DD needs her hair in a bun; any ideas how I can do that?

[KatyMac]

Before you start helpful technical stuff; have a look at my profile....not the attractive red sofa (it was my mums) but the photos of DD

Her hair is about 6 inches longer & a lot bigger now; it has to be a bun not a high pony or a plait

Any thoughts?

I was going to suggest you cheat and put it in a pony tail then twist the hair around the hair band and pin it. Having looked at your daughter's hair I think this would actually work pretty well as the curls would hide the fact it is a cheat bun not a proper one.

I once had my hair put in a proper bun when I was 7 and went to my uncle's wedding and it involved a trip to the hairdresser to achieve so I have no idea how to do a real one, sorry.

I would go with the wrapped round ponytail or a bun ring you buy from, say,
Boots. it's like a foam donut.

I've not looked at the photos but I remember what your DDs hair is like :)

my dd needed s bun for ballet. i used a doughnut thing that the hair got wrapped around and fastened in place with hairpins. Her dance teacher advised us to use a very fine hairnet over it. The net wasn't really obvious once it was all done.

Primark is currently selling hair accessories for buns. It's a foam ring with mesh on the outside. You do a normal ponytail, place the ring around the bobble, then tuck the hair around the ring.

DD has very long hair and it held hers fine. Mine is shoulder length and it gave me a fab looking bun though did require hairspray to hold it in place.

Only £1! And they do a blonde one and a dark one.

Sadly I look like a chubby ballerina but DD looks great with it in.

Well so far the teacher has said put it in a pony & put a net over it

But her hair is so strong we have single use bobbles her - you know those thick brown/black ones with the metal bit? for tying it up she uses the same sort of bobble but hair band length & they last about 4 days (whether the conditioner rots them or DD's hair is so strong it splits them I'm not sure

So that net is a non-starter it will rip/rot before the class is out

I'm dreading this can you tell?

My DGD has similar hair and needs a bun for ballet. I do pony tail twist pin and secure with fine hairnet.

Sounds like the foam donut plus kirby grips is the only way forward.

Having searched black hair bun on you tube, you can make a donut out of a sock (roll it down into a donut shape and cut the toe off). none of the girls seemed to have your DDs curls though. worth looking at and you should find out if it would work before using a bun ring.

You have to have a very tight ponytail and twist firmly then coil and be very quick to pout a net on (double over if necessary) and lots of pins. Copious amounts of gloop gel/hairspray at each stage may make it more manageable.

try 'spin pins' to fix the bun, I think they're fab and they do the job of a handful of kirby grips. lots of links to see videos on youtube and you can buy them in boots or asda etc I think.

I'm not sure you would have much luck with a donut as your dd's hair is so thick. I would put it in a pony and twist then secure with plenty of kirby grips. After you have secured it put a bun net over the top.

I was going to suggest the spin pin too

I have them and they are fantastic even on really long thick hair, I have used them on a friends waist lenghth thick hair

One word of advice though, DONOT buy them off amazon as they want something silly like £47 for a pack of six, whilst asda sell them in a two pack for under a fiver

Best way is hair into a pony, bun ring on, spread hair over ring (stick your finger down the ponytail to split it, and then put another ponytail band over the whole thing. Then just tuck the ends round with hairpins.

This way is totally solid - I learnt it watching a whole load of teen cheerleaders having their hair done on a flight in the US

BTW - Goodys hair bands last far longer than any other I have ever bought, and no metal bits

CMOT that sounds fab! Thank you, I'm always having to fiddle about with kirby grips, can't believe I didnt think to use another band.

The type of pin you use to secure it makes all the difference...

you should be using <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=hair+pins&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Yug&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1272&bih=706&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=31Zfq6Wq8MHUlM:&imgrefurl=boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php%3Ft%3D524116&docid=OImO2KJh-W7sXM&w=449&h=329&ei=iit2TvvEJO6V0QXilKGXCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=973&vpy=400&dur=1960&hovh=192&hovw=262&tx=191&ty=136&page=3&tbnh=108&tbnw=158&start=44&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:23,s:44" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this sort of pin, not bobby pins/kirby grips/whatever you want to call them.

the trick is to poke the pin in a little way, then turn it nearly 180 degrees and push it all the way through IYSWIM. Just poking it straight in doesn't give any hold. My grandma taught me this, she had old school victorian schoolmarm bun-making skills

DD & I have had a go & CMOTdibbler's double band is the best; it's not completely tidy but it's secure

We have had Goody's hair bands but can't always get them locally - their longer bands are what we use daily (but they only tend to last about 4 or 5 uses - each time she takes a band out it is less elastic)

I wouldn't even bother trying to put it in an actual bun if I were you. Just stick a hairnet over a ponytail and kirby grip or hair pin the edges to keep it in place and neaten it.

This is what I used to do, I did ballet up till I was 18. I have curly hair, not as curly as your DDs but pretty voluminous!

Also, Tesco do some really good hairbands - no metal on them to come apart.

Gel is your friend, you slick the hair back with gel into a pony tail, held with a band the same colour as the hair. Take another handful of gel smooth it down the pony tail twisting the pony tail as you go. You should be able to form a bun round the base of the pony tail and tuck the ends under. I now do a couple of hair pins, one near the bottom of the bun and one just as you tuck the ends under. The trick is to go under the ponytail band locking the bun back to the head. Bun net on (you can wrap them over two or three times just like a hair band until they are tight). Two or three more hair pins at the sides.
Hair spray or more gel to tidy any flyaway bits. Although I'm reliably informed the hair spray is totally useless on wiry curls.

Bun nets and old fashioned hair pins can often be found in small independent chemists (Boots are useless and expensive) else go online and find the companies that sell RADA ballet uniform because you have to have buns for exams.

Have you tried hair elastics with hooks on them? I bought some ages ago in Boots but not found them since, but you can buy them online here. I've never used this brand so can't vouch for them, but just to give you an idea.

They work much better for me - you don't have to stretch a band over the hair to get it to hold. I have thick wavy hair that isn't really anything like your DD's, but my hair bobbles still go within a week or so. I cherish the one hook one I haven't lost...

Also, instead of a normal bun net, have you tried a riding hair net like these? It's not designed to hold a bun, but more a volume of hair, so should be stronger. When I was dancing if my mum couldn't find our bun nets she'd grab a riding one and just keep folding it over itself until it was small enough.

Just realised how pushy my mum sounds. She really wasn't!

I'm going to try the double bobble method (cheapest) initially

Then if that doesn't work I'll look at the bungees and the horse nets

Hi I cant see the photo so this is just a stab in the dark and might not be helpful. My dd has long fly away hair and she puts it into a pony tail and then twists it around onitself and tucks it back into the pony tail to make a bun. She has to use the thick hair elastic bands as the thin ones just break. You could try it with a scrunchie ?

Thin ones break & thick ones are single use they snap when you take them out

I have a plan - I'll let you all know how it goes on

The double bobble doesn't work

& the net doesn't work

But together we might have a chance

I need a large firm net (the fine ones do rip) and some large pokie pins (the fine ones bent) on top of the double bobble. And I need to secure the bun to her head with the pins