so if you're in that same boat I'm sure you'll appreciate this as well.

At first, if you haven't mastered this already, it may take some practice. But once you try this a few times and are able to achieve it with no problem this updo is perfect for that super fast, any moment sort of style.

Here are some tips that I also do to make this style easier:

First, I realized that, at the time, I was only using one basic hair tie for my entire life. Which look just like this, only I did use the brown to go with my hair color.

Here's what I wasn't realizing: Not every hair tie is ideal for every hairstyle. I picked the kind that I liked and, in general, just assumed that anything resembling a rubber band was going to hurt and damage my hair and I didn't want any part of it. After watching this video I went on a search for these clear elastics that she talks about. I didn't find the brand, which to me, doesn't matter. But I did discover my go to hair tie these days and now I rarely wear the kind in the photo above. It's not that the ones above are bad. I do still wear them. But this video just made me aware that I didn't just have one option but that others worked for certain things better. Also keep in mind, you do still want to be gentle when you pull out any hair elastic from your updo so that you can keep the hair from breaking. Because, as we all know, fly aways are no fun at all.

These are the clear ones that I found at Walmart. The ones I bought I love because they are actually more gentle on your hair than I thought they would.

After getting these I started looking into other hair ties to see what I was missing out on. At first, when I started to see this type of hair tie spreading like wildfire I thought that it was just a fad and I didn't really want to give it a shot. But then I noticed that it helped to keep your hair from getting damaged and broken and also helped with that horrible crease that we get from our first pictured hair ties. I jumped on that band wagon once I gave them a try and now I even find myself promoting them. Who knew?

These are just the more natural hair colors but if you have spent any time looking at a rack of hair accessories you already know that they come in various cute patterns and colors. I started off with the naturals, sticking to my safe space of brown. The brown is still my favorite because I can use it as a hidden secret.

A trick to making the messy bun achievable for myself was to, at first, use the brown, crease-less hair tie in the same way that she used the clear elastic. Afterwards I continue to pull at the bun, making it larger, pull at the crown, nape of the neck and sides to make it softer. The crease-less hair tie helps me to be able to manipulate my hair and it doesn't strangle it so that I can't loosen up the style. Then when everything is nice and loose, and possibly, even falling out, I use the clear elastic to go back around the bun and secure in some ends that may have fallen out. Usually, because the bun is pulled apart to a much larger scale, the clear elastic tucks itself right under the bun and doesn't show. If you do have some pieces that stick out and they bother you I would recommend tucking the hair tie under pinned portions of the bun.

I have become accustomed to securing my updo with bobby pins as well every time. I'm a no muss no fuss kind of girl and I really don't have time to fix my crazy falling out style while I'm busy working or whatever I'm doing. They keep the bun from flopping around and also can be used to hide any strange holes in the hair that maybe didn't come together properly when the bun was composed.

I added a picture of a bobby pin so that you can see the differences between this and the next pin I'm going to talk about.

I also have discovered the beauty of hair pins. Again, I was stuck in an idea that whatever I used my whole life was good enough. But I tried hair pins once and I was hooked. Hair pins are perfect for grabbing that large section of your thick hair that just needs to be stuck in place. When you use a bobby pin on a large amount of hair it's hard for it to stay in place. The pin tries to pop out because the mouth of the bobby pin is too closed. Hair Pins on the other hand, have a larger mouth and a similar premise. They are for taming large sections and bobby pins are for taming ends that you want to tuck in place and holding your style securely to your head. This is a picture of a hair pin.

Dry shampoo is also a beautiful thing! I will be doing other posts in the future about dry shampoo because I love it that much. This style really can benefit from a bit of extra grip to hold the pins in place and clean up any extra oils in the hair that you may have from going an extra day without washing it. It's a win win. Also I would like to say, if you're not already using dry shampoo, you should be. :)

I do truly recommend doing this style on hair that has some sort of a bend in it. If you have naturally wavy or curly hair or if it has been curled the day or two before you throw it up, that's perfect. Also, if you wash your hair and blow dry it you can twist it up in a bun or a clip and in the morning it should have some bends in it. The key is to just not have perfectly straight hair. Like she said in the video, too straight of a style doesn't create the same effect. But, after all, on a Monday morning I'm guessing that you're only wanting to take two minutes to get ready but to everyone else you'll look like you really tried.

Hopefully this was helpful to someone out there. I know that a messy bun has been around for a long time and I hope I didn't disappoint anyone if this is a no-brainer to them. But I know that there are many who still struggle with getting that bun from perfect to loose and unkempt. The biggest, biggest, tip of all: relax. It's called a messy bun. It doesn't have to be perfect. It won't look the same every time. The more you relax the better your style will turn out. If I'm ever trying to create the perfect messy bun it never looks the way I want it to look. So have fun with it. It's supposed to be casual and easy, and of course, messy.

Thank you for checking in today! Come back tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday!