Flat Bun Secrets?

[swords & roses]

What are your tricks to make a bun flatter against your head?

The coils of my hair always end up stacking on top of each other, instead of making wider circles, which makes my finished buns unattractively stick back quite a ways from my head. Cinnabuns always end up being bee butt buns. Lazy Wrap Buns & Nautilus Buns always end up with a strange "snail shell" hump to them when viewed from the side, which is comprised of the part of the hair that's coiled around the base in the center of the bun. Any attempt to smooth the hump down makes the bun instantly fall with all the flumph of a teasing uncle launching a deck of cards into the air & declaring "Let's play 52-Card Pick Up!"

So how do you hinder the hump & get fantastically flat do's?

[kaydana]

For a cinnabun, you need to hold it against your head as you coil. So you make your first coil, then you place one hand on top of the coil to hold it in place while you make the second coil. If using sticks, use a pair of them and put the first through the outer coil, scalp hair, outer coil, and the second through the outer coil, inner coil, outer coil. First stick holds the bun to your head, second stick holds the coils together so the middle one doesn't pop up.

ETA: I'm sure I just made absolutely no sense at all...

[swords & roses]

Nope, that made sense! I'll have to try it that way later. I think I'd been trying to use just one stick to stab outer coil, wiggle to catch scalp hair & inner coils, then outer coil again. And I'd usually miss the inner coil anyway & the center of the bun would fall out. And take the rest with it. *sigh*

[gthlvrmx]

Maybe you can try a vortex bun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DF5HXky3B8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRhVn1n8gpM

[Madora]

swords & roses, be sure your bun coils are moderately tight (not too tight). As you begin to coil, spread your fingers so that they keep in contact with the center of the bun, and the outside perimeter edge, as you slowly go around. Hold it flat against your scalp (spread those fingers)! I use crimped hairpins as I coil.

[Phexlyn]

Try using hairpins instead of a single hairstick, or a fork with multiple prongs (4 or 5).
Pinning as you go is what helped me the most, and that works with hairpins or scroos only ;)

So if you want a cinnabun, twist a bist of hair, the start coiling it and pin. Then twist the next bit.

Also, if you want to get a feeling for this, try pinning a flat braided bun. The braid makes sure you have something to grab onto without missing strands and having to twist and coil and pin at the same time.

[Panth]

Definitely hold the centre of the cinnabun flat against your head as you twist.

You may also consider spin pins. I use 4 (as I have super-long hair). First two go in at 4 o'clock and 8 'o clock pointing towards the centre. Third one goes in at about 2 o'clock, pointing horizontally across towards 10 o'clock. Those three are all inserted "hair fork style", i.e. not just line them up pointing into the bun and twist them in, but point them straight towards the scalp, do a half-twist then flip them to point into the bun and finish twisting them in. These all attach the bun to the scalp hair. They usually end up interlocking but I never have any trouble with that.

The fourth pin goes in at 10 o'clock, but is not inserted on the outside of the bun but between the first twist of the spiral and the outer twist. I don't tend to flip that one, just aim it towards the 4 o'clock position and twist it in. It doesn't go deep into the bun (i.e. doesn't go anywhere near touching the scalp) but is deep enough not to be visible. It's function is to hold the centre of the bun solid and pin the centre to the outer coil. It prevents the centre falling out.

[Stellaaa]

My go-to bun is slight variation on a nautilus/Artemis (Wild Cat Diva uses a similar technique with less length and more thickness, so I know it can be done with variations). WCD calls it a puffed nautilus, so I will too.


I make my nautilus a bit loose and take that knob in the middle and pull it through and up and over the outer loop, and give the entire mess a bit of a squash and twist (one day, really, one day, I'll make the video). Pin the mess to my hair with a 2 or 3 prong fork. It's the bun my avatar, and most of my action shots. Much flatter than a regular nautilus, shows off your hair instead of confining it in a knob.

[swords & roses]

Thanks, everyone for the cinnabun tips!

Stellaaa, I would LOVE to see that video some day! LWB & Nautilus are my most-used buns, so I'd get a lot of mileage out of that trick, if I could see it!

[Marika]

Maybe it's just me but also claw clips make my buns flatter. Actually almost too flat for my liking! :D

[Lindenare]

For a cinnabun, you need to hold it against your head as you coil. So you make your first coil, then you place one hand on top of the coil to hold it in place while you make the second coil. If using sticks, use a pair of them and put the first through the outer coil, scalp hair, outer coil, and the second through the outer coil, inner coil, outer coil. First stick holds the bun to your head, second stick holds the coils together so the middle one doesn't pop up.

ETA: I'm sure I just made absolutely no sense at all...

Kaydana, you made perfect sense! I just got a cinnabun to stay up comfortably using these instructions and four 5-inch double-pointed knitting needles for hairsticks. First cinnabun with hairsticks that's ever stayed up for more than five seconds. Lots of ends sticking out, so I don't know how long it'll last, but that's a function of length and thickness.

[Lindenare]

Oops, double post.

[Hele]

As you begin to coil, spread your fingers so that they keep in contact with the center of the bun, and the outside perimeter edge, as you slowly go around. Hold it flat against your scalp (spread those fingers)!

holy cra....why is there no "thanks" button on this site? Because i really want to thank your post Madora! These two sentences just resulted in my making (for perhaps the first time ever) the best cinna-ish buns i've ever managed several times in a row! :)

[Gertrude]

I do the sectioned braided bun as described by Madora and it holds much better with Amish pins being pinned flat but also definitely makes my bun look impressively big. It's also impressively flat but people don't seem to notice that ( -;

[sourgrl]

For a Cinnabun I do as described above but secure with a ficcare. With my other go to bun, LWB, I wrap the hair as usual then spread my fingers to spread the wrapped hair a bit before I 'stick' it and 'stick' the loop, not the center, part of the bun.

[Stormynights]

When I make a nautilus I stretch the loop out so it goes flat. It still holds really well, even when it is over stretched.