Thick-haired People, does this happen to you?

[curlytm]

So with my thick, in between shoulder and APL hair, I venture to do all sorts of styles that my hair isn't long enough for yet.

Buns that wrap around the base of the pony are out of the question. But I did a rope braid! It maybe had...3 bumps?

Then I thought, I'll BUN IT! I love love love rose buns. It barely wraps around into a bun, but I pinned it and there it was. A rose bun. I took a quick picture of the back of my head to see how it looks, and....what the heck?!? It's a lumpy mess with a whole bunch of pieces sticking out.

I had to laugh. I had thought that MAYBE MAYBE I had made a tiny, perfect little rose bun. I'm keeping it up anyway, because it looks...creative...if not like anything recognizable.


Ahh, thick hair.

[slythwolf]

I had to get to waist before I could reliably do a half-decent looking bun.

[2peasinapod]

Yes, definitely. My hair is between APL and BSL, and I'm going through the exact same thing. My hair is simply wider than it is long, and I have a really hard time doing some styles that others can at my length. It's especially frustrating when I see videos of people with shorter hair than me doing styles that I can't yet! And, I also get those horrible pieces sticking out all over the place because of my layers! :mad:

[krissykins]

My hair is layered, so I could do some styles at APL, but I didn't get the rose bun down til waist. But until I got there, I had fluffy messes on my head. Hahaha! You'll get it down too when your hair is longer :)

[Loreley]

I agree, thick hair can cause some problems. I couldn't do a proper celtic knot before reaching 45". After making the knot (even if I made it really thight) there was no hair left to wrap around the bun and I couldn't secure it.

[selderon]

I'm with you! I'm just past shoulders and not yet APL. I can do a French braid with two bumps (LOL, I just typed that as "with two bums"...don't ask, I don't know!). I have yet to try a rope braid.

So far the only bun I can do relatively well with all my hair is a sock bun. Other than that, I can do a cinnabun with the top third of my hair... if it is wet.

[xoxophelia]

I don't do fancy buns also because of thickness issues. I figure my hair needs at least... 4" minimum. It does help though that i have a degree of natural taper as well as unnatural from illness. A common trick is to just split whatever you are doing in half. So two braids instead of one, two little buns right beside eachother or on the sides instead of one.

With my thickness growing down I am also rapidly outgrew a new hairtoy in about 2 months -_-;

[pepperminttea]

I feel your pain. At just past waist, my braided buns still don't look quite right. I'm hoping that by hip or TB, things will have begun to look a little more even, but we'll see. :)

[halo_tightens]

It does suck, doesn't it?

I've only recently become able to do a cinnabun and a lazy wrap bun, and a braided bun would be absolutely out of the question. It's just too thick and bulky to wrap around itself to make most buns.

I love my thick hair, don't get me wrong. It's just frustrating sometimes not being able to do styles that others can do with the same or less length. Sigh...

[bunzfan]

I wouldn't say i have thick hair but i still cant do a Nautilus without the base looking ridiculously thick and not quite right, but i can do a braided one strange.

[spidermom]

Creative is good. Personally, I reallyreallyreally dislike copying other people's styles. I always try to tweak basic techniques in a way that makes my styles look uniquely mine.

[princessp]

Absolutely!

[Madora]

The thing to remember with thick hair is to section it before tackling a style (especially helpful if it is still relatively short (mid back).

You may have better luck using half of your hair volume for a rosebun and then using the other half to form a braid or twist around it.

Same goes for doing a french "dutch" braid down the back of your head. Braid down until you reach the nape, then divide the remaining hair in 2 portions. Braid one section in a single braid and then pin it clockwise around the center braid. Braid the remaining loose hair in a braid and pin it counterclockwise around the center braid.

Of course you can really experiment more easily when your hair is waist length (or longer)..but it definitely helps if you section your hair (and makes it a lot more comfortable too!).

[MissManda]

Yes. My braided buns are actually braided blobs and my hair is between waist and hip length with taper from layers and grown-out bangs. I have to divide my hair into two or three smaller braids in order to make a presentable bun.

[patienceneeded]

Same hair problems here! Too thick to bun for the most part, I'm gonna need to be at least BSL or Waist to be able to do most buns well. Ah well...all the mopre reason to grow it longer, right?

