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View Full Version : Buns VS Braids for a daily style...



Little_Bird
September 28th, 2009, 03:21 PM
Hey there LHC'ers :D

Today was my first day of the 4th year of university, and I got started with my plan of wearing my hair in a bun instead of a braid, as my day to day style. I have been experimenting with diferent buns, specially learning them, and I found that some hold better on my hair than others. What I want are stable buns that can hold a lot of time with just one hairstick.
Today I did the Lazy Wrap Bun (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=72), which I found very easy to do even without a mirror and that holds very well. I had to redo it about 5 to 6 times during all day.

My main question is, imagine that I have to redo buns like this all day (altough I believe I should try bunning higher on my head, to make them more secure, as I did the last time I redid it today), so, redoing it like 6 times during the day, is it still less damaging to the hair than if I wore a braid all day (I don't need to redo my english braid, I can wear it all day with no problems...)

I'd like to know your opinions on this, as I'm trying to find a way to protect my hair better, and buns seemed great because I can just forget the lenght of my hair and focuss on other things, while I secretly and desperatly wait for it to grow what it still takes to make it to my goal...
Another problem of mine is that sometimes I get home and I just wanna rest in the couch, because I will eventually get really tired some days and will need to rest in the afternoon, before dinner or something, and with the bun, I can only do it with my back up. Would it be ok to braid it while I'm home? Or would this cancel the benefits of wearing the bun instead of the braid (well, I will always have to braid it for sleep anyways...)...

So what do you think? :)

Thank's a lot for reading, I really liked wearing this bun today, but maybe it takes time to adjust, after 3 years of wearing it in a braid every single day...

:flowers:

jasper
September 28th, 2009, 04:50 PM
I'm surprised you had so many re-do's with that bun.

I think the lazy wrap is pretty easy on the hair. There's not twisting in it the way I do it, so I think it re-doing it would be safe enough. That being said, once I get a bun up, I don't usually re-do during an 8 hour day at work.

It seems like varying the style day to day would be a good way to avoid creating an area of damage from a repeated type of stress.

kwaniesiam
September 28th, 2009, 05:07 PM
I'm another daily braider, and I find it difficult not to mess with my hair when i wear it in a bun, because no matter how secure I'm just not used to it and feel like its too loose or going to fall down or something. Just practice and you'll get used to it, I also suggest investing in some Amish pins. They're great for helping to secure a bun when a stick or fork just isn't enough on its own.

little_acorn
September 28th, 2009, 05:10 PM
I tend to bun during the day - put up once (no redo-ing) and then oil and braid at night

Gabriel
September 28th, 2009, 05:16 PM
Eventually you might not have to redo your bun all day as you try more styles and variations and get used to the feel of them.

Infinity/figure eights hold well for me with just one hair stick and I hardly have to redo them throughout the day either.

I agree you might want to give some hairpins a try. Four double pointed knitting needles bent into pin shapes hold really well for me (when my hair isn't in super soft mode) and I can actually lay down with them in my hair and not have them poke my scalp (sometimes).

JamieLeigh
September 29th, 2009, 10:24 AM
My opinion is that you'll get used to the new styles after awhile. The more you do it, the less you'll have to RE-do it. I know others disagree, but for me, personally I find a braid to be more damaging - not only do I get breakage from leaving a rubber band around my ends all day (and yes I do it tightly - if I don't, it will fall off, and what's the point of a braid that unravels?), but I am just plain old paranoid about rubbing it around on my back all day long. It's just too much of a high-friction hairstyle for me.

ale
September 29th, 2009, 10:35 AM
I live in an equilibrium bun -put it up when I get up in the morning, let it down for the night; it works well and holds all day, even if its not tight.

dame-dancealot
September 29th, 2009, 10:48 AM
I live in a bun. I guess it started as a habit when I was a dancer (ballet/tap/jazz) and you can't have your hair in your face, or on your neck. I also find that its a lot faster to put up as my hair gets longer. It takes a fraction of the time to put my hair into a bun as opposed to a braid. In the mornings, that makes a big difference. When I put my hair in braids, my silky fine hair works its way out, and the braid loosens itself through the day. I love the way braids look, but my hair doesn't seem to want to stay in them, unless I do a wet braid.

