How to Do a Messy Bun Even if Your Hair Is Short and Thin

Despite the effortless look messy bun hairstyles give, creating a decent messy bun to go out anywhere outside your kitchen or bedroom is not that easy. More so if you have fine, straight, middle length hair. In The Right Hairstyles, we believe that no hair mission is impossible; this is why we have prepared a step-by-step messy bun tutorial that will teach you how to put your hair in a bun with minimal effort and head-turning results.

If you are lucky to have long, full hair, give a closer look at the third way: unlike other common ways to make a messy bun with thick hair, this one allows creating a more intricate and elegant updo.
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Watch the video tutorial and scroll down for the list of steps and even more hacks and methods!

How to Do a Messy Bun for Thin Hair
3 Easy Messy Bun Tutorials

How to Do a Messy Bun with Thin Hair

The truth is, when you have short, thin hair, you always need some kind of a hack to make a messy bun look good. Otherwise, the bun will be really tiny, which means two things:

• your face will look fuller (that’s why you should be especially wary of smalls buns if you have a full round face);
• your hair will look very thin (and you want to make your thin hair look fuller, don’t you?).

​Thankfully, we know three hacks that will help you create a voluminous messy bun for thin hair.

#1: Cute Messy Bun for Thin Hair

This method will help you create a messy bun with middle-length hair and even a short lob haircut. Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Brush your hair, pull it into a high ponytail, and secure tightly with an elastic. Wrap an elastic tie several times to raise the ponytail and set it away from your head.

Step 2: Pull hair to the front to avoid a smooth ponytail look. For a messy bun, the whole hairstyle should look a bit messy, not only the bun itself.
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Step 3: Tease your ponytail thoroughly (refer to this  teasing guide if need to). Don’t be too hush, as thin hair is prone to damage. If your hair is clean and lacks grease, spray it with dry shampoo for a better grip. You will soon end up with a messy and fluffy ponytail like this:
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Step 4: Now, grab sections of your teased hair and pin it to the base. You do not need to create additional twists or knots. The idea is to get the teased hair pinned at all sides to recreate the form of a bun. You may not hide the tips, as they complement the ‘do very well.

Step 5: Pull out the front pieces. If you have some baby hair, do not smooth it up with hair gel – it is ok to let it fall on your face too. If your hair is too short at the back and cannot be pulled into a ponytail, you may simply clip it with a bobby pin.

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#2: Huge Messy Bun with a Donut Bun Maker

Using a donut bun maker might be the easiest way to put thin hair into a bun. The problem is that such buns end up to be slick and smooth ballerina buns – not a hairstyle we aim for here. So, here is what we suggest doing instead:

Step 1: Brush your hair and tie a high ponytail at the top of your head.

Step 2: Pull hair to all sides so that it doesn’t look too smooth.

Step 3: Take a bun maker for your hair color. Find a string that holds a bun maker in its form; this will allow you to unwrap it. Basically, this is the reverse of what you do with your sock making a sock bun. Thus, wrap the unrolled bun maker around the base of your ponytail and secure it with bobby pins.

Step 4: Lay the strands of your hair evenly at all sides. Here is how it looks like:

Step 5: Start pinning the strands to the base. It is better to pin them as they are, without twisting, as you might end up lacking hair to cover some of the areas. Again, leaving the tips visible and pulling your front pieces will only perfect the look.

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#3: Messy Bun for Short Hair with Hair Extensions

Another way to create an intricate huge messy bun hairstyle entails using hair extensions. Do not worry, you don’t need any permanent hair extensions here. More than that, even the cheapest clip-ins will do (these are the ones we have used in the video to be sure of what we say). If you go for cheaper extensions, spray them with some dry shampoo to get rid of excessive smoothness. This simple hack will make styling a messy bun much easier.

Step 1: Brush your hair extensions through and unclip the base to be ready to clip it.

Step 2: Section your hair near the temples. Place the upper section on top of your head so that it doesn’t tangle with your extensions. Then, clip in the extensions to the lower section. If you have smooth, straight hair, tease the roots a bit so that the extensions clip better.

Step 3: Lay down the upper section of your hair and brush it through together with the extensions. Then, pull your hair up into a high ponytail. Leave the hair a bit loose or drag it to the front when the ponytail is tied.
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Step 4: Separate the ponytail into two strands. Then, again, split each strand into two and twist them around each other (you may try twisting the stands as they are, without sectioning into two parts, but this step gives a bit more control over your hair). Then, twist two parts of the ponytail around each other. The twists make colors blend perfectly, so even if your extensions didn’t match your hair color very well, the bun can turn out to be even more beautiful, with some great highlights and lowlights.

Step 5: Tug and pull on the sections to make them fluffier; then, wrap the twisted ponytail around the base of your pony. Secure the messy bun with bobby pins and spray some hairspray for a better hold.

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​How to Do a Messy Bun with Long or Thick Hair

If you have long, thick hair, messy buns will be less of a challenge. The classical method is to twist your ponytail and wrap it around itself, securing it with a few bobby pins. Key ingredients to add to the hairstyle are making the hair looser by pulling it after the ponytail is tied (or even after the bun is ready), as well as pulling and styling some front pieces.

If the classical method doesn’t work for you and you struggle to make the messy bun stay in place, here are the 3 ways to modify it. Experiment with each way to see which one gives you the most finished yet elegant and effortless look.
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1. Do not pull out all of your hair when creating a ponytail, leaving a medium rainbow bun. Then, twist and wrap the ends around the base of your pony, securing it with bobby pins. Pull and tug at the sections to end up with the look you like most.
2. Create a ponytail. Then, take another elastic; start as if you are doing another pony, but pull only half of your hair through. Twist the elastics and bring it through all the hair that you have now (the partly pulled-through ponytail together with the ends). Make sure the elastic doesn’t go all the way over to the very base of the ponytail. You may use the thirst elastic or bobby pins to secure the messy bun in place.
3. Another way to style a perfect messy bun with long hair is to start with a half ponytail, but then twist and pin smaller sections of the loop to the base. Then, twist and pin the remaining ends where they fit better.

Ready to show off your messy bun?

from The Right Hairstyles