Ah, messy buns, one of the great paradoxes of the beauty world. Because just like no-makeup makeup, which actually requires 13 steps using a dozen products, or like beachy waves, which calls for zero beaches but four different texturizing, volumizing, mattifying sprays plus a curling iron, messy buns are not the byproduct of haphazard, woke-up-like-this magic. Which sucks, because why can’t anything be easy?
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Sure, yes, there are the girls who can casually twist their hair into a messy topknot fit for Pinterest boards (looking at you, Corinne Bulat from 9th grade algebra), but for the rest of us with non-unicorn hair, trying to create one of those impossibly pretty, somewhat mesmerizing buns takes skill—or at least a few hidden bobby pins. So we asked hairstylist and full-time wizard Jasmine Santiago to show us exactly how to create a messy bun on ourselves, in only a few steps. And guess what: It’s seriously easier than it looks. So click through to see the gif-filled tutorial (yes! Gifs! What a day!), and get ready to tell everyone that your hair naturally spiraled itself into a perfectly messy bun, all on its own.
Photographer: Tory Rust
Model: Olga with MSA Models
Makeup: Ashleigh Ciucci
Hair: Jasmine Santiago