Easiest, fastest up-dos and buns?

[DarleneH]

I'm looking for ideas for fast up-dos and buns, partly for protecting hair and partly for a no-fuss style when traveling over the holidays. It may just be that I need more practice, period, and they all take me a long time until I get better at it. But if you will reveal your favorite fast up-do/bun I'll try practicing it until I get it.

By the way, my hair is almost waist length. But that may change any day the way I keep threatening to whack it! :D (but no shorter than shoulder blade length)

[SerinaDaith]

Okay my go to with just past shoulder length hair is pulling my hair back like I would for a low pony then twist my hair so that the ends are trapped between the rest of my hair and the "pony" base. Two hairsticks in the loop and done.

[lapushka]

A peacock twist. Just a regular one when your hair is still shorter, and doubly folded for when it's longer. I'm halfway between hip & TBL and mine is doubly folded. It's a very easy, no-nonsense style.

[melusine963]

Nautilus bun with a hairstick. It takes me about 20 seconds with my TBL hair.

A knot bun (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiGTXkUhFKE) and cinnabun also take well under a minute.

[Juanita]

Lazy wrap bun

[Hwyfar]

Lazy wrap bun

Absolutely. Another one is an english side braid that.

[Chromis]

Logroll for me, but you might need to grow a little more still. Good reason not to chop!

The nautilus bun is fast too and at that length I would also try the Celtic Knot bun.

[MusingFrog]

All of the suggestions above are really good. It is really going to come down to practice practice and more practice! It took me hours the first time I decided to experiment with my current bun (I think it's called the Gibraltar bun...) and for several weeks I was still pretty slow. Now it takes probably 30 seconds because I know the right tension, the right hand motions, the exact place I want to put the hairstick, and how far off-center on my head I need the bun to be so that with the stick it will weigh right.

However, if you'll be in a car a good bit of the time, I'd go with a straight braid down the back. I can never wear buns in cars as they get in the way of the headrest.

[DancingQueen]

Make a lace dutch brarid on one side of your head, and a lace french braid on the other side. Gather in a loose, low ponytail (you can put it in the center, or a bit to the side). Flip the pony through the base (from top to bottom, use a topsy tail) and voilá, a soft, romantic undo, works even for bad hair days. :)

[Chromis]

All of the suggestions above are really good. It is really going to come down to practice practice and more practice! It took me hours the first time I decided to experiment with my current bun (I think it's called the Gibraltar bun...) and for several weeks I was still pretty slow. Now it takes probably 30 seconds because I know the right tension, the right hand motions, the exact place I want to put the hairstick, and how far off-center on my head I need the bun to be so that with the stick it will weigh right.

However, if you'll be in a car a good bit of the time, I'd go with a straight braid down the back. I can never wear buns in cars as they get in the way of the headrest.

Ooh, good point on the headrests! OP, if I am travelling a lot in uncomfortable seats I take a stick with me, then I can quickly do a braided nautilus (which is even easier and better holding than the normal one) when I arrive. I also like false crown braids, but you likely will need to get to at least tailbone.

(The Gibraltar and the Nautilus are functionally the same bun. The difference is that you save the loop to be pulled over aside in the nautie and the gib has you pull it out from the first turn at the end.)

[melusine963]

However, if you'll be in a car a good bit of the time, I'd go with a straight braid down the back. I can never wear buns in cars as they get in the way of the headrest.

Luckily my cinnabun lies flat enough that this isn't an issue for me. This must be the only advantage to having thin hair.

[torrilin]

What works is going to depend on your hair's thickness. My ponytail measures about 3", and I can do most of these suggestions at bra strap length. My sister and sister in law both have ponytails that are over 4", and they need a lot more length to do the same styles. I think it's well past waist for both of 'em. That may seem like a super small difference, but the 1" difference means they have about twice as much hair as me.

Mostly for travel I rely on twin braids and Celtic Knot buns. Twin braids work well independent of length and thickness, and it's easy to spiff them up by doing them French or Dutch style, or pinning them up in pretty ways.

[kaydana]

However, if you'll be in a car a good bit of the time, I'd go with a straight braid down the back. I can never wear buns in cars as they get in the way of the headrest.

How odd that we'd have totally opposite preferences for travelling hairstyles. I can't think of any worse style for travelling than a braid because it gets in the way between my back and the chair, whereas the right bun actually makes a headrest more comfortable (it essentially turns my hair into a little pillow for me to rest my head on).

[maborosi]

The single fastest updo besides a pony for me is the basic cinnamon bun. I wear my hair up daily and that's usually my go-to style.

