One of my readers sent me this request:
“On YouTube, I once saw a video of how to tie your hair up with nothing. Please put this on the website!”
I recorded a video almost a year and a half ago about how I put my hair up quickly without any hair ties, clips, pins, etc. Since then, my video has gotten over 240,000 views! I came up with this hair trick back in middle school. I’ve always had long hair, so I wanted to come up with a way to quickly get my hair away from my face during class or whenever I didn’t have a hair tie. I decided to also write up a tutorial with pictures on how to do this, along with including my original video here! Enjoy!
STEP 1
Gather your hair into a ponytail near the center of your head. Hold the ponytail with your left hand.
STEP 2
Put your right hand under the ponytail, and reach over to the left to grab the ponytail as shown. This will help give you the direction to twist the ponytail.
STEP 3
Twist the ponytail over and over until the entire ponytail is twisted.
STEP 4
Now create a bun with the twisted ponytail by wrapping the ponytail clockwise. When you reach the end of the ponytail, just tuck the end underneath the bun.
STEP 5
Hold the bun with your left hand. With your right hand, take a section of hair next to the bun (as shown) and loosen it a bit. This will be the hair that you will pull over the bun.
This step may take some getting used to — it takes a few tries to figure out how tight or how loose to make the initial bun before trying to grab this section of hair. If you cannot pull up a section of hair like in the picture without it hurting you, then start over and either don’t twist your ponytail too hard or don’t make the bun too tight. Make opposite adjustments if the section of hair is too loose.
STEP 6
Gently pull the section of hair over the bun while tucking the bun underneath the section of hair.
STEP 7
Continue pulling the section of hair over the bun until the bun is completely covered.
STEP 8
Now you can fix it up a bit on the top by smoothing out your hair or putting a pencil through the bun (see video) to secure it further. Here I just left it messy, since this is normally how it looks like when I’m just sitting in class or some other place and just need to put my hair up quickly without checking how it looks like in the mirror.
Leave a comment and let me know if you got it working for you! 
Thanx very much for such an awesome idea which keeps my hair tied for hours my friends too learnt from me and they too r grateful
Hi Apoorva! That’s wonderful! I’m glad you and your friends enjoy it!
My hair is super thick and heavy and no matter what i do, it won’t stay up. I’ve tried making it tighter but it only stays for a few seconds before falling. Can you please help me?
Tried it I must not be dOing it right
my hair is thick tho
I have layers, and the longest length of my hair is where my bra strap is. I really need help. I live in Arizona, and it’s really hot after lunch.
My hair is long and fine–I’ve always had a problem getting a bun to stay in place. I’ve never seen the trick to take a strand of hair and pull it over to hold the rest of the bun in place. I only had to practice your method twice to get it to look great and hold well. A million thanks for sharing!
awesome! totally worked for me!!! omg u r a genius xD ;A; thank you so much!! xoxo
What a delightful wonderful idea and how generous of you to share.
It will take me more than a few tries, but I will master your “bun” and
be forever grateful. Thank you.
Thank you! I have been wondering if there was a way to do this for years! I always thought the trick was to knot, but it just fell right back out. With your way I was successful on the second try!
Hi Caity! Yay! Nice to hear that you got it on the second try!
The method is really nice… but my hair is really very smooth.. it slips out again and again. can please suggest something….?
Wicked just watched it Tryed it before u showed the pencil and it worked yay! Love it this will be my new hair style thanks muchly
Hii! My hair is really thick and long. It’s length is just above the pants? Yeah, I think. I tried it thrice and I gave up. I asked my aunt to do it for me, she tried it twice and it’s perfect. I let her take a picture of it and damn, its cool. Now, I don’t want to remove it.. But I have to take a bath. =)) And I think I have to learn it on my own so that I can do it whenever I’m at school. Thanks for sharing!! It was really really really great! x
THIS IS AMAZING. I always end up with an awful kink from a bun with a hair tie, and this looks so cute! THANK YOU
Hi, Thanks for those quick hair tie tips. I have long hair and don’t want to cut them. I want different hair style that I can put my hair tie. Open hair always bother me. This is very nice hair style to keep me every time cool.
hi my names hiya n i just cant seem to fit my long thick hair into the strands of har yr supposed to pull
Yay! I’m glad you all are enjoying it!
Oh my goodness – my hair is thick and long and usually unmanageable, and I just did this in literally ten seconds without using a mirror! Colour me impressed, lady.
I teach in a primary school and the kids are always nitty, so having a secure updo is essential. I was searching for something easy that I could do on a daily basis, which is how I found this. You are ACE. Thank you! x
Nerdygirlmakeup/Pintrest too.
Wycee,
I absolutely love this trick!! My hair is only shoulder length right now, but I can’t wait until it grows so I can try this. Sounds crazy huh…I want it to grow so I can put it up.
Anyway, it looks just beautiful and I want to give it a try.
Thank you!