The iconic curly messy bun is highly coveted for those short on time and hair ideas. Having spent most of my relaxed-haired life in a messy bun (with really horrible bangs, I might add) I thought I was saying goodbye to those "messy buns" forever when my hair returned to its naturally curly state. Currently, I tend to plop a hat on top of my hair when it's at its most unmanageable. However, as my kinks start to grow past my shoulders, I can't help long for the cuteness of a curly, messy bun.
My inspiration comes from a new bartending coworker with loose, long curls that the health department would have a field day over. Her look of choice? Curly messy bun for days. Since she is my most recent hair crush, I cherish, dream about, and thoroughly envy everything she does with her strands. As hair crushes seem to go, though, we have completely different hair types, making my attempts to copy her messy bun look like an entirely different style. Luckily, every curl pattern can achieve a messy bun; the trick is just knowing how to scoop those curls up without hearing that terrifying sound of snagging.
Check out these three ways you can wear a curly messy bun. Remember, the most important factor in your messy bun is an ouchless elastic — or scrunchies, if you're feeling nostalgic.
1. For Kinky Curls
If you want to keep your hair in a protective style, your "messy" bun, will have to be slightly neat to keep those ends protected. Detangle your hair with fingers and apply a tiny bit of moisturizer around the hairline to push your hair as far to the top as possible. Tie a loose knot and use bobby pins to pin down the hair on the outside of the ouchless elastic to band. You can then make your bun as messy as you like by leaving some curls out and others inside the pins.
2. For Bouncy Ringlets
Riann knows how to work that one-step messy bun. She simply takes her lusty curls and scoops them in a ponytail, high on the crown of her head. Then, she'll section the ponytail in two halves, wrap it loosely around the elastic, and secure it with bobby pins as necessary.
3. For Loose Curls
For those anxiously waiting for your curls to grow further, I have good news. Your hair doesn't need to be crazy long to pull off a messy bun. For this messy bun, I parted the hair on one side and loosely twisted each side of the hair then put the remainder in a pony tail. Next, I took two halves of the hair and wrapped them around each other, securing with two bobby pins.
All of these techniques are crazy simple, and will keep your curls protected all day long.
Image: Shareefah Mapp (1), Riann Steele (1), Kristin Collins Jackson (1)
