Haireography

                                                           my beloved top-knot :]
                                                  (with muh daddy in the background!)
                                                      picture curtesy of my lil sister.

I have naturally very thick hair. It is both a blessing and a curse: blessing because I rarely actually have to do anything, and a curse because any time I want to do my hair, I have to do battle. I have to use a literal ton of hairspray if I want a curl to hold; it takes about a thousand bobby pins to keep my hair in any kind of braid, and buns usually look like giant balls of yarn on top of my head. But! I have begun to discover different ways to actually style my hair :] So I'm implementing a new plan, I'm going to try one new hairstyle a week for the rest of the year, complete with blog posts and pictures :] This post will be for this coming week (27-3). I've loved the top-knot trend ever since it started and every time I tried it, it ended up horribly :[ I tried countless tutorials (that work for most of my friends, so I'll post the link :] ) but none of them ever worked. But one day I was taking a much needed bubble bath and my hair was getting in the way so I dunked my head under the water and just put it in a bun. Low and behold, when I got out of the bath I was stunned to see that I had a perfect top-knot. I was so excited I literally squealed, jumped up and down and then slipped and almost cracked my head open... Anyway! I went ahead and slept on the bun, woke up the next day and only needed about four bobby pins to hold everything in place. It's now my favorite hairstyle, and I probably wear it too much but that doesn't make it any less cute :] More pics of new hairstyles to come!

xxo taylor.


For those of you lucky enough not to have to go underwater to accomplish an adorable hairstyle, here are the links from thebeautydepartment.com- Lauren Conrad's blog

http://thebeautydepartment.com/hair/page/18/

for this bun, scroll down and watch the video titled "The Ballerina Bun" 

Actually! The link for this one was working, so here's the copy and pasted version :]
This is the fun bun, it's more intricate than the bun I did for this post, and I'm still trying to conquer it, but it's way fun! (hence the name)

photos: Angela Kohler + thebeautydepartment.com post designed by kristin ess

In a world where we can’t stop running late, the fun bun is probably the quickest way from A to Chic. This look comes in über-handy when you wake up late and you’re rushing out the door (or even if you have plenty of time). It’s such a high-brow/low-brow look. Meaning it can be paired with anything from jeans and a tank to a chiffon tiered dress. It’s amazing for the summer because some days when it’s really hot outside, allwe want is to get that hair off our neck + shoulders! You can leave this plain & simple with no accessories, pair it with a headband or add a little sparkle by bobby-pinning in a jeweled brooch at the base. This works with ANY hair type from curly to frizzy to pin-straight. It’s also amazing for those days when you know your hair needs to be shampooed but you JUST DON’T WANNA! Spray some dry shampoo at the roots and follow the steps below. This is a more messy alternative to the ballerina bun…

Step 1: If your hair is straight, use a 1″ curling iron to curl everything under. This will make it easier to tuck pieces into the bun. When they’re straight, they tend to pop out more. If you have wave or curl you can skip this step if you want to.

Step 2: Flip your hair over and gather everything into a ponytail on top of you head, securing it with an elastic ponytail holder.

Step 3: On the last time around with the ponytail holder, only pull the ponytail through half way.

Step 4: Take the loop you’ve created and spread it out. Don’t over think it. Just widen it and allow it to be somewhat messy.

Step 5: Take the tail end and wrap it around the ponytail base.

Step 6: Pin the end of the ponytail to the base using a couple of hair pins/bobby pins.

Step 7: Gently pull on pieces and then pin them. This will give your top-knot a slightly more messy texture.

Step 8: Spray a veil of medium hold hairspray all over. Don’t smooth down all of the fly aways, just lightly tuck the pieces that have gone rogue!

Enjoy the fun bun!

XX Kristin Ess

If you suffer from thick hair like I do, here's how I do my Bathtub Bun (TM ;] )

1. Take a relaxing bath!

2. Make sure hair is fully brushed out, completely soaked and slicked back.

3. Tilt head back, almost completely going under water, and gather hair into a rather high ponytail

4. Wrap hair around base of ponytail, flattening hair to scalp as you go, it'll help tame the voluminous beast that usually results from a top-knot attempt)

5. Wrap an elastic to secure the bun

once you get out of the bath you'll either need to blow dry it or let it dry over night (I haven't tried the blowdrying approach so i don't know how that'll affect the bun) then you can use bobby pins to secure any fly-aways, letting the bun be as messy or refined as you want.

That's my first ever hair tutorial! I hope it was instructive enough :]

Enjoy fashionistas!!