The Seashell bun

Along with my trusty flipped bun, the seashell bun is one of my favourite routine updos. Once you get the hang of it, it's easier than it looks and it looks very nice, in my opinion. This bun ressembles a spiral seashell (hence the name) and it was invented by Long Hair Community forums member LoversLullaby. It's also called the 'inward spiral bun' and 'reverse cinnamon': 

Seashell bun from the back and front, held by a large ficcaré-style pin and a couple of small claw clips for additional support (those don't look that good, but my slippery hair needs the support, especially if I want the bun to last for the whole day).

         

• Steps (for very long hair):

-My video tutorial:

Here is my personal version of the steps, originally based on LoversLullaby's original instructions (found here). I had to modify those steps a bit because my hair is longer than LoversLullaby's, so the number of times I coil the twisted hair and the number of fingers I use in each step to make the seashell shape are different (she mentions the alternative way for longer hair at the end, too, but I thought I would elaborate). During the years, I have also found the best way that works for my hair regarding height and placement, spiral rotation, and hairtoys to ensure that the style stays secure all day. The way that I do this style can of course be modified in all these ways depending on personal preferences and hairtype. This tutorial aims to serve as a guide, as usual ^^

 

  1. Put your hair in a high ponytail. The higher the ponytail, the higher the seashell bun will turn out to be on your head - I prefer to wear the seashell higher on my head, both because I think it looks nice and sleek, and also because it holds for longer with that placement. No elastic needed (although I've experimented with making a seashell bun out of a secured ponytail and it doesn't look that bad, even if the elastic shows (definitely more secure that way xD).

 

2. Twist and coil the hair up. To achieve the spiral seashell form, you are going to wrap it around your hand repeteadly, in this way:

3. First, wrap the twisted hair around your whole hand, thumb included. This makes the bigger part of the spiral. Keep twisting the hair. I twist clockwise because that's the best way for left-handed me. You can also do this by twisting counter-clockwise, what works better for you!

4. Next, wrap it around your four fingers, leaving the thumb out. Keep twisting.

 

5. Then around three fingers, leaving the index and thumb out. Then around two (If your hair is shorter, just stop when your hair starts running out). When you reach the ends of your hair, continue wrapping it around the two fingers until you run out of hair.

6. Here comes the tricky part. You have to let all your fingers slide out of the hair more or less at once as you flip the bun to the left (or right, depending on the direction in which you twisted at first. Like I said, I'm left-handed, and twist clockwise generally).

 

 

 

7. Hold the bun in place while you secure it. If your ends stick out, just tuck them inside the bun. As for hairtoys, I generally use a large alligator clip (as seen above), with the additional security of a couple small claw clips around the spiral because my hair is very slippery, and that's the optimum way for me to wear a seashell bun all day long. The choice of hairtoys for this style will of course depend on hairtype, aesthetic preferences and so on. 

 

For a more polished look, I also use some hair-friendly black bobby pins to smooth the hair at the nape (French twist style, in a way). The weight of the seashell usually makes the twisted hair at the nape begin to fall and stick out , which I don't like very much. So I use the bobby pins to fix that hair in place.

 

Other ways of securing the seashell bun that I've tried include just claw clips and some bobby pins to smooth the nape area, like in here:

                                          

 

Or just pins (spin pins or normal). This below was my first go at the seashell bun, and I was already wearing a ribbon in an accent braid, so it looks a bit weird xD (also, the pins show way too much). But it's another valid alternative, if your style keeps secure like this! Finally, a hair stick or fork (two sticks instead of one for a safer hold) also works to secure this bun. Be sure to weave the stick or fork through hair from the top, middle, and bottom to avoid the seashell shape from falling or sticking out.

This pic shows also an alternate way to the one that I currently favour, a seashell bun that's a bit lower on the head, and with the spiral shape showing a little bit more without the alligator clip. Like I said, there are a lot of ways to achieve the same style, depending on personal taste and hairtype, so wearing the seashell lower on the head, using different hairtoys and deciding on the direction you want to rotate the spiral depending on whether you're a leftie (like me) or right-handed, all o f them are perfectly good options!

