Hairstyles - Rope-braided length shortening buns

In today's post, I'll be showing two length-shortening buns (I also call them half-updos). These are great if you want to put up your hair but still show some length, or if you want to experiment with shorter lengths for a change :)

1. Rope-braided length-shortening bun

I wear this one fairly often. It involves rope-braiding and parandas.

• For this style, I used:

-An elastic without metal for the initial ponytail.

-A paranda (info about making parandas and braiding them into hair here). The paranda is optional, but a nice addition if you want added volume, hold and colour.

-A stick, flexi-8 or clip.

-Optional claw-clips and/or open bun pins for added hold.

• Steps:

Video tutorial:

1. Pull your hair into a high ponytail and secure it with a hair-friendly elastic without metal. I find this style works best on medium to high ponytails, but of course, that depends on your personal likings.

2. Divide your hair into two parts. We're going to rope braid it adding a paranda.

The rope braid is, in my opinion, one of the simplest braids alongside the three-strand braid. Here is a tutorial. When you add a paranda, the method is similar (see video tutorial above): First of all, instead of three sections you want the paranda to have two, given that this braid only has two sections. I do this by dividing the middle strand of the paranda equally between the left and right one. Then you add one section to each section of hair and twist the two combined hair+paranda strands to form a rope braid in the usual fashion. Be extra careful not to let the paranda slide down when you start twisting!

3. Now you have a rope-braided high ponytail, to form the length-shortening bun you start coiling the length around the ponytail base, leaving some of the length hanging down. With my knee-length hair, I usually coil the braided length twice (which gives me a waist+ shortened length). The number of times you wrap the length around the base will depend on your initial length, and on how long you want the shortened braid to be.

4. Secure the part that's up in a bun with a clip, flexi-8 or hairstick. I usually add a couple spin pins, small claw-clips or some open bun pins in order to add a bit more hold to the finished style so that it stays put for the whole day.

2. I don't have an specific title for this second style, it was improvised. Low coiled length-shortening bun?

The starting point is loose hair with a simple half-up (side strands of hair held at the back with a small elastic and/or a decorative clip). I then gathered the loose hair into a low ponytail (without tying it with an elastic), and coiled some of the length into a cinnamon bun, pinning it with some open pins. In my experience (I have very fine-textured slippery hair), this style wasn't very secure, and the bun fell in a short space of time. I'd need an elastic as base and more hold when securing the bun. Also, I generally don't favour low buns because they scrape my nape and I find them uncomfortable.

SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

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