Tutorials / advice for thick MBL hair

[Lilac Blossoms]

My hair is MBL and rather thick and heavy, so it doesn't stay up without a fight. I've been trying to learn some buns by watching video tutorials on YouTube, but I'm having some problems: 99% of the people in the videos move way too quickly for me to copy what they are doing or how they are holding their hands, as well as the fact that my hair seems to be still too short to manage the buns. The few I've been able to put up look like a hot mess, and my ends stick out. They also fall out eventually. While I realize more practice would help as well, I wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations for beginner-friendly tutorials, or some tricks which might make it easier for me to get a successful bun which doesn't resemble a rat's nest. I looked at a tutorial list here on LHC already, but I've found a lot of buns are for hair longer than mine, or not as thick. It seems like a catch-22; I keep hearing that wearing my hair up will help it get longer more quickly due to less breakage, but it seems I can't wear it up until it gets longer on its own!

[hayheadsbird]

My hair is aboit mbl (just past BSL) and iii. I can just do a lwb and have it hold reasonabley well. At this length I'm enjoying cinibuns with spin pins, sock buns and braids. Single stick buns that work well are disc buns.
One thing I've found that helps loads is to divide and conquer. If I lace braid the front, then there's that much less thickness to bun, and I can wrap and pin the smaller braids as accents.

[Arctic]

You can find a slow motion setting under the little image of gear on the right hand, lower corner of youtube videos. Helps a lot to be able to see the movements in slow motion.

Don't be afraid to use several and/or super charged items to hold your hair up: 3+ prong forks, ficcares, several spin pins, several amish pins, several roller pin, several U-pins.... not meaning ALL these in one hair style, but what I'm saying is, that I see people here tend to often hold a one hair stick, or one spin pin (etc) as some kind of supreme way of securing hair. Use these tools/accessories in quantities that make your style secure. No number of pins is better than another.

You can also always divide and conquer, make several buns, or frame buns. The secret is to adapt. You sometimes just can't find a video where the person's hair is just like yours. You need to adapt. For example I have different hair to yours (thinner, shorter) but it might well be that some of my style ideas would work for you, either as is, or when adapted. I have lot of styles posted in my blog (which you can access after 25 posts).

[dansyl]

I highly recommend a disc bun! Holds like a rock and you don't have to have a whole lot of length! I started using it at APL.

[Lilac Blossoms]

I highly recommend a disc bun! Holds like a rock and you don't have to have a whole lot of length! I started using it at APL.

A disc bun is the one I've been able to get to stay in... they are messy, although that will likely get better with practice. I never seem to be able to get my ends tucked away, though, so they stick out and look ridiculous. That's why I wondered if my hair needed to be longer before I could really pull it off. I guess more practice and more pins!

[lapushka]

My hair is MBL and rather thick and heavy, so it doesn't stay up without a fight. I've been trying to learn some buns by watching video tutorials on YouTube, but I'm having some problems: 99% of the people in the videos move way too quickly for me to copy what they are doing or how they are holding their hands, as well as the fact that my hair seems to be still too short to manage the buns. The few I've been able to put up look like a hot mess, and my ends stick out. They also fall out eventually. While I realize more practice would help as well, I wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations for beginner-friendly tutorials, or some tricks which might make it easier for me to get a successful bun which doesn't resemble a rat's nest. I looked at a tutorial list here on LHC already, but I've found a lot of buns are for hair longer than mine, or not as thick. It seems like a catch-22; I keep hearing that wearing my hair up will help it get longer more quickly due to less breakage, but it seems I can't wear it up until it gets longer on its own!

With ii/iii hair, you just might need more length to do buns. I'm iii and need at least hiplength hair for a bun.

Maybe try a folded under peacock's twist aka log roll.

[sumidha]

A sock bun might be a good option for you. Braided hair styles are also protective, Like maybe a tucked french braid, and you can always do double (or triple!) buns to practice the styles, even if you don't want to wear them out. French twists would also work... This might sound kind of weird, but I would look into Buzzfeed or Pinerest long hair styles, since MBL is right around what most people think of as long hair. Just skip the teasing and flat ironing and a lot of them will be pretty hair friendly. :)

[Borgessa]

This is the one benefit to having thinner hair, it buns at much shorter lengths much more easily. Should be able to do a french twist?

[Anya15]

My hair is past hip length and I still can't do a LWB! Thick hair is often troublesome. But don't worry, you can try sectioned buns. Dividing the hair into sections makes it easier. :)

[pili]

I can get my hair in exactly three buns with reasonable hold with a stick or fork, but that is only because my hair is heavily layered. I'm at BSL stretched, with the shortest layers at just chin length stretched. I still can't get a disk bun to hold for more than a few seconds. The only ones that work are cinnamon buns, flipped cinnamon buns, and a weird figure eight twist (I know it has a name, but I can't remember it. A lot of times two claw clips help hold it when nothing else will.

[marvel-lover]

I have iii 2a hair at MBL, so I feel your pain! I'm really good at disc buns, and I can get them to hold for hours at a time. The trick for me is to dampen my hair a little with water and conditioner (I use a spray bottle) and then twist it up. Dampening it helps it feel thinner and stretches the slight wave patterns I've got. Otherwise, I can kind of do an LWB, but it doesn't hold well, and I can't even attempt a nautilus. My hair is too thick for that.

[Lilac Blossoms]

Thank you all for the advice! I think I'll give the french twist a try. I've tried a french braid, but I cannot for the life of me manage to do it on my own head, so a tucked one is out, unfortunately.