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! 
Hi GabGab,
It sounds like your hair is definitely long enough. After you wash your hair, try this updo when your hair is still wet, and see if it holds then. I find my hair holds the best when it’s wet (though it stays up when dry too) — sometimes I keep it up like that the whole day.
guys,
i found that if you take a section from the LEFT (opposite from the pic above) and taking a bigger chunk of hair (like from the 0 degrees to -90 degrees) and pull it up then down, it holds up better
Hi Leslie,
I find that the best section of hair used to go over the bun (Step 5) depends on the direction of the twist of the bun. If I twist clockwise, then I grab a section from the right. However, if I twist counterclockwise then I grab a section from the left. I pretty much always twist clockwise and grab from the right, since it’s easier for me (I’m right-handed). It’s great that you got it to work for you!
yay! i finally done it after many tries:D
Yay!
Man alive! This is possibly the best hair trick ever, my hair is damp now so hopefully it works for me dry too!
Thanks Bon!
hi,
thanx a million for this trick. I have curly, thick, middle-length hair and as i was reading this article, i tried this trick out. It WORKED! it’s a little messy because i have shorter hair, but now i don’t have to damage my hair by using a ton of hair bands and clips, especially when i’m at home.
thanx and keep up the good work! = )
Thanks Mimi! So happy to hear that you got it to work!
Hi,
i’m having some troubles i can’t seem to actually like make it hold or even pull the section of hair across i just ends up falling…. =,=” so can you pls help!!!! thankyou soo much
Hi Lily,
Maybe your hair isn’t long enough? My hair goes just past my elbows, so it’s pretty long. Try it after you shower and your hair is still damp — it should stay up at that point if your hair is long enough.
i cant do it. when i pull the strand of hair over, the bun just looses and it just falls. my hair is between thin and thick and just at my shoulders
Hi Munchin,
I think your hair is too short for this to hold on its own. My hair is much longer (past my elbows). Try it again when your hair grows a bit longer!
I failed a couple of times
Hey
i love this trick im still experimenting with how tight and how loose to make the twit, but so far I have gotten it to stay a few times. I know what my hair will look like tomorrow.
Keep making cool videos
~Amanda
Thanks Amanda!
Ok, I’m not 100% sure i’ve got this. I seem to get it to stay but if I shake my head it falls out…i’m guessing its not meant to do that? That being said, I am determined to master this!
LOL Kitty! It depends on the length of your hair (and how hard you’re shaking your head).
If your hair is shorter than mine (which is down to my elbows), then it’ll come out easier if you move it around a lot. Even with my long hair, if I shake my head enough the bun will fall out. That’s why I use a pencil to secure it, if need be. Keep trying — you’ll get it!
AH HA! That means I am doing it right! YAY! Force of habit shaking my head to make sure a hair style is secure or not. My hair sounds like its only a bit shorter then yours (by like an inch!) and my hair is really thick as well. I have been using a decorative chop stick to keep it in coz all all for feeling secure. Thank you, this hair tip is going to come much in handy
Hey,
I tried it before and failed drastically, i told you and you said it could be becuase of my hair lenght which is not too long. However i loved this and really wanted to do it and i found out one,….. however you need a hair band…. (which kinda ruins the idea i know but i like the look to and sometimes i want a bun but only have 1 band)So those who were like me i suggest you tie your hair loosly before twirling it into a bun it helped me a lot!! Thanks
Hi Lily! I haven’t tried it with a hair band before, but I’m happy to hear you found a way to make it work for you!
heyyyyyyyyyyy
hi rosie!
Hi Wycee, I just love your trick but alas it doesn’t work for me!
My hair is thick and just about the same length as yours but it doesn’t stay for more than a second.
Hi Anjie! Try it again when your hair is wet (towel dry after shower) to see if your hair will stay up. Maybe it has to do with making the bun tighter when you tuck it in, but if you try it with your hair wet it should be really easy to do. If it works, then maybe you just need to adjust how tight/loose you form the bun when your hair is dry.
