Most people would presume with the amount of hair on my head – and there is a lot – it would be a priority in my beauty regime but this is most certainly not the truth. Aside from chopping the locks off of non-consenting Barbie dolls, my efforts in hair styling have taken a backseat over the years with make-up taking up about 99.9 per cent of my getting ready time. My hair has always sort of just been there, like a rejected and rather sad mop. However, I’ve been trying to incorporate a few quick and easy hairstyles over the past few months which I can just about manage! If you, like me, have been blessed with more hair than you know what to do with, keep reading!
Space Buns
They’re just as exciting as they sound! Space buns are actually very similar to Bantu knots which have been worn by women of colour for centuries and often feature multiple, tightly wound buns all over the head. My space buns are slightly less intricate and a lot messier! I usually like to wear two twisted buns formed only by half of my hair – I’ll explain this more later. Context: the first time I wore this hairstyle was last Halloween when I couldn’t locate my Minnie Mouse ears – I’m very resourceful, you know. I quickly realised I was actually quite on trend with my variation of the chignon-esque buns as famously long-haired celebs like Ariana Grande and Sofia Vergara have donned the intergalactic ‘do in recent months.
1. Protection is key, I first spray Superdrug Argan Hair Therapy 10-in-1 Multi-Purpose Spray (£3.99, Superdrug) all over my hair and distribute it throughout with a paddle brush.
2. To curl my hair, I use my absolute holy grail BaByliss Thermo-Ceramic Hair Rollers (£30, Look Fantastic), just roll 4-inch widths of hair (starting at the crown of your head) using rollers of different sizes depending on your preferences.
3. Next, I spray Toni&Guy Sky High Volume Dry Shampoo (£8.25, Boots) all over my hair from a distance about 30cm and ‘sczoosh’ my hair up with my hands to loosen the curls and provide more texture for the next step.
4. I part my hair in the middle and grab about a 5-inch section of hair from the front of each side of my head and use small hair-bobbles to make a cute little ponytail on both sides before using a brush to gently tease each one.
5. And finally we make the buns! I take each ponytail and twist the hair as I wind each into a small bun, then secure with hairgrips and I set it all in place with Silvikrin Hairspray (£3.09, Superdrug).
The Little Old Lady Bun
Don’t be put off by the name – invented by me, due to compliments received by elderly women– this hairstyle is actually really cute and classy and super quick. I came across this particular hairdo when looking for a messy bun tutorial and I decided I preferred this, no offence to the messy-bun wearers amongst you. This is my most worn hairstyle on a day-to-day basis, especially when I’ll be at work and need to have a complete absence of hair within any proximity to my face. Not only is the style practical but it’s also rather attractive if I may say so myself – a lovely loose knot which would catch you quite a few glances if you were a lady of the Edwardian era or of the 21st century, of course.
1. The first step for this hairstyle is to take all of your hair into a high small bun (don’t worry about excess hair, the aim here is to resemble a turnip). If it’s easier, turn your upside down to brush your hair through and collect it all from there.
2. With the hair left out from the bun, take small strands and twist each individually before tucking back into the hair-bobble used to create the original bun. This step is easiest if you take strands from alternate sides of the bun.
3. Next I take sometimes quite a large number of hair grips to secure the bun in place, it might need a bit of shifting about but don’t worry, with a bit of determination it will eventually behave.
4. The last step is just to set with a hairspray of your choice, you could also pull out a few strands of hair at the front to give it a looser look but that’s completely up to you!
Half-Up, Half-Down Glam
This is my ultimate go-to for a night out when I’m looking for effortless va-va-voom. My hair is extra thick and although this is a bonus for achieving volume, it means my head has a permanent insulation layer surrounding it which means I get extremely extremely hot. Because of this, when a night out comes around, I like to make sure I’ll at least have some of my hair tucked out of the way to prevent over-heating and endless frustration. This particular hairstyle is perfect as half of my hair is pulled up into a Fergie-like ponytail whilst the rest sits looking pretty in loose curls. If you wanted to adapt this hairdo for a daytime look, I’ve really been liking the look of it with a large scrunchie instead of a normal hair bobble to dress it down while giving it a 90’s style.
1. Because we will be using heat again, I spray my hair first with a heat protectant, because I tend to do this hairdo for a night out I always use my Lee Stafford Heat Protection Shine Mist (£6.49, Boots). I just spray it all over my hair and brush it through as I do with my Argan heat protectant spray.
2. I use the same BaByliss rollers to curl my hair in the exact same way I would if I were doing space buns. Then I spray Batiste Heavenly Volume Dry Shampoo (£3.99, Boots) on my hair because I think it gives it slightly more volume than the Toni&Guy spray which is what we need for this ‘do.
3. Now we just have to grab about a quarter of the hair from the top of the head and secure it in a high ponytail, make sure you pull it tight so you get the full Fergie effect. If you did want to make this look more day-time casual, you could substitute a hair-bobble for a large scrunchie here.
4. The last and most important step is to lock that sh*t in place, because this is my out-out hairstyle I use Sexy Hair Big Spray (£14.95, Look Fantastic) and spray it aallll over.
I hope you’ve found this blog post a nice change from my usual makeup-based posts and most importantly, I hope it’s been useful and you’ll be trying the hairstyles I’ve mentioned yourselves! I would love to hear any of your tried and tested hairstyles for long hair – nothing too complicated, mind! Leave a comment sharing your favourite quick and easy hairdo so we can all learn from each other, thank you for reading and remember practice makes perfect!
Thank you so much for reading,
Hannah x
HannahHighlights 