Easy Up-Do on Stretched Natural Hair

www.Curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style
Easy Up-Do on Stretched Natural Hair

There are all sorts of ways to stretch natural hair and I’ve pretty much tried them all.  Thing is, I am always stuck trying to figure out how to style my hair once it’s stretched.  Enter the Up-Do.  After watching plenty of videos on the subject, I can finally say I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.

The Crown Braid style that I demonstrated in my french braiding video is a favorite of mine.  It can last several days if I keep it wrapped up at night.  Lately though I wanted something with a little more pizazz and found this look that was also really easy
to do.

This is similar to the look that Teyonah Parris rocked on the red carpet at the SAG awards last year.  I like that you can change this into a mohawk style or go with a simple bun.  This is truly where stretched natural hair shines because the texture gives fullness to the style.

Here’s a pictorial of how I achieved this style.

I first sectioned off my bangs with a u-shape part

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style

Then I split the rest of my hair into two sections parting from ear to ear.  Next, I pulled each section into ponytails using elastic bands to secure.  

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style

Now it’s time for some bobby pins.  I just took the bottom ponytail and split the hair into three.  I finger rolled my hair like I was pincurling it and bobby pinned the hair down towards the base of the elastic. 

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style
Finger Rolling

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style
Roll down toward the base of the elastic

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style
Pin Down with a Bobby Pin

 I took the other two sections and did the same thing, pinning them around the sides of the elastic for a full bun effect.

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style
This ponytail was split into three sections

I did the same rolling and pinning on the second/top ponytail and then moved on to the bangs. 

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style

 The bangs can be pinned back into a pompadour or swooped forward.  This is usually where I freestyle a bit until I get the hair how I want it.  

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style
Swooped bangs

I finished the style by smoothing the sides with a soft bristle brush and there you have it.  So Easy!

curlyincolorado.com stretched natural hair style
The finished look

This Up-Do is too easy to pass up.  Let me know if you give it a try!

 

Protective Style: The Puff Bun

I am slowly gaining on my third year with natural hair and am finding new ways to style my curls.  I have always known that I simply cannot keep my hands out of my hair so sometimes I have to put it away.  More recently though, I have been trying to keep my hair protected for the majority of the time so that by summer I will get to see lots more growth retention (a.k.a. lots-of-hair).

Before now I kept thinking that the only protective styles in my arsenal were Mini Individual Braids, the Donut Bun and French Braids.  Thankfully I have discovered even more ways to tuck my hair away.  I’ll be sharing a few styles in the coming weeks so stay tuned!

First up is what I call the Puff Bun but I have seen others call it the “Cinna-Bun”.  Basically, I pull my wet hair up into a puff by using an “Ouchless” headband that I wrap around twice.  I use Eco Styler hair gel to help smooth the sides and nape area.  I push the headband back towards the crown until it stops and then spread the puff out to expose the center.  After that I simply push the hair down towards the base.  I then pin sections of the puff with bobby pins and secure the ends of each section near the band underneath.  In the pictures posted I also left out a little hair in front for fluffy bangs.  I used a small clip to secure the ends of the bangs to make a side swoop.  This can also be done with dry hair that has been stretched from a braid-out or twist-out.

I like this style because I don’t have to use any hair gel on the length of my hair for a curly effect because I’ll be tucking the hair under anyway.  This also keeps my ends protected which will help me reach my hair length goals.

I used Eco Styler Gel on the sides
and nape

Ends are tucked under with Bobby Pins

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More Protective Styles to Come!