This doesn’t work for me!
My hair is about on par with the bottom of my shoulder blades and I’m trying to grow it out about as long as your hair.
Does my hair need to be that bit longer?
That and Im confused I went by it step by step, I couldn’t do it because I usually do a bun counter clockwise.
My hair wont tuck under the bun aswell.
Thanks, Francoise
Hi Francoise,
If your hair is just at your shoulder blades, then I think you’ll need to let it grow a bit longer to get this to work with a pencil and even longer to work on its own. My hair reaches my elbows. Hopefully you’ll get it to work when your hair is longer!
it’s amazing !
Thanks Adrayne!
Hey guys!
I don’t know why it doesn’t work.
My hair is not too short I think, because it nearly reaches my elbows. But whatever I try it does not work. I just can’t get it to hold after pulling the hair over the bun Can somebody please help me with this problem?
I’ve tried this, and it seems okay, if not a bit loose. I’ll have to find something decorative to secure it. I have very fine shoulder-length hair, but I can definitely make this work. Thanks for the lovely idea. The style quite elegant, and can easily be dressed up or down, for which I am very excited, as I am going into culinary soon, and need a few up-dos to keep my hair away from my face in the kitchen even before I put on the hairnet.
LOL it looked hilarious on me :$ first time was a fail.. I just realized I did step #6 wrong hehe :$ gonna redo and see how it turns out =) Thanks for the trick btw!!!
Nope! Failed again! I have both Tabitha’s and Nadine’s problems :/ shoulder-length short fine thin hair and step #6 just doesn’t work for me :/
Hi Sara! Hopefully it’ll work once your hair grows a little longer!
I’ve got a slight A-line cut, just above the shoulders and i can get this to work! Just need a pin for some strays at my neck. Hallelujah! Thanks for the tips… What a great help to save some ends!
Hi Lara! Nice! Good to hear that you found a way to make it work for your hair
Wow! Thanks. I tried it 3 times and had to come look at the info again. Now I know what I didn’t do. I am so pleased you shared this. It is great. Any more ideas like this will be welcomed?
Hi Charlene! Yay, you got it to work!
Which part didn’t you do initially that you were able to figure out from reading my post? When I have time to write up another hair tutorial, I will definitely share it on this website!
Hi! I absolutely love this hairstyle and would love for it to work on me! My hair is almost at my elbows, and I can do this fine but it seems like whenever I go to pull the hair over , the bun ends up being on the right side of my head, or the left side if i pull the hair from the left side…why can’t i get it to be in the middle?
Hi Kelly! When you start pulling the hair over to the left, move the bun with your other hand applying the same amount of pressure but to the right. It takes a some practice getting used to finishing the updo in the center, so I’m sure you’ll master it soon!
Thank you SO much. Found this when I was looking for a way to keep my hair up during this super hot California fall weather. Watched the You Tube, but these step-by-step instructions are fantastic.
Hi Susan! Glad to hear that you like my hair trick and stopped by my website!
Oh my goodness! You are a genius! Thank you for this tip
)
It definitely works better when I skip a day of shampooing! My hair is really thin, and it doesn’t like to cooperate sometimes.
Aww thanks Debby! Glad you like it!
Oh my god, you are a genius! just what i’ve been looking for, thank you!!
Hi Adrienne,
Thanks for sharing — maybe that will work for others that can’t get it to work for their hair!
haha thanks Kelly!
Hi, I luv ur idea it’s just I don’t know how much hair I need 2 cover up the bun! When I tried the bun just fell out is there any tips u cud give me please? Thank u!!!
Hi Sapphire,
Thanks! It takes some practice to see how much hair you would need to grab to cover up the bun (Step 5), since it depends on the thickness of your hair and therefore the thickness of your bun. For me, I use a section of hair that is at least the width of a dime.