Hi, friends! I'm trying something new on the blog today. You might have notice I talk about makeup and skincare on the blog all the time, but hair? Not so much. I let my hair air dry 99% of the time, and my idea of hairstyling is throwing it into a side braid. You would think having hair on my head for 22 years would make me better at this, but apparently not. When Aveda sent me some products to try (you might have seen it on my Instagram), I was kind of like, "I don't do much with my hair. What am I supposed to do with these?" but I figured this was a good opportunity. Maybe I could become a hair person! I'll show them!
As seen in the first image, their generous package came with a few little hair tutorial cards, one of them being for a slightly different messy bun as seen at New York Fashion Week. I thought it would be fun (if not, entertaining) to give it a go and document my experience. I figured, if I can do it, hairstyling novice extraordinaire, then anyone can do it! Whether this post turned into a helpful tutorial or comedy struggle of the year, at least it might be a good read.
Here's the tutorial I decided to work with (the flip side of the first image included). I had originally planned on doing a different tutorial, until I realized my layers are tricky to work with, so I switched to this one halfway through. Off to a great start. Wish me luck.
Step 1: Prep
As stated in the instructions, I started off with their Shampure Dry Shampoo ($30 | 2oz) to absorb any excess oil from my hair. I'd washed it the day before, so depending on the state of my hair, sometimes I like to use dry shampoo to freshen it up. To my knowledge, this one hasn't been released to retailers other than Aveda yet, but I know Amazon will start stocking it on Friday.
This dry shampoo is unusual, because of your typical aerosol spray can, it comes in a squeeze bottle. When you squeeze it, a little puff of dry shampoo comes out the nozzle. It's cute, but also allows a precision that more dry shampoos don't. It's also kind of cute. If you're anti-talc due to the Johnson & Johnson lawsuit, this one uses natural powders from cassava (a wood shrub) and oat, so it's talc free.
That being said, I feel like it takes an eternity to apply because so little comes out of the nozzle per squeeze. At times I was like "is any even coming out?" just because it's such a fair "mist" that's released. Personally, I'd rather just go in there with a ol' big can of Batiste Dry Shampoo ($7.99), but this is nice if you're in an enclosed room and don't want to asphyxiate yourself (or if you need something more precise).
This dry shampoo is unusual, because of your typical aerosol spray can, it comes in a squeeze bottle. When you squeeze it, a little puff of dry shampoo comes out the nozzle. It's cute, but also allows a precision that more dry shampoos don't. It's also kind of cute. If you're anti-talc due to the Johnson & Johnson lawsuit, this one uses natural powders from cassava (a wood shrub) and oat, so it's talc free.
That being said, I feel like it takes an eternity to apply because so little comes out of the nozzle per squeeze. At times I was like "is any even coming out?" just because it's such a fair "mist" that's released. Personally, I'd rather just go in there with a ol' big can of Batiste Dry Shampoo ($7.99), but this is nice if you're in an enclosed room and don't want to asphyxiate yourself (or if you need something more precise).
Now that my hair was looking fresh and shampooed, I gathered it into a low ponytail. Since I was following another tutorial at this point, I went ahead with the next step as stated and applied their Smooth Infusion Nourishing Styling Cream ($26 | 8.5oz) all through my ponytail. This contains shea butter to smooth down the hair and fight frizz. It feels more like a light lotion than a cream consistency-wise, so it doesn't feel like it weighs down my hair. This doesn't require blow-drying to heat activate it or anything, which is fantastic for me!
I was really pleased with how sleek and shiny this made my hair! It'll probably take an eternity for me to get through this bottle, since I only used maybe a nickel amount, so at least you're getting your money's worth! I have some split ends here and am desperately in need of a haircut (scheduled for a few weeks from now!), but it did a pretty good job of making the lower-half of my hair look presentable.
Step 2: (Attempt to) Style
Alright, here we go. Hair is officially brushed and cleaned and smoothed. That's basically my everyday m.o., but now we have to do the actual styling. I know, we haven't even gotten to that part yet! It's like, my makeup is on and I'm fully accessorized, what more do you want from me? But such is the struggle of having nice hair, I suppose. Being a hair person is hard.
Here's where the hairstyling comes into play. The Messy Bun info card instructed me to pull my hair up (towards the top of my head) and use another elastic to form a loop. After that, it was just a matter of bobby pinning some pieces into place. And grunting. Don't judge me.
The After
Well, here we are. I don't think it was supposed to look like this. It looked much more "rocker chic" on the model, but maybe if I put on a cool pair of sunglasses it'll all work itself out. I think I would have made out better by following along with a video, but I can't say it looks atrocious (right, guys? Right?) My hair looks nice and shiny from the Styling Cream, at least! I think I'll stick with a regular messy bun since it's easier, and typically if I'm wearing a messy bun, it's because I'm working and I just need to get my hair out of my face. But hey, I tried something new, so that's worth something!
What's your go-to hairstyle for everyday? Give a hair newbie some tips?
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