Are Bun foams damaging?

[RebekahE]

I picked up a sock bun foam at Sally's Beauty yesterday. I tried it out as soon as we got home and really liked it. My only question is: Could it be damaging to my hair? I searched the forums and couldn't find any topics like this.

[Nique1202]

The manipulation getting your hair in and out and spread around it, and the elastics and pins to fasten the hair around it, are probably more damaging than making a simple cinnabun or lwb/nautilus/disc bun out of your own hair and fastening it with a stick or fork. But, if you like how it looks, and it's keeping it out of the way of the kind of damage that comes from wearing it loose but you don't like how other buns look, then it's up to you what kind of damage you'd rather deal with.

[RebekahE]

I use magic grips and u pins to pin it. I use goody ouchless fabric covered elastics for my ponytail and to go over the bun.

[Nique1202]

I use magic grips and u pins to pin it. I use goody ouchless fabric covered elastics for my ponytail and to go over the bun.

Anything that touches your hair is "damaging" to some degree, and the tighter it holds the more damaging it will probably be, but every person's hair shows damage differently and every person has to decide what damage they can or can't live with. Pins rub against hair as they get inserted and removed, and they tend to bend the hair under them a little bit while they're worn. Every elastic or fastener (even silk scrunchies or pantyhose rolls or even tying a piece of leather or something instead of using an elastic at all) causes friction and some bending of the hair if it's tight enough to hold the hair still.

But, that's not a death sentence off the bat. You could wear the bun form often (weekly, daily, whichever) until you start to see damage showing and then decide (which might be a month or might be three years or might not show at all before you reach your goal length) or if you know your hair is easily damaged you might decide that the possibility of having to trim out damage later isn't worth it and wear the bun form only a couple of times a month. It's an educated guess that we all have to make when we want to do something to our hair.

[meteor]

The manipulation getting your hair in and out and spread around it, and the elastics and pins to fasten the hair around it, are probably more damaging than making a simple cinnabun or lwb/nautilus/disc bun out of your own hair and fastening it with a stick or fork. But, if you like how it looks, and it's keeping it out of the way of the kind of damage that comes from wearing it loose but you don't like how other buns look, then it's up to you what kind of damage you'd rather deal with.

I definitely agree with this.
Also, the method of putting it on is extremely important. Do the method that involves just covering the bun form with hair and then twisting/braiding and wrapping hair around it (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=882m4QKu0sg), rather than that method where you start wrapping hair from the very ends up around the bun form, because the latter method can cause more tangles, especially for longer hair.

Also, the type of bun foam is very important. Go for the ones that are smooth, some people even cover foam bun forms with satin to avoid snagging on hair (tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H3WFdI-y6M). Avoid like the plague those fancy bun makers with velcro or hooks or weird structures! Jadestorm did a cautionary tale video a while ago where a bun maker (I think it was called "Hot Buns") with some snaggy material tangled up her hair terribly. Go for smooth and snag-free simple materials and structures. HTH! :flower:

[RebekahE]

Thank you! I have tried starting at the end a long time ago but it just does not work, so I do it the other way by spreading it around and then wrapping the rest around. I will see if I can find a panty hoe or something like that to cover my bun form with,