Many curly girls have to rock certain styles for work, school, special events, or even religion. While it may be easier to always wear the same style, you do not want your hair to become damaged because of a style that is adding too much tension or breakage in one area. Tension styles can cause hair thinning or hair loss this is not exclusive to styles with added hair like braids, weaves or wigs. Tight ponytails, buns, or updos can do the same damage especially if wearing them often or for long periods of time. So, what’s a curly girl with style requirements to do? Do like NomadLady and ask for help from our Curly Q&A.
Question
Any bun hairstyles for curly hair that doesn’t stretch your curls out?
Hello there!! So I recently found out I have curls (long story short: I’m sixteen, always used a brush, only curly head in my family”> and I wear a hijab, a headscarf, so that means I nearly always have my hair in some sort of bun. The problem is though, that my curls get stretched out when put in a bun for a long period of time, and my hair is already in a fragile state as is (with my curl routine being new and all”> and frizzes really easily. Any idea of a curly bun that doesn’t stretch my hair out? Thanks for any help, in advance!!! <3
Answer
Welcome curly girl! Glad to have you and we most certainly can help you as you embrace your curly strands. We’ve got a simple style that will fix all your woes and keep your strands from feeling stretched. A messy bun! A messy bun is the ideal bun style that won’t stretch your hair to the point of disturbing your curls. The best part of a messy bun is that it can be placed anywhere and it looks better the messier it is. It also only requires you know how to place hair in a ponytail and secure with bobby pins (read: doesn’t get any easier”>. In addition to opting for a looser bun, there are a few more ways to care for your hair in its fragile state.
Give your hair a break from the tension
Don’t forget to give your hair a break when you can so when not wearing your Hijab remember to take your hair down to get a break from the tension of the bun.
Try protein for strength
Also, if you hair is fragile it may need a protein treatment from time to time. A couple of our favorite protein treatments are the ApHogee Two-Step Protein Treatment and Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair, or you could work a protein rich product into your regular routine. Here’s a full guide to figuring out which protein product is right for you.
Avoid the brush
I would also recommend laying off that brush as curly hair is more fragile than straight hair. Using a brush will increase the amount of breakage you experience. If possible use your fingers instead as they are the gentlest tool you have at your disposal. If you don’t like detangling with your fingers, then try using a wide tooth comb in the shower when your hair is drenched in conditioner, this will give you maximum slip and prevent a lot of the breakage you would get with dry hair.
Move the bun
Don’t forget to move that bun around so you are not adding tension to the same side over and over again, because even though it is less tight than a traditional bun, if you are wearing it for long periods of time tension is still occurring although there is less of it.
Protect your bun
Use ouchless ponytail holders (they are super cheap”> so you are not pulling out even more hair than is necessary. While scrunchies are not the most stylish (although they have had a brief resurgence thanks to the 90’s trends”> they are great at protecting your hair from the rub and tug of a ponytail holder. Many curlies use silk scrunchies, which you can find on eBay, to pineapple their hair. You can also bobby pin your curls to cover up the scrunchie if you don’t like the way it looks.
Find curlies with your hair type
Since you are the only curly in the house, it may be helpful to find out what your curl pattern is so that you can search for other curlies with your curl pattern online. According to our recent poll many of the curlies in our community favor our Texture Typing℠ system, and we have a helpful guide for finding your curl pattern here. Knowing this can help with figuring out what products and styles work best for other people with your curl pattern.
How to do a messy bun
Twirlerica shows how to create an easy messy bun without using a ton of tension. This style will not stretch your curls or cause further damage to your fragile strands. While Twirlerica naturally has “kinda straight, kinda wavy hair” as she describes it, she started out this style with curled hair and in our experience this style will definitely work for naturally curly hair (without the added effort of curling it first”>.
The reason we love this bun is does not follow the traditional formula of doing a high ponytail and then twisting the hair over and over and wrapping it around itself – this action stretches the curls which you are trying to avoid. Instead, this version helps keep the curls in tact.
Since every curly girl loves options, here is a second bun style from NaturallyCurly contributor Curly Penny, whose bun again avoids the typical twisting motion. Step one in her tutorial is to tie the hair into a very tight high ponytail, but as you have shared that you are dealing with fragile hair we would recommend you try not to go too tight.
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