Buns

[Xan]

Is a braided bun better than a normal twist bun thoughts?

[unheardletters]

I personally never do braided buns. Having a hair elastic on my hair causes lots of white dots and split ends. I avoid braids as much as I can so I don't have to use a hair tie.

[Borgessa]

I think they the same and prob a good idea to change your buns up so as not to cause tension in same place day after day.. I agree about hair ties though. But I do my braid and bun it without using a tie.. once the bun is complete and secure its safe from unravelling. As long as you braid loosely enough to avoid tension, should be good.

[leayellena]

I personally prefer braided buns for their stability; and I am firmly convinced that there are a lot of different types of hairties. just like shampoos/conditioners. you just try and see which hairtie is good for you. I like the super fine ones, those that you use if you only have super fine and thin hair. but I use them to secure my braid. the last time I wear a ponytail outside the house was some 2 years ago, before I discovered lhc. inside the house - well - can´t remember... maybe in march or april once or twice. my hair has become how impractically long for a pony and it dangles all over when I have to lean or crouch.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=27906&d=1499773529

[Arctic]

Probably depends who you'd ask from. For super long hair, it might be. For me personally, I don't put one type above another, I like to change things up.

ETA: There are also non-braided, non-twisted buns.


I personally never do braided buns. Having a hair elastic on my hair causes lots of white dots and split ends. I avoid braids as much as I can so I don't have to use a hair tie. I never use an elastic when I bun my braid. It's not needed, as the bun keeps the ends secure.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

It's probably a matter of preference. Braided buns are likely to be more secure, and if the ends are tucked under the bun you don't need a hair tie, the bun will hold the ends for you. I myself prefer unbraided buns as they involve less hair manipulation and handling. :)

[hayheadsbird]

I prefer non braided buns. Braids eat up length, so I end up trying to bun shorter hair and the results tend to explode. I expect this will change with more growth.

[Crystawni]

Better in what way? I like variety, and so does my hair.

[maria_asa]

Better in what way? I like variety, and so does my hair.

Well said!

[meteor]

Depends on your hairtype and your lifestyle and the type of braiding, of course.

For example, my hair is very slippery and thick, so I need to braid it to corral it first before I can bun it. I couldn't even do an LWB before classic length without braiding hair first. Many people with slippery hair have to twist hair really tightly (I know I certainly have to) if they go for unbraided buns, and I don't know if that's a better option - I kind of feel that braiding keeps sections separated and doesn't put as much pressure on some strands as tight twisting does.


Also, I like to use the same braid as my nighttime hairstyle (I just pull stick/fork out of my bun and cover it with a silky scarf) and I can reuse the same braid(s) the next day in another bun, so net-net, it's less manipulation for me IMO. Also, nothing minimizes tangling as much for me as a simple English braided bun.


As for the type of braiding, some of those really high-manipulation braids - think pull-through braids, lots of densely sectioned on-scalp braiding (spiral braids, etc), microbraids, some braided buns that require pushing/pulling through areas/pockets of hair (e.g. Amish braided bun, Interlaced Dutch braids, Ellingwoman bun) etc... - could probably cause some mechanical damage if one is not careful, especially if they are re-done frequently. But I honestly don't see a problem with a simple English braid as a base for an LWB or L-Infinity or something - that's how I've worn my hair pretty much every day for a few years and I haven't encountered any damage from it so far.

[meteor]

I think they the same and prob a good idea to change your buns up so as not to cause tension in same place day after day.. I agree about hair ties though. But I do my braid and bun it without using a tie.. once the bun is complete and secure its safe from unravelling. As long as you braid loosely enough to avoid tension, should be good.

^ Same here. :agree: I don't understand the point of tying off any braids if they get immediately bunned up anyway.
Even when I remove stick from my updo for the night, I don't bother tying off the braid - I just wrap it in silk and it's fine for the night.

[pandabarrier]

I secure the ends of the braid with a soft hair tie when do a braided bun or 2 braided buns. If I don't, the braid will unravel in a few hours no matter how carefully I tuck the ends, and how many hair toys, Amish pins, spin pins I use.

[meteor]

^ Interesting. :)
I wonder if it depends on the type of bun used? :hmm: I remember running into problems with ends unraveling when I tried braided cinnabuns, modified Madora/braided pinless bun, Ellingwoman bun, Amish braided bun or braided Chinese bun... possibly because the ends are only tucked in there, instead of being utilized to create the actual base under the bun (center-held buns)? :hmm:

And I don't run into unraveling ends problems with braided LWB, Spidermom's/double-looped wrap and L-Infinity or Palmier buns and variations (ends create the base in the "center-held" area of the bun there). I bet braided nautilus would work, too.

