The last couple of days I’ve been dabbling a little in the field of accent braids. They’re a great way to add a little texture and interest to any hairstyle. Also, I like putting my hair up in a Chinese Bun, because it keeps the hair in place very well and I don’t have to worry about weird strands of hair deciding to start sticking out of my head some time around noon. Also, depending on the way I wrap the bun (over or under), it looks interesting all by itself. Add an accent braid or two, and there’s your perfectly easy and interesting fancy or everyday updo.
So here are two different Chinese Buns with two different types of accent braids:
Chinese Bun wrapped over, tiny English accent braid.
I looped the braid around the finished bun and wrapped the rest of the braid around the base of the bun, but because it’s such a teeny braid it kind of just tucked itself under. I like to imagine people wondering where the braid went, so I kinda prefer it that way. 😉 To finish, I secured the whole thing with one bobby pin (yes, just the one pin is plenty).
Chinese Bun wrapped under, medium thick Dutch accent braid.
I started the ‘do by dutch braiding the hair on the wider side of a medium low side part (hair parted at the middle of my left eyebrow, braid starts somewhere above my right eyebrow). I’m sure anyone more experienced in dutch braiding would have managed to keep the part neat and straight, but I kind of like the messy dipsy-doodle, zig-zag look as well. Anyway, I dutch braided up to the cowlick in the middle-back-top of my head (where you would tie a very high pony tail), then finished the braid normally and tied it off with an elastic.
Next, I wrapped the bun, just letting the braid dangle off to the side, and then looped the braid around the bun and its base before securing the whole thing with three bobby pins. For some reason, the under wrapped Chinese Bun needs more securing for me. Also, my hands and brain don’t really communicate well with one another when wrapping the Chinese Bun under, so it always ends up crooked and weirdly sticking out to one side (here: the left, in case you hadn’t noticed). The over wrapped bun looks more interesting anyway, I think, so I won’t spend too much time on teaching my hands and brain the under one.
By the way, since I couldn’t find an online tutorial for the under wrapped Chinese Bun (which probably means that it’s not an actual hairstyle at all, at least not a Chinese Bun):
I wrap it pretty much exactly the same way I do the over one.
Pony tail –> hairstick through the base of the pony tail, between elastic and head –> part hair into two equal strands –> bring each strand up between hairstick and head, cross them over above the hair elastic, then bring them down over the hairstick, crosswise… then lose track of what you’re doing and keep wrapping some way or the other until all your hair is used up. Secure with bobby pins.
Sorry, I’m not very good at this.
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