bjt
September 29th, 2009, 10:51 AM
I rotate between braids (single or doubles), a nautilus bun and leaving it loose. But I never mess with it during the day--if its in a bun or a braid, it needs to stay there all day! The nautilus bun is the only one that really does that for me, so that's why I use it. Anything that I have to re-adjust 4 or 5 time during the day would drive me nuts!

maegquare
September 29th, 2009, 10:55 AM
I wore mine in a single braid every day for years. It took me awhile to notice that the elastic (even though it had no metal) was damaging my hair. Buns felt strange to me at first, too, but with practice, I rarely have to redo it all day. I like figure 8 buns or gibraltar buns best for being fast to fix and go and staying secure and comfortable all day.

nyemelis
September 29th, 2009, 11:09 AM
When I put my hair in braids, my silky fine hair works its way out, and the braid loosens itself through the day. I love the way braids look, but my hair doesn't seem to want to stay in them, unless I do a wet braid.[/quote]


I'm the same way. Braids take more to keep them looking nice, for me. Or maybe I am just really bad at braiding, but the top hair parts always just start sagging and pieces of hair start falling out at the top. SLOPPY.

HairColoredHair
September 29th, 2009, 11:13 AM
I rarely have to redo a bun during the day. If I do it's because I did it poorly the first time or knocked it out of whack... Usually a plain cinnabun with Wavelength pins holds all day.

I find it much more protective than braids, for though I like braids better, looks wise, my ends just dry out and get nasty tangly.

SpinDance
September 29th, 2009, 11:39 AM
For years I wore braids, either a single down the back, or double lace or French going into a single in the back, alternated on wash days with loose. Mainly because it just wiggled out and I didn't want to leave it wet forever by braiding wet. The double braids on my head helped to keep the whispies out of my face and eyes, and to keep things more secure, but the rubbing on my back did bring fuzzies out on the length of the braid in back. I nearly always would take it out when I got home from work or whatever, and put it into a single braid to keep it out of the way. I don't much like the way it can get unkempt looking after a while.

Now that I know my random 'neck pains' are migraines, not caused by wearing my hair up, I nearly always wear a bun. It took a little bit to get used to how it feels. Thanks to the videos and instructions found through LHC my buns are now very secure, with a single stick, fork, pins, whatever.

I don't have to take the buns down during the day, and if it's busy, I often don't. However, playing in my hair is part of the fun of having long hair (for me), so if I get fidgety I'll often redo my bun, sometimes switching to another one, or another toy.

When I sit on a couch or ride in the car I sometimes find that the bun I'm wearing gets in my way. Especially with wooden hair toys I've got fears of breaking them if they get bounced too hard against the back of the car headrest, so I'll take it down and either rebun, or just pull it around to the front, then rebun when I arrive at my destination.

I have been noticing differences in my hair over the last few weeks. It seems shinier and smoother, and sometimes I actually have waves that all stick sort of next to each other instead of fighting amongst themselves making poofy hair. Less shrubbery look, yay! This is after about 6 months of mainly wearing buns. I think that the buns protection of the length, along with the other changes I've made, like regular oiling, has been key to the improved health of my hair.

spidermom
September 29th, 2009, 11:55 AM
I think buns are pretty rotten for an every-day style because you can't lean back in high-back chairs or the car seat with them.

Gulbahar
September 29th, 2009, 12:05 PM
I think buns are pretty rotten for an every-day style because you can't lean back in high-back chairs or the car seat with them.
:D I don't sit in car seats or high-back chairs often, so a bun is a wonderful every-day style for me.
Little Bird, take it easy! Your hair is so thick and gorgeous - taking out your bun in the afternoon to braid it won't do any harm. Seriously. And if you learn how to do buns that stay all day you'll be better off anyway. May be you are doing them too loose at the moment?

Anje
September 29th, 2009, 12:14 PM
Most of my buns are 1-stick. It can be done!