 

 This bun also gives me great spiral-y heatless bunwaves and curls in the length and ends, even when bunning with dry hair. Only, my fine-textured pin-straight hair being how it is, the bunwaves will fall down in a short period of time unless I bun with damp/recently dried hair or apply some product beforehand or after taking down the bun.

 

Picture gallery: More seashell buns!

 

 

 

• And a length-shortening half-updo variation during an Elven cosplay shoot: 

 SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

If you copy-and-paste this post and/or alter it without any permission, credit or link, you're stealing my content. In that case, please stop. Please ask before using my work, or at least share it properly, giving credit to me and my blog.

The Orchid bun

The Orchid bun is named for its ressemblance to the flower and was invented by AnaisSatin from the Long Hair Community forums. Here are her original instructions on how to do it:
                        http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=40856
And here is the LHC thread that introduced me to the style:
                        http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=87176

I guess you can either twist it to one side or the other. Probably because I am left-handed, I ended up twisting towards the left. This is how it came out, with a Ficcaré-style clip (a fork or hairstick works as well):
                                   

My hair being very slippery, I guess it didn't came out as polished as I'd ideally wanted it to be, plus the orchid shape isn't that good either. But practice makes perfect!

• YouTube video useful tutorials:

This one (by findingmyowntwofeet) was very useful to me when I first tried the style. It's also one of the Orchid videos that ressemble Anais' original tutorial the best, imo: 

                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcoXIZ_yLWQ

Then I've selected a couple more, by Haartraum and  torrinpaige. These seem to do an additional twist when creating the orchid shape, I haven't tried that version yet:

                                           

Length-shortening buns: The 'Comet bun'

This post is for another half-updo / length-shortening bun. I used to do this one quite a lot a few years ago (note to self: Go back to it, it's cool!). I call it the "Comet bun" after a suggestion of a fellow LHC member (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=64498), because it does look a bit like a comet with its tail. An idea probably reinforced by the henna glow I used to have back then. Gods, how I miss that copper glow! (note to self: I want to go back to henna too). It's also a pretty cool name seeing as I'm an Astrophysicist in training :)

The steps:

1) I put my hair into a high ponytail and secure it with an elastic (these kind of buns do not necessarily require an elastic, but my slippery hair is grateful for the added security).

2) Without twisting it, I wrap the ponytail length twice around the base of the pony (depending on how long your hair is and how long you want the 'tail' to be, you'll be wrapping the length more or less times). I try to do it more loosely than in the case of the cinnamon half-updo (plus no twisting), to make the bun (the 'head of the comet') as voluminous as possible.

3) I want the 'tail of the comet' to be under the bunned hair, instead of falling at one side like in the cinnamon half-updo. So I make sure that the tail stays under and at the centre of the bun before securing it (in this case, it was a small ficcaré-style clip at the middle of the bun and a couple of claw clips around it). The pins keep the tail in place.

4) I also add volume by pinning the bun securely but a bit messily, so that over time the centre of the bun will protrude and puff out a bit. That effect is, I think, mainly caused by the small ficcaré-style clip, which I put on the top-middle part of the bun. It isn't visible in the pics because the bunned hair above the clip has fallen down covering it, giving that impression of more volume, It was initially unintentional, but I liked the effect. I don't always seem to get it, though - sometimes, the clip seem to hold my hair so well it hardly protrudes or falls over it.
An actual donut could also be added to boost the volume of the 'comet's head' as well. I haven't tried that yet.

This is the clip (in another half-updo):

I'm thinking about starting to do hair videos...Maybe that'd be of more help than just the steps and some pics alone. Also, maybe it would motivate me to practise!

Hairtoy weaponry: Spanish rapier mini-sword :)

If you are fond of weapons and martial sports and/or fighting activities, it's a cool idea to wear mini-weapons in your hair! There are some hairtoys in the shape of swords, daggers, spears, arrows, axes and other weaponry, but letter openers and decorative mini-swords (all relatively safe and, of course, blunt!) can work as well. They work in the same way as hairsticks.

