How to trim my hair now for the best future buns

[The Lizard Wife]

I want to make good buns! At the moment, my hair is about BSL. And it's thick (4 inch ponytail circumference) and straight and a little slick, and has some layers (I grew it out of a pixie cut but never trimmed it enough to actually straighten out the hemline, and then started growing out my bangs about a year later...). So right now, none of my buns hold because my hair doesn't have enough length for its thickness and my bang layers are too short and keep popping out.

I'd like to trim my hair to both take off some of the damaged ends I've accumulated and slowly, slowly work my way toward making those bang layers not several inches shorter than the rest of my length. But since I have no real idea about what works best for my hair regarding buns (I've never had it long enough to successfully bun before), I'd like to get some advice from all of you with experience about how to strategize trimming now to make better buns in the future.

For example, I get the impression that a blunt hemline won't be the best for me, because it will make it very difficult for me to tuck my ends nicely into my buns? I feel like that's a thing I've seen mentioned? I don't know much about U or V shaped hemlines...would one of those perhaps work better? Or is that going to still leave me with a lot of layered ends that stick straight out of every braid and bun? Is it useful to continue using blending scissors on my ends as the final step, so that even if my hemline is straight it won't be as blunt and thick directly at the ends, or is that not enough to help? Any other tips or considerations that I know nothing of?

Side note: I'm considering the idea of trying to self-trim my hair. As a perfectionist with unforgiving straight hair who honestly can't make a straight and level line even with a ruler....just how badly is self-trimming going to go for me? Should I absolutely avoid this at all costs and let the professionals I trust do this for me, even if it's going to take me like half a year to get around to making an appointment? I mean, I guess I don't wear my hair loose much in public, if worst comes to worst all I have to do is just stop cutting...right???

[cjk]

I just wore a bun today, and with much shorter hair than yours.

I did a French twist on each side, joined them at the back, and kept twisting. Secured it with a hair stick.

Those of us with shorter hair have to get creative, sometimes.

Posted a picture in the Show Your Bun thread.I

[Simsy]

Hemlines can be adjusted fairly quickly; depending on what you’re doing. So don’t panic just yet about strategic trimming.

For buns; try splitting the hair in half and bunning each side seperate. Torrin Paige has a video which may be of us to start you off. For now, you will need to get a bit creative with buns. However, this will give you an idea of how your hair behaves with buns; which in turn will tell you what kind of hemline will be the most use for your hair. Some of us need blunt hems, others need fairytails.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SZvXrEOfJ4w

As for the self-trimming; you have 2 options. Use a clip to give yourself a line to follow, or use hair ties to restrain everything and act as the line. Given your straight line issue; I’m going to suggest that you do one clip or one hair tie, don’t try and eyeball evenness across 2. See the babooshka method I’ve linked below for an example. Hemline shape is really determined by what you’re doing and how well you can tolerate small mistakes. A U or V shaped hem might be good as they are a little more forgiving of little errors. My best tip for you is to give yourself 2-4 cuts, then stop and wait a day or two before trying to even anything up further. This should stop you from making massive corrections and losing far more length than you want to (it’s really easy to overcut while correcting a small trim).


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BueOJzBD8qc

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wowAGEzmAgM

[spitfire511]

Hey lizard wife! The only thing I’ll add to Simsy’s info is that I have really good results with Frye’s self trim for the U hemline. That method doesn’t work well for everyone, but worked greats for me at your length. Give it a look!

And agreed with Simsy that you need to play with it to see what you need, everyone’s hair is different!

[-Fern]

I just wore a bun today, and with much shorter hair than yours.

Yes, but her hair is super thick! I can identify with not being able to do many buns even at BSL. Lizard Wife, I think you are on the right track with a U-shaped hemline and self-trimming. I use Feye's method, and it worked beautifully for me.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=26880&d=1492467764

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=29404&d=1512690042

There might be some small imperfections (like my one lock of longer hair in the middle, lol), but you always have your scissors available if you need to fix them. I will say, with thick hair it becomes extra difficult to get the scissors through all your hair, but it should get easier as your hair gets longer. When tipping your head down, choose a focal point for your gaze so that even if you need to stop and check the mirror, you can move your head back to the same position it was in before. Just be patient, I remember the first time I self-trimmed it felt like trying to cut through too many layers of fabric, but I got it done eventually. :lol: I always liked my U- and V- shaped hemlines better than any trim I got at a salon.

Best of luck! This thread was also super helpful for me early on: Thick haired folk, unite! (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=43020)

Oh, and here was my hair when I did a V-shaped hemline, for comparison:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28545&d=1503769632

I didn't notice a huge difference in buns with V- versus U-, but both are way easier for me to bun with than a blunt hemline.

