Creating sleek swept back hair and forming into a style.

Today’s lesson concentrated on creating sleek ponytails that were neat and dressing out into a neat high bun suitable for a glamorous event such as a wedding or red carpet event. The key to creating this look is to get the hair as smooth and as sleek as possible, which can be achieved by continually combing the hair back with a tail comb. Straightening the hair first will also be advantageous when creating a sleek pulled back style.

Different styles of sleek high buns

I began by crushing the hair on my dolly head though thoroughly using my paddle brush to remove any knots then pulled the hair upwards into a pony tail. I held the hair in place with my hand and continued to brush the hair back and grabbed tightly with my hand. I persisted with this until it was neat and secured the hair with a hair band. I combed the hair back again and secured any loose sections with a grip, ensuring that the grip would later be hidden by the bun I would be creating. I applied hair spray to any loose ends.

After looking at various images of buns as a point of reference, I opted to incorporate crepe hair to create a large full bun.  I decided to create a bun that would be suitable for a bride, which is another reason why I decided to make the bun large and full, as it will be able to hold any accessories, such as flowers and not be over shadowed by a veil.

Hair swept back and crepe hair being secured into place

 I began by attaching crepe hair in a matching shade around the entire ponytail to create a doughnut shape for the base shape. I secured the crepe hair in place with grips, ensuring even amount of hair were applied all the way round. It is important to make sure the hair is well secured as the style would have to last all day. I then took small sections of hair at a time and backcombed at the base before coming over the top to disguise the backcombed part and wrapping under the crepe hair. I cross gripped the hair into place to really secure it. I then dressed out the ends by combing them through and using my pin tail comb to wind the ends around my finger to create a neat curl. I then gripped them into place, allowing the ends of the curl to flow.

I think adding small decorative flowers to the bun would really complete the look. 

Finished style- back

Finished style- side

Finished style- front

Overall, I am really pleased with the look as a whole and I think it fit the brief as it was a sleek up do. I am gradually becoming more confident with creating styles and I found setting myself the task to create a style for a specific event really helped me put a look together. I am pleased with how neat I managed to sweep the hair back and the neatness of my curls. When I got home, I decided to practise this type of style again but styled the curls in a different way to show a different style that could be achieved using similar methods of styling. This time, I secured the ends of the hair up onto the bun for added height and texture.

High bun I created at home, incorporating hair wefts

References
Bun example 1- Usefulten.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://usefulten.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/high-bun.jpg [Accessed 7 Feb. 2015].
Bun example 2- Viphairstyles.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.viphairstyles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/High-Braided-Bun.jpg [Accessed 7 Feb. 2015].
Bun example 3- Hairstylepedia.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.hairstylepedia.com/images/02/Nicole-Scherzinger-with-braided-high-bun.jpg [Accessed 7 Feb. 2015].
Bun example 4- Mynewhair.info, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.mynewhair.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/high-wedding-hairstyle.jpg [Accessed 7 Feb. 2015].
Bun example 5- Viphairstyles.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.viphairstyles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/crimped-high-bun.jpg [Accessed 7 Feb. 2015].
Bun example 6- Yve-style.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://yve-style.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/black-bun-hairstyles.jpg [Accessed 7 Feb. 2015].