[Amelia]

Oh, yes! ;)

I used to think i was doing an Equilibrium bun back in the day, and I really wasn't.. it was just a mess lol
This is perhaps the reason why I got to inventive with braids. Braids like the French or the Dutch or lace are very pretty, look more complicated then they are, and you have something to show, even if it's not length!

I think (aka pray) that once i'm at waist (which should happen this year) I'll be finally able to do a lot more in the bun department.

[UltraBella]

I can't do most buns and I am at hip. I think my hair's thickness is a big factor but I also think I am just really bun "challenged".

[Hiriel]

Hehe, I'm past hip now, and my rose bun still looks rather lumpy. Might be because I'm lousy at rope braiding though ;)

[squintinschool]

Oh yes. Best thing ever was finding the vortex technique. It really helps shift my buns from 'odd looking blobs' to something almost pretty.

[Vervaine]

I am totally in this category. All my braids are BSL man-eating beasts, and trying to contain my hair in any sort of bun is just impossible. Sadly, if I want it worn up, I'm stuck with either a bajillion bobby pins, or a strange elastic-strangled fuzzy wad. So, the turbo-braid it is.

[hanne jensen]

I'm at BSL and I still can't do buns that are for APL hair. I just put it up into something half-way between an untwisted cinnabun and a doggy-do bun. I still can't use hairsticks.

[EricaLee83]

I'm here too. The only time I can achieve a fairly decent bun is when I do it with wet hair. And even then, not really what I want it to look like. At the moment, jaw clips and pins are my bff's ;)
Thanks for the tips Madora, I am going to try sectioning and see what success I have.

[ScarlettAdelle]

I had to get to hip before a standard, braided bun looked anything but awkward. Now, at tailbone it looks ok and I wear it a lot... APL-Waist was just one huge awkward phase for me. I don't think I'll ever go back to above tailbone. I can FINALLY do stuff with my hair.

[Islandgrrl]

I still can't do a decent looking braided bun (or is it bunned braid?) and I can't get an equilibrium bun to wrap around yet. Sigh.....looks like I need to keep growing!

[AshNight1214]

Definitely! Ugh, I'm at about hip right now and I can't make some BSL styles look right at all! >.< I finally just kind of resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to wait until classic for a alot of those.

[lapushka]

I'm an inch past waist length, and a nautilus bun is barely possible (an extra couple inches would be nice). I might have to get to classic before I get decent looking buns.

[Kelikea]

I tried a rose bun today, but failed. Not sure why it won't work. I make a ponytail, rope braid, but then I don't know which way to twist and wrap it around so the rope doesn't unravel or just look like a regular bun. Any suggestions?

[Madora]

I tried a rose bun today, but failed. Not sure why it won't work. I make a ponytail, rope braid, but then I don't know which way to twist and wrap it around so the rope doesn't unravel or just look like a regular bun. Any suggestions?

When you twist each section, always twist in the same direction.
Once you have both sections twisted, bring them to the back of your head, then twist them around each other, but in the opposite direction (ie if you twisted them to the right, twist them to the left).

Torrin Paige has a very good tutorial on this style on You Tube.

[mathnerd]

I find the same thing....I've only really started to learn to do different types of buns (other than the standard cinnamon bun). However, no matter which I try nothing seems to work. I always just get frustrated and give up, lol. Maybe my hair needs more length? It's either that or I'm still not using my (cheap) hairsticks correctly, lol.

[Kelikea]

When you twist each section, always twist in the same direction.
Once you have both sections twisted, bring them to the back of your head, then twist them around each other, but in the opposite direction (ie if you twisted them to the right, twist them to the left).

Torrin Paige has a very good tutorial on this style on You Tube.


I know how to make the rope braid, I wear one sometimes, but I don't know how to twist the rope braid around the pony to create the bun. It just looks like a blob.

[katsrevenge]

There are currently two basic bun things I can do well. I can twist up a tight cinnabun/bee butt thing (I think this is what it is called? twist tight and coil and then stick the ends in?) or I can do a really messy one stick thing.

