Ever since the trend of “man buns,” has taken off, plenty of people—girls and boys—are seen nowadays sporting half-up, half-down dos with a bun secured in the middle of their heads, while the rest of their hair cascades down from it. It’s a wonder this trend didn’t start sooner, because it goes with every kind of dress whether you’re wearing it casually, dressing up, or even in the office! Whether it’s securely fastened on the top of your head or back of your head, or thrown up in a messier fashion, it’s the perfect solution to second-day hair when you either don’t have time to shower, or don’t wash your hair every day. So, to begin this, I will provide a step-by-step tutorial of the two methods I usually take for creating this look, and then tell you how you can dress it up for wherever you’re headed that day!
Tutorial 1: Top-Knot, Secured Bun
Both styles are easiest with second-day, unwashed hair. Start with hair down, and you don’t want to brush it either, as it could expand and frizz.
Take a section with your thumbs halfway down your head that you feel looks best in a half-up, half-down style.
Pull the section of hair towards the top of your head (if you want the bun to be at the top of your head, otherwise pull it to the spot you want it to be secured in). I personally find it easiest to also finger-comb the section so there’s no part in the hair once the bun is put in, but if you like your part to show while your hair is up, that’s fine too.
Begin twisting the hair as you continue to hold it upright.
Once twisted, wrap the hair around itself while continuing to twist until you get the bun into a desired shape and position.
While holding the bun in place with one hand, begin securing it with a hair elastic.
I you still want to change the shape once the bun is secured, press it down further to your head by securing a few bobby pins.
Tutorial 2: Messy Bun
This one goes a little quicker and is a bit harder to show in steps, because almost everyone has a different system of creating a messy bun. You can do that with half your hair as well, as most messy buns come out differently every time you do them; here’s how I go about doing my messy buns:
As soon as I gather my hair, I take the elastic and begin as if I were making a ponytail.
I get the hair about halfway through, and then grab all the hair together in my hand. Once I do that, I take the hair in my hand and secure it like I would a regular topknot bun.
Again, this can be secured wherever you like on your head, whether it’s in the back or on top. Also, if you aren’t satisfied with the way the bun comes out, you can either try it again, or secure bobby pins to help with the style.
So now that you know how to do it, here’s when to wear it!
While wearing it casually, you can obviously wear the bun any way you like. I personally like to wear the topknot with darker colors in the fall and winter because it looks simple, precise and clear-cut. It goes well with solid colors and muted patterns, which makes up a lot of winter and fall clothing.
The bun also goes perfectly with the bright colors and patterns for the spring! For this, I like to use the messy style, because it gets the hair out of my face on the warmer days, but leaves some hair down to dress up the rest of my outfit. It’s the perfect windswept, carefree look for either a walk on a nice spring day, or a day out at the beach in the summer when you don’t feel like pulling all your hair back.
You can even wear this style around the office in a more professional setting. For this, I suggest the topknot secured to the back of your head so it looks more put-together and intentional. Employers and managers like to see that their employees put effort into what they wear at the office or anywhere else they are being represented, so making sure it is secured to your head shows the effort, and you still have something you can do with your second-day hair!
There you have it! Looks for every part of your day where the “I-don’t-feel-like-showering hair” can be put to good use!