~maborosi~

[KarpatiiSiv]

My favourites for speed are the lazy wrap bun or the pencil bun. http://youtu.be/Z0k3dD4qX34

[Sharysa]

My hair takes about thirty seconds to get into a bohemian knot. It's essentially a spiral/rope braid with the ends folded back to the nape instead of hanging down.

Second is just a bog-standard bun, although my ponytail is nearly four inches so I need two hairties instead of just one.

[Fairlight63]

This one is pretty easy & fast. Comb hair like to make a pony tail either high or low. Put pony tail through a scrunchie like to make a pony tail but the last time you don't pull all the way through - leave a loop - wrap the tail around the pony tail base as many times as you need to get it out of the way, then pin the loop or put a Ficcare in it.

[jacqueline101]

I like buns and peacock twist or even the claw clip up do.

[neko_kawaii]

I have found that pretty much anything aside from detailed braiding can be done very quickly once you get the hang of it. Go nuts!

[dwell_in_safety]

For me, lazy wrap bun. It also holds the best of all buns for me; it's tight together, never moves and is never in danger of coming undone, but it doesn't pull my hairs from my head and make my head hurt after the day's done.

[lunalocks]

This week it the nautilus. I watched a u tube video and tried it and it worked! I have always been reluctant to do styles with sticks because they seemed to fall out, but not this one. it takes a few seconds to put in and holds like a rock, all day. I didn't even have any hair sticks, so I used bamboo knitting needles. So now I guess I will have to try all those other styles I dismissed in the past. And get some hair sticks. My hair is about 3 inches below waist.

[teal]

Spidermom's bun that stays. Takes so little time to put my hair up, and rock solid for as long as is needed.

[DarleneH]

You guys are awesome!!!! I'm having a blast looking all these up on youtube. :) Thanks tons!

I think you all are correct that I mostly need to practice practice practice.

[lunalocks]

I just read all these suggestions and pursued a tutorial for the log roll bun. This is one cool bun! I held it in place with spin pins so for me it turns out as more of a swirl than a log. Kind of a contained and elegant messy bun. I am in love with this bun. Thank you for this thread! I'll keep watching.

[DarleneH]

Wow, look at this super quick twist with a hair stick! Her video is only 30 seconds long!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=1-Meh8Swh38&NR=1

Guess what I'm trying tomorrow when my hair is dry!

[pogo0685]

I think the lazy wrap bun just became my favorite bun, thanks for the link!

[Gumball]

The nautilus bun is my go-to most of the time. Once you get used to doing it then it takes no time at all, even with longer hair. I'll admit it's not the comfiest thing, like others have said about buns, when headrests come into the picture, but besides that it's stable and can be very comfortable.

[deko]

I have a waist long hair and I use lazy wrap bun daily. It's easy and fast and it holds my hair fine. The best.

[white.chocolate]

Wow... Nobody suggested buns with braids... No doubt they take some time, but the braided bun, for example, has always been my go-to bun. I guess I'm just used to it that it has seemingly become the easiest and fastest for me.
OK, I'll forget about braids in this thread...

I love the Chinese bun. It requires a bit of length though. I remember trying it when I was at waist length, and it worked out pretty well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUT3KJgASac

Also, nobody mentioned the infinity/figure 8 bun? They are just a cinnabun, but I personally like how a single hair stick can hold them.

I ran out of ideas... I, too, vote for the nautilus bun, Celtic knot bun, Gibraltar and the Lazy Wrap Bun. They take no time at all... if you've practiced.

[melusine963]

Wow, look at this super quick twist with a hair stick! Her video is only 30 seconds long!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=1-Meh8Swh38&NR=1

Guess what I'm trying tomorrow when my hair is dry!

Bookmarked now. Thanks for the link!

[LaurelSpring]

These: http://www.hairzing.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=zinger

The ones with the plastic comb and cording. The crocheted criss cross ones are very soft. You can get them at Walmart, Target or CVS. I put my hair through the weave like a pony and it is so easy to rest on. I carry a clippie and then I can swirl it up in a messy bun. You can do all sorts of interesting things with this one little hair thingie. I use it practically every day. Other than that, I fall back on a loose french braid for travel. Quick easy, no fuss, always looks nice.

Darn, now that I posted that I am really into this new loopy one. I like how you can put your hair through the loops.They have added more since the last time I was here.

http://www.hairzing.com/product.php?products_id=121&search_keywords=zinger

I have gone and enable myself. shudder:

[GeoJ]

Easiest and fastest updos for me are the Nautilus Bun and the Pha Bun. Next would be knotted buns & the Chinese Bun. Anything with braids will take me longer, but can still fit into the easy category (like milkmaid braids, for example).