[The Lizard Wife]

((fingers crossed that these pictures work!))

Very belated update! I've been lurking and also not wanting to deal with learning how to do photos...but for educational purposes, here was the outcome when I decided to go for the self-trim about a week later:

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2x8M4f3/20190420-170826.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
hemline before the trim

https://i.postimg.cc/XvFchXY9/20190420-174006.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
hemline after the trim
I aimed for a gentler U-shaped hemline. I primarily used the babushka method to make it easier to cut a straight line in one go, since my hair wasn't quite long enough for me to be able to, say, use a book to have a straight edge and also be able to comfortably see what I'm doing while I'm holding the scissors. Then I had to saw quite a bit to get through the thickness and felt really bad about that! Then I re-ponytailed it a few times to clean it up a bit after like in Feye's self-trim method.

https://i.postimg.cc/fykVGgf1/20190424-192557.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
and here's the hemline a few days later, when it smoothed itself out
I'm sure it could look nicer if I'd had someone else cut it, but I think this isn't too bad! It looks forgiving enough that I wasn't afraid to go out in public at least. Actually, one really great thing about the babushka method is that when I pull my hair around to the front over each shoulder, the ends look very nice and even. Which is how I see it when I'm looking in the mirror, since I can't see the back of my head...so what I can see makes me very happy!

Also, there was definitely damage to my ends! I think I ended up trimming off about an inch or a little more, and I noticed the difference immediately when combing...no more tangly ends at the back, where most of the chopping was, and still a bit of tangling at the front, where the bang-layers didn't really get touched. So I started a bit of casual S&D based on that evidence, and that's really helped my ends feel better.

As far as the original buns question, I'm no longer sweating it about my exact hemline for now, and I've just discovered the magic of parandas to make up for my lack of length for the time being. Thanks for all your advice and helpful links, this first self-trim was a success!

[Cinnamonagouti]

Try the disc bun! You divide the hair in two parts, so it often works with hair that is too short for other buns. Or åractice buns by doing them as half ups.

[The Lizard Wife]

Try the disc bun! You divide the hair in two parts, so it often works with hair that is too short for other buns. Or åractice buns by doing them as half ups.

I've tried the disc bun and half-up buns, with limited success. Either my hair is too straight so I have issues getting the ends tucked in and they flop back out at the first opportunity (and there goes the entire hairstyle), or else I'm really clueless at how to pin the ends up properly/maybe I don't have the right tools. Or maybe both! I know that method works great for plenty of other people, so it's always good advice.

Depending on the day and how desperately I want my hair up (the more I need it, the less likely it is to work lol) and how my hair feels, I've had moderate success with a lazy wrap bun for up to a few hours at a time. I make sure to use a nice sturdy acrylic oval with that in case it suddenly flops out!

[Jo Ann]

You could also try small clips to hold the strays in place--a few folks around here do that.

[Simsy]

((fingers crossed that these pictures work!))

Very belated update! I've been lurking and also not wanting to deal with learning how to do photos...but for educational purposes, here was the outcome when I decided to go for the self-trim about a week later:
I aimed for a gentler U-shaped hemline. I primarily used the babushka method to make it easier to cut a straight line in one go, since my hair wasn't quite long enough for me to be able to, say, use a book to have a straight edge and also be able to comfortably see what I'm doing while I'm holding the scissors. Then I had to saw quite a bit to get through the thickness and felt really bad about that! Then I re-ponytailed it a few times to clean it up a bit after like in Feye's self-trim method.
I'm sure it could look nicer if I'd had someone else cut it, but I think this isn't too bad! It looks forgiving enough that I wasn't afraid to go out in public at least. Actually, one really great thing about the babushka method is that when I pull my hair around to the front over each shoulder, the ends look very nice and even. Which is how I see it when I'm looking in the mirror, since I can't see the back of my head...so what I can see makes me very happy!

Also, there was definitely damage to my ends! I think I ended up trimming off about an inch or a little more, and I noticed the difference immediately when combing...no more tangly ends at the back, where most of the chopping was, and still a bit of tangling at the front, where the bang-layers didn't really get touched. So I started a bit of casual S&D based on that evidence, and that's really helped my ends feel better.

As far as the original buns question, I'm no longer sweating it about my exact hemline for now, and I've just discovered the magic of parandas to make up for my lack of length for the time being. Thanks for all your advice and helpful links, this first self-trim was a success!

The trim looks good, well done. So glad you’re happy with the results, that’s all that really matters at the end.