I love martial sports such as sword-fighting and archery, so hairtoy weaponry is something I certainly wish to invest upon :). The hairtoy-workable swords I have at the moment include an Arthurian-style sword, a Spanish rapier, a Celtic sword letter-opener (which I'm afraid it's too short to hold my hair efficiently and will remain solely as a letter-opener), and mini-replicas of Gandalf and the Witch-king's swords (the Witch-king sword is too long and potentically dangerous, but Glamdring does work relatively well). After being enabled via the LHC (here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=100912), Tauriel's daggers, Arwen's sword Hadhafang and Thorin's sword Orcrist are now in my wish list for hair-swords.

This post is for my newest hair-sword, a mini Spanish rapier that works really well, especially in a cinnamon bun. I've been doing ancient 17th Century Spanish sword-fighting for a bit more than a year now, too, so it matches with my real life rapier :D

It practically doesn't need any more support to keep the bun secure for the whole day (apart from the elastic - I usually do cinnamon buns with elastics for the additional security).

Bonus for Vampire Red shine :) and fandom-geeekiness - yes, that's Sherlock's coat from the BBC series! 

Alternative: Acting as holding hairstick in an improvised braided Chinese bun with a paranda (I'll be talking about the awesome things about parandas, and about Chinese buns, in future posts). Messy bun, too, because this was taken at the end of the day and my slippery hair loves to stick out of updos.

And bonus 2: My real life Spanish rapier :)

The Flipped bun

Probably my favourite bun to date, or at least the one I wear the most. I like it because it's pretty quick and easy to do, and yet looks very elegant, imo - In both its more messy and more polished variations. It also holds really well all day. 

I learnt how to do it thanks to Habioku's video:

Flipped bun tutorial by Habioku

And this is my tutorial:

•  Written instructions, with my own variations to Habioku's flipped bun:

   1) Gather your hair in a ponytail (no elastic needed). The higher the ponytail, the higher the bun will be on the head.

   I usually start gathering my hair in a high ponytail rather than a low one. Low buns tend to bother me more, and I also prefer the aesthetics of buns high on the head. 

   A high flipped bun, especially if secured with a sfork or hairstick(s) with adornments at the top, can also serve to make the face appear a bit longer. Not a necessary illusion all non-oval faces have to achieve, of course (I'm square-faced, and proud).

   High polished buns also draw attention to the nape of the neck, creating an elegant look, imo.

   2) Twist and coil your hair in a cinnamon bun. Flip the cinnamon bun, taking care that the ends remain inside (unless you aim for a messier, windswept flipped bun, then by all means let them stick out of the bun).

  I usually tuck my ends around the bun instead of letting them lie over it. When I flip the cinnamon bun, they're still tucked inside and protected. I sometimes let them stick out a bit too, though, for a messier look.

   I also usually don't rotate the bun. I just coil the hair around one of the hands in a cinnamon bun and flip it over.

 

   3) Secure the bun. You can use a fork, a hairstick or a pair of hairsticks, or spin pins and/or claw clips.

   Because my hair is so slippery, I usually use a fork/stick/pair of sticks, and then further secure the bun by adding a couple of small claw clips or some spin pins. That way it stays secure all day without me needing to restyle my hair.

And pics!

• With a fork:

Messy flipped bun with ends sticking out vs more polished flipped bun.

Side view from both sides (two different days). The left one is more polished, the right one is more messy/casual

• With side braids (3-strands, simple, lace or French):
  

• With a stick:

                                             

• With a pair of sticks:

• With an alligator clip:

 

 

 

 

 

-For flipped-buns with volume at the front, see my fem!Tenth Doctor hairstyle:

-The half-flipped bun variation: Another flipped-bun variation with a stick: Instead of flipping all hair before inserting the fork o stick, here I flipped half of the hair and wrapped the rest around the stick:

SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

If you copy-and-paste this post and/or alter it without any permission, credit or link, you're stealing my content. In that case, please stop. Please ask before using my work, or at least share it properly, giving credit to me and my blog.