Which updos make hair look bigger/fuller?

[Applegirl84]

Even though my hair is almost waist length and doesn't look too thin worn down, it compacts quite tiny. What are some updos that make the most of my long hair? I love braided buns but they just look so tiny on me.

[Larki]

Haha, braided buns are a joke on my hair. :p I find that the nautilus is much, much larger for me though. It's a little larger than my palm, I think.

[Laurenji]

Definitely the sock bun.

[meteor]

I think there is an interesting thread going on about this called (jokingly) The PBC: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=125117
There are multiple ideas there that should work well, including the sock bun and the Neoma bun.

[DreamSheep]

Sock buns, or anything where you put an object underneath that makes the hair larger (such as combining a braid with a scarf or a ribbon, for instance). :)

[swords & roses]

Following!

The biggest buns I've found for me are the Lazy Wrap Bun & the Nautilus. I tend to gravitated more to the LWB because there's less hand acrobatics involved, but some of my toys work better with a Nautilus. If I'm in my bellydance costume, I'll beef up my bun by either doing a braided chinese bun with a scarf braided in, or I'll do a braided vortex bun with a scarf braided in. My avatar is the chinese one.

I couldn't get a sock bun to work much past BSL.

[SongofLove]

Hi! My hair compacts a lot too. I still love braided buns for the convenience, but I agree that the Nautilus bun makes it easier to puff a bit for a bigger bun :)

[lunalocks]

My go to bun nowadays is an altered version of the nautilus, I think. I do a twist, then wrap it down around my hand, then wrap the rest around the base, then pull the loop vertically (instead of over the bun) so it is more along side it but i can still get a fork through it. This makes the biggest bun for me.

Another possibility is the figure 8.

And the biggest bun of all was when I loosely braided a thin, knitted scarf in my hair (I used the scarf as a ponytail tie and then braided the 2 scarf ends with 2 of the 3 lengths of hair) and then spiraled it on the back of my head. I still had some scarf to wrap at the base. Held it in place with a big fork. it was impressive.

[chen bao jun]

Any bun looks bigger with a Jeterfork.

[swords & roses]

Here's a picture of that scarf-braided vortex bun I mentioned.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7627&d=1384742323

Biggest bun type I've ever managed! :) And I'm a member of the Puny Bun Club!

[Applegirl84]

Some great ideas thanks!

I too have trouble with sock buns now that my hair is longer

I need to work on my nautilus bun and now I'm curious about a Jeter fork.

[Entangled]

You might try a paranda to beef up a braided bun.

[Madora]

Even though my hair is almost waist length and doesn't look too thin worn down, it compacts quite tiny. What are some updos that make the most of my long hair? I love braided buns but they just look so tiny on me.

Applegirl84, have you tried a sectioned double braided bun? Here's mine, back in the 80s:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w225/07Erzbet/hpaMedium-1.jpg (http://s177.photobucket.com/user/07Erzbet/media/hpaMedium-1.jpg.html)

You might also want to try the Vortex braided bun..or even a Hawser double braided bun.

[Applegirl84]

That's beautiful. The problem is that my braids compact so much that they barely cover the back of my head. Several skinnier braids just seem to compact it more.

[Seeshami]

The skirt bun

[Nightshade]

I like the lazy wrap bun with two sticks. The first (3 o'clock to 9 o'clock) does most the holding and the second (1 o'clock to 7 o'clock) folds it open and makes it look bigger :)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yo4U_2CxFv4/U_UKWC5-QtI/AAAAAAAAJCM/pbmZxkAKLVE/s720/Green-Moondrop-Stick.jpg

[Applegirl84]

Ooo good idea! Never thought of using a second stick to widen it!

[Hairitic]

I find a Pha Bun to give my thin hair the look of more hair. :p

[Gertrude]

I read through the bun progression thread and it was hugely helpful. I can do the LWB/Pencil bun/Nautilus but my fine slippery hair is happier and well moisturised and even more slippery, so none of them stay up. For me it's the braided bun and a simple braided bun with a four prong Jeterfork does look bigger and fuller and holds up very well. It sags during the day, but stays straight. The three prong fork skews sideways over time, but the four prong holds up and beefs up the bun (-: I need to use a soft little ponio elasticated band at the end of the braid or it unravels.

However, hold the press, I have been trying the sectioned braided bun over the months, the one Madora so patiently explains about and models so beautifully on many occasions on this board. And the second braid was never long enough to go around the inner braid. I tried it with two braids as in one each side but it looked strange and hiding ends was difficult.

Encouraged by her explaining again and posting the photo of hers above I tried again, sectioned in two equal halves, braided to the ends. Secured with little ponios. Pinned one flat in a circle with Amish pins, then laid the second braid around and I have enough length to go all the way around !!!!!! Hurrah!!!!!!!!!

It does take 12 shorter wavy Amish pins to hold the braids down, and four longer wavy Amish pins to hold the lot together, so if it came unstuck I would be raining hair pins like a Victorian heroine in a novel, but it's wonderful! And no, it doesn't cover my head, but it looks much fuller and wider than a single braided bun.

I have also found that if I make the first braid a bit bigger than the second I can easily do a very popular Georgian/Regency up-do many women wore, albeit without curls at the front. I pin the wider braid flat in a circle and then put the narrower one not flat but just on the side of the first bun. It makes a very elegant alternative.

Sorry if I sound like I won the Nobel prize or lottery, but it's been hard in the updo stakes as my hair defeats so many. French and Dutch braids, even if done professionally in GM salon don't last.


This holds, looks elegant for day or evening, and it's easy to pin flowers or a sparkly clip to, or to pin pearl- or flower-headed sparkly pins into the narrower braid. One of them, not all.


I will get around to the photo uploading some day, hopefully soon. But meanwhile I feel very happy. And thankful to Madora.

[Syren_Curls]

That's beautiful. The problem is that my braids compact so much that they barely cover the back of my head. Several skinnier braids just seem to compact it more.

My fine hair, though it's pretty full and curly, compacts quite a bit too. When I *do* try the braided styles, I tug on each weave of the braids gently when I get to the end to widen the look of the braid. It doesn't really detract from the length of the braid and, when I do it gently and slowly, it doesn't unravel the braids either. Maybe this can help "puff up" the look of the braids in your braided buns.

[Anje]

For what it's worth, mine are bigger when my hair is fluffy -- recently shampooed and/or freshly combed-out braidwaves are good for this. The whole bun can stay bigger and airier. When my hair's sleek, oiled, or getting close to wash day, my buns end up shrinking and needing to be tighter so that they won't just slide out.