Hey guys, Nina here. I love my long hair. I treat it like my child that lives on my head. But I never do anything with it.
My hair is my security blanket. When I wear it down, I can use it to hide from the world. I cover my face with it when I feel insecure. So I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone by wearing updos for a week.
The process: This is supposedly called a "cotton candy bun." It looks very cute and simple on Pinterest but was a nightmare for me. According to the tutorial I followed, you put your hair in a ponytail, tease it, pin it, and somehow it's supposed to look like a sweet treat. It's been so long since I've tried an updo that my arms literally got tired putting this together. I'm too weak for updos. I just couldn't get my thick, unruly hair to cram itself into a perfect circle. Pieces kept falling out, along with my dignity.
The process: This is supposed to be a crown braid, and honestly, I'm amazed it's not a total fail. Even though I love the milkmaid-chic look of crown braids, I assumed they'd be very difficult to master. But my intimidation was for naught! I found an insanely easy tutorial. You section your hair into four ponytails, braid them, then wrap and pin. I'm SUPER bad at braiding, but this tutorial made it almost impossible to fuck up!
The process: I wanted to do a ~fancy~ ponytail, so I followed this tutorial and, well, YIKES. I don't know how she got all those perfect swoops. And somehow, the back of my head has grown a butt of hair under the pony. I didn't plan it that way, but my hair has a mind (and an ass) of its own. Also, lighter hair seems to show the texture of these updos way better than my solid black hair does. But I've never dyed my hair and I'm not about to start JUST to get a more enviable ponytail.
The process: Oh lord. Oh no. Riding high on the confidence of crown braids, I thought I could attempt a hair bow. I should've stayed in my lane. The tutorial seemed simple enough. You put your hair in a high pony, pull most of it through the band, fan it out, and use what's left to make the middle of the bow. Somehow I ended up with a lopsided pile of hair. My layers made it hard to secure the middle, and I could never get the bows to be the same size. I truly apologize for trying to be adorable. I'm not meant for that life.
Here's what it became by the end of the day.
The process: My last two updos were huge fails, so I decided to go the braid route again, since that wasn't so awful last time. This flower braid updo tutorial has you tie your hair into four ponytails, braid them, then wrap them in a circle to create a perfect lil' flower. My flower is less than perfect. You can totally see the rubber bands and the ends of hair, and the braids are all different sizes. But I didn't have a second mirror that day to see that back, and I was in a rush, so I did it all without looking. Even though it's a mess, I think it's a pretty, mesmerizing mess.
Guys, it really helps to push yourself out of your comfort zone, even if it's with something as seemingly simple as updos. I started this week feeling hella uncomfortable. I worried that once I could no longer hide behind my hair curtain, people would be more aware of my heinous facial flaws. I stressed (and almost cried) about the fact that my hair didn't look "perfect" every morning. But the more I lived my new normal in updos, the more I realized that people actually liked being able to see my full face, and no one gives a fuck if they can see your bobby pins, so you shouldn't either. I know I'm no longer going to let my hair insecurities keep me from living my fullest follicular life!