[Hairkay]

It's not a matter of one way being better than the other. There are too many variables about why some will braid and some will not. In my case my hair is thick and tightly curled so it works out best for me to keep my hair braided/plaited. Most type of buns are out of the question. Keeping hair plaited/braided means it possible to do a bun without a lot of tangled hair and without using hair elastics, hair forks, sticks etc.

[pandabarrier]

^ Interesting. :)
I wonder if it depends on the type of bun used? :hmm: I remember running into problems with ends unraveling when I tried braided cinnabuns, modified Madora/braided pinless bun, Ellingwoman bun, Amish braided bun or braided Chinese bun... possibly because the ends are only tucked in there, instead of being utilized to create the actual base under the bun (center-held buns)? :hmm:

And I don't run into unraveling ends problems with braided LWB, Spidermom's/double-looped wrap and L-Infinity or Palmier buns and variations (ends create the base in the "center-held" area of the bun there). I bet braided nautilus would work, too.

I tried the following braided versions of these, with tie and without tie: Amish bun (disaster, hair ties came off), Chinese bun (without ties the braid unravels as soon as I start walking), figure-8 bun (no), LWB (braid without ties unravels in a couple of hours), cinnabun (same), double wrapped L-infinity (can hold without ties if I use 3 spin pins but looks like bird's nest in a couple of hours).
I think my hair is slippery to begin with, and as it got longer I use more cones. I watch the tutorials and the instructor effortlessly wraps the bun, inserts the hair fork or stick, and the bun stays like magic!
I will try the other ones you mentioned,

[Nique1202]

^ Same here. :agree: I don't understand the point of tying off any braids if they get immediately bunned up anyway.
Even when I remove stick from my updo for the night, I don't bother tying off the braid - I just wrap it in silk and it's fine for the night.


I secure the ends of the braid with a soft hair tie when do a braided bun or 2 braided buns. If I don't, the braid will unravel in a few hours no matter how carefully I tuck the ends, and how many hair toys, Amish pins, spin pins I use.

And if I braid my hair and don't tie it off with something, the braid won't even make it into a bun. No matter how tightly I braid or how close to the ends I get, I'll have at least 6 extra inches of loose hair at the ends the second I let go of the tail, and nearly the entire braid up from that will have loosened significantly and may not hold together through wrapping into a bun. The very base of the braid might still be snug, but it'll be no different from a regular version of any given bun for the last foot or so of hair by the time I get to wrapping it up.

[meteor]

I hope some of the center-held buns might work for you, pandabarrier. :pray:

Nique1202, I'm not normally paying attention to how exactly I bun my hair, since I've been doing the same buns forever, but I'm pretty sure that I don't let go of the end of the braid as I bun, and since I just do very simple and super-quick buns - LWB or L-Infinity currently - it works easily for me personally. :)

[Cg]

Almost always I French braid before bunning, and very often I twist the braid too. I have to for the bun to hold.

As others have noted, your hair texture and length do matter -- not all hair cooperates with all styles regardless of how much you practice.

[pandabarrier]

I hope some of the center-held buns might work for you, pandabarrier. :pray:


Thank you! I'll practice more center-held buns, and hopefully with more length the tail (the first part that comes off) will stay in place.
It's frustrating when I do the braided updo, looks good in my house, but by the time I get to work, it's falling apart.


Almost always I French braid before bunning, and very often I twist the braid too. I have to for the bun to hold.


I twist my braids too, not a lot otherwise I can't insert the hair toy.

[papillon]

As others have noted, your hair texture and length do matter -- not all hair cooperates with all styles regardless of how much you practice.

Yup. The only way I can get my hair into a bun is to braid it. Otherwise it is slippery and the bun falls out with any movement, no matter how small.

[pandabarrier]

I hope some of the center-held buns might work for you, pandabarrier. :pray:


I nag a lot about updos falling apart. Well, today I did a braided nautilus bun with 4 small 75mm chignon pins. Success! It's been on my head all day. I was also able to do a stable lasting braided cinnabun with those pins last week.
I think I'll use chignon pins on braided buns from now on, because they don't spring out of my hair like the 3" crinkled Amish pins (I'll still use Amish pins for other buns). The spin pins also somehow loosen up when I use them on braided buns.