Everything else I have tried is blobby or falls out. Part of this may be my lack of skill but I'm hoping it gets better. And I really want a braided bun, any braided bun... maybe I'll try two braids.. (And if anyone has a nice how-to with video/pictures.. a link is lovely!)

[jeanniet]

I can make a relatively neat and compact pencil bun (but that's starting to not work well because my hair is getting too long for it) and a lazy wrap. Sometimes a decent cinnabun. Other than that, I need longer hair--still! I thought waist would be long enough, but looks like I need more like hip or TB. What I really need to do is learn how to braid better. I can manage a basic braid, but that's about it.

[Sewas]

I can't do any other buns except a regular bun. My hair is just above waist length, and is medium thick but very, very coarse, super straight, and very slippery. I have to use two medium claws on either side of the bun to secure it. Hairpins pop out and hairsticks slide right out no matter how much I weave it in. Thanks for the "sectioning hair" tip, I will definately try that.

[Tabihito]

At least your rose bun experience is not only a thick hair thing- I have pretty thin hair, and it's close to BSL (top of the strap now), and still can't do one. It just looks a lumpy mess. Rose bun, I think, is just one of those simple buns that just happens to take a lot of hair to be able to do.

[Zesty]

My rose buns look lumpy and silly and awful too. If I rope braid all of my hair, it gets really stiff and doesn't wrap well, and the bumps are too big to do anything with. There are also lots of escapees. So I feel your pain. I do a roped vortex bun with two rope braids instead to get a prettier effect. And I honestly can't really do any kind of braided updo with all of my hair at this point (I'm just shy of waist).

[chopandchange]

My hair is past tailbone length now, and I STILL can't do a neat-looking rose bun, either. It just looks like a lumpy mess.

I'm not really that bothered. I have two buns that do work for me, so I just stick to them.

[Anje]

I had to get to waist before I could reliably do a half-decent looking bun.
Ah, but the first buns you thick-haired folks can do are decent looking. The first buns us thinnies can do look like we stapled a peanut to the back of our heads.

[PiratesRose]

Twist the braid in the same direction that you braided, then wrap going the opposite way; like a basic "cinnamon bun"-- Ex: twist the braid to the right, wrap around the pony towards the left. Very Important: DO NOT twist the braid too tightly or the bun will look wonky. Good luck!! :)

[darklyndsea]

I think it looks like I have a pillow attached to the back of my head whenever I wear a bun, even though my hair is only a couple of inches longer than when I can first start to do buns. Too bad it doesn't feel like one...either the stick's poking into me/in danger of snapping, or the pins are falling out when I lean back on my bun.

[TheCaityCat]

When I was a teenager and put my hair in a braided bun, it looked like I'd gone to Cinnabon and stuck one of their pecan buns on the back of my head. Same size and almost the same color. And my hair wasn't even waist length. Regular buns were also unwieldy and required a lot more pinning and finessing, so I didn't bother with it. If my hair's any shorter, buns don't quite work; instead I just twist my hair up with a fork or some sticks.

[BlazingHeart]

I'm at waist and I still can't do buns, even things like the lazy-wrap that are supposed to be among the shorter buns. I can't get more than one turn on a cinnamon bun, so I can sort of make it stay if I use a few claw clips, but then I feel like that makes my head look unbelievably massive because I already have a big head and a ton of hair.

~Blaze

[ibleedlipstick]

I'm just past BSL, about 4 inches from waist, and I can't do anything other than a lazy wrap bun without 5000000 pins added to the stick. It drives me insane. I have a few shorter layers in the front, and they don't save me anything.

[Kelikea]

Twist the braid in the same direction that you braided, then wrap going the opposite way; like a basic "cinnamon bun"-- Ex: twist the braid to the right, wrap around the pony towards the left. Very Important: DO NOT twist the braid too tightly or the bun will look wonky. Good luck!! :)


So, if I twisted the right section to the right and crossed over the left (to create the rope), then I also twist the finished rope braid to the right and wrap left?

[faithsdaisy421]

I am so glad that I am not the only one that has problems with buns and my thick hair! I felt so incompetent because I couldn't do a simple cinnamon bun!

Thank you TLHC!

[beccababesx]

Yep, I can't do anything except a messy cinnabun at MBL...