I find Lazy Wrap buns to be a bit unstable for me, as well. What works?
Celtic knots are great.
Nautilus buns are very stable with a horizontal stick.
Turn a "cheater figure-8" on its side to get a very comfy infinity. (Figure 8s are OK, but I find a vertical stick is likely to pull or poke me in the neck.)
Eresh's method of putting a stick through the hair and wrapping a braid around behind the stick works really well and I don't need anything to secure the end.

Feel free to take it down in the evening and braid it. I usually do that, since my couch has a high back and I want to be comfy. As you said, it'll be braided for bed anyway.

Cherry_Sprinkle
September 29th, 2009, 12:20 PM
Buns for me.. My braid is pretty pathetic and I think my *buns make my hair look longer and thicker so I cheat where I can.

* I meant my hair buns :P

berr
September 29th, 2009, 12:53 PM
I think buns are pretty rotten for an every-day style because you can't lean back in high-back chairs or the car seat with them.


I found these wonderful soft-ish jaw clips. It takes 2 to hold up my hair in a folded over snake up and down the back of my head, but if I happen to lean back, they squish in a bit.

Gulbahar
September 29th, 2009, 01:14 PM
I find that a lazy wrap bun is very sturdy on me when I do it right. It all depends on the size of the loop - the smaller you make it, the tighter the bun will be.

Little_Bird
September 29th, 2009, 01:57 PM
Hey all, thank's for the amazing responses :flowers:

Today I did the same bun, but in a diferent way. Yesterday when I arrived home I redid it in the mirror and found out I was making it too low, and wasn't catching enough scalp hair. I noticed that if I lean back a little to grab the hair, instead of doing the low ponytail movement, it will hold so much better.

Today I only had to redo it 3 times, so I guess you're right that practice makes perfect. After just 2 days of doing this, I also noticed it's much more gentle on my ends, precicely because there's no elastic (even tough mines are very hair friendly).

I can't do pins tough... I find them unbearable and they just break my hair and don't stay in place. For me it has to be practical just as one stick and that's it :p I also agree tough, that a bun goes up much faster than a braid, and I also think it's fun to be able to put it down and up again so fast, it actually feels like one more side of being a long haired :cloud9:

So yeah, I might give it a try on other buns, and practice the lazy wrap more as well... it seems that practice makes perfect heh?

Thank's a lot! And I wonder SpiderMom, how do you keep your hair on a daily basis? I got curious, I tought you were a bun lady too :)

Thank yous!!! :flowers:

Little_Bird
September 30th, 2009, 04:42 PM
I've got another question :D

I wore a braid again today and I really can see the diference on the feel of my ends after a day with the braid, compared to a day with the bun. I'm probably going to keep trying the buns...

So, I wonder... As the bun is suported by the scalp hair, is there any damage, even if long term, to the roots or to the hair itself?

I don't feel my hair pulling, and if I do, I just redo my bun, but I just have this begginer concern about buns :p

Thank's for all the help :flowers:

Anje
September 30th, 2009, 09:02 PM
I suppose there's some potential for damage if you wear the exact same bun with the stick in the same place every single day. That said, I have trouble envisioning that you could suffer much without some discomfort, but it's probably good practice to vary the location and type of bun you do.

There are plenty of people who do wear the same bun secured the same way, day in and day out, who don't seem to suffer any hair loss or damage from this practice. Just be sure to readjust if your bun is pulling uncomfortably.

little_acorn
September 30th, 2009, 09:16 PM
I also worried a bit about that, so all I do is do a different bun each day and move it round. I'm a one stick bun girl (I sometimes use 2, with the second purely as decoration). I haven't noticed any damage from this and I've been bunning for years. I hope that helps :D

walkinglady
September 30th, 2009, 09:49 PM
Throughout your transition from braids to buns it will take time to get used to the look, find the right styles, and the best hairtools to hold the styles. I personally love ficcares. They hold through anything! If you have a Nordstroms near you they carry them. They will let you try on the different sizes to see which one feels comfortable. I like mediums best. My hair is just past tailbone and I can still use this size although many others here prefer a large at this length. Hope I've been some help and Happy Bunning : )