Pin 191: Inside-out Ponytail

Original pin:

http://www.jettingtothewedding.com/blog/diy-wedding-hair-a-modern-bun.html

This is posted on a wedding site as "big day" hair, but seems really simple and easy. I liked the style and am always looking for a ponytail alternative. This seemed totally doable.

On a scale of 1-5 where 1 = I can make a straight part and 5 = I have 7 different hair styling irons and can use them all perfectly with professional results, I would rate myself at a 3. I can pull off a decent do when I try. This one is uncomplicated, although I have been about 50/50 with the Pinterest inspired hair. I figured I had a shot.

I was wrong. I tried it three, maybe four times and here are my results:

 

 Classy, right? Pulling my hair through as described in the tutorial was really a mess. My hair may really be too long for this style as well. By the time I had it pulled through enough to get the ends towards the base of the ponytail, it was so loopy and floppy that it just fell over everywhere. If I didn't pull it through enough then I had a lot of ends to work with trying to pin up and around.

Total cost: $0

Total time: 20 minutes

Final verdict: Couldn't make it happen. My hair is really soft and it took a lot of hairspray to even get the sloppy volume in the picture. I think my hair may be too long, although in the tutorial, it looks like the model has longer hair than mine. I may play around with it more in the future, because I do think it is a chic look, but it did not work out for me that day.

So that was the post I had prepared. . .

As I finished the post and got ready to publish, I glanced back over the tutorial to check the link. I realized that I may have pulled my ponytail through the opposite way than the tutorial. I know where I messed up but I can't really explain it in words.  I was pulling the whole thing through starting with the base of the ponytail to the ends, instead of just pulling the ends through. Now are you really confused???

I hopped up from my computer, and just had to retry it with this new revelation. You'll have to excuse the day-old-slept-on-non-hairsprayed look in these photos.

I tried pulling from the ends instead of from the base and after only two attempts had this:

Much better start. After pinning up the ends and fluffing a little bit I ended up with a very rudimentary version of the original style.

Never mind all the sloppy flyaways--I had fixed the problem! I conquered the style! I can totally clean this up with some fresh hair, and a little practice. At first it felt really loose and that it would just fall out any minute, but after I started pinning up the ends to the base, it started to feel much more secure. I'm digging the look and it is a great alternative to the sock bun--not that I don't sport a sock bun on many a day. I do start to get a little self-conscious about that sock. . .

So the REAL final verdict: I can make this work! And it is much easier to conquer then that sock bun was.