No-Heat Curls with the Friar Tuck

About a year ago, I made a post called Curl Your Hair Without Heat about how to curl your hair with a headband after watching a video on YouTube. It has since turned into my most-viewed post and has generated a ton of emails from readers who want to know exactly how to do it.

Today, I bring you my very own video tutorial for what I like to call the "Friar Tuck."

More details:

• I have fine hair—and a lot of it. It holds curl well. 
• This curling method does not work if your hair is wet. It must be completely dry.
• If your hair falls out of this easily, try wrapping your hair in a silk scarf before going to sleep.
• If you have long hair, try using two headbands to reduce tangles & make it easier to tuck! 
• Dry shampoo used: Suave
• Sea salt spray used: Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturizing Spray
• Songs in the video: (1) 1234 by Feist (2) New Soul by Yael Naim
• The photos below show my hair after an entire day. Some days the curls don't last quite as long.

Products used in this video:

/ / Like this video? Subscribe to my channel on YouTube! If you try the Friar Tuck, tweet or instagram me a photo with the hashtag #auniefriartuck. Love love love

Holiday Hair-spiration

I have two brand new holiday hair tutorials posted over at Yes To Carrots: a low side ponytail and a fun holiday updo. Go check them out... click HERE!

PS>> Love the red bow in the updo? Snag one here!

Curl Your Hair Without Heat

Last week, I saw a post on my friend Kristen's blog

(Confessions of a Graphic Design Student).

She mentioned how she vintage-style curled her hair with a headband...

with NO heat.

Needless to say, I had to try it.

I began by putting an elastic headband over my slightly damp hair.

I grabbed pieces of my hair and tucked them around the headband,

continuing until I reached the back of my head.

It's really similar to the Holiday Updo that I did in December.

When I reached the back, I simply twisted that hair around and around 

the headband until it was all tucked in.

I slept in my headband overnight...

Daniel said I looked like Friar Tuck.

So this is the "Friar Tuck Method" now and forever in my eyes.

In the morning, I pulled the headband out of my hair and was 

SHOCKED at the curls I got.

Wowza, baby!

They stayed like that almost all day.

Of course they fell out a bit... but I didn't mind.

UPDATE // And just in case you'd like to see how to do this,

I included my very own video tutorial (original inspiration tutorial can be found here).

Enjoy!

Products used in this video:

Oh... and just last night after my shower,

I mentioned to Daniel that I was going to "Friar Tuck" my hair again.

His reaction was so adorable, and clearly showed that he found

that sleep-in style NOT attractive.

I opted for two French braids instead.

Sexy.

UPDATE** For those of you who asked 

if this could someday become a hot new trend... 

yes, the Friar Tuck... 

I've actually worn a version of it out before. 

Check out THIS LINK!

UPDATE PART 2** For those of you who say you
get a red mark on your forehead that won't go away for hours,
after you finish rolling your hair,
push the front of the band up, so it rests in your hairline instead
of on your forehead.
That's what I do!

Crochet Me Happy.

Are you ever wondering what to do with leftover crimped hair from a braided updo the day before? Why not add a simple crochet headband and walk out the door? Sounds like a great idea to me!

P.S. In 2012 I'm learning to say no... and lately managing 4 blogs is slightly overwhelming.  Yes. I have 4 blogs. Silly me. Simply Aunie, LastLash, No Naked Nails, and of course, BBB.

In lieu of wanting to keep my blogging time under control, I'm planning on posting on here Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, if you want to keep up with my daily happenings, make sure to visit Simply Aunie. Oh-- and I'm also running a sponsor special on that blog. Buy 2 months, get the rest of January free! Come on over, will ya?

Holiday Updo.

* Sweater: Thrifted * Earrings: Gifted * Headband: Burlington Coat Factory *

Yesterday I received an email from a dear little lady named Emily. She sent me a YouTube video with the most adorable style from HeyKayli. Needless to say, I loved, loved loved it.

All you do is place a simple elastic headband on your head, twist a couple pieces of your hair around it, and you're good to go!

I modified the version from HeyKayli a little bit. She pulled the headband down over her forehead, and I'm not such a huge fan of that style, so I left the band on the top of my head. Also, I decided to sweep mine to the side in a low ponytail to make it more of an updo look. I also think this would look fab with a messy side bun. OOH... now I want to try it.

I plan on wearing a one-shoulder dress for New Year's Eve, and this would be such a fun style to rock along with it. Do you think you'll be trying this messy-but-chic style these holidays?

Oh, and don't forget... if you want to be awesome-blossom like miss Emily and send me suggestions for hairstyles, please don't hesitate to do so! xoxo

Sock Bun.

Yes. I did it. I curled my hair with a sock.

If you're not familiar with this method, you're probably thinking, "What the heck is she talking about?"

Well, it's quite simple, actually. In fact, there's a whole YouTube tutorial by a really cute girl who will teach you how to do it. Oh, and bonus... she has an adorable accent and it sounds like she calls it a "sook bun." It's so precious.

Basically, you just perform the following steps:

1. Grab a regular old tube sock. I used an old single sock that had been stashed away in a drawer.
2. Cut off the toe portion of the sock.
3. Roll the sock into itself so it forms a donut.
4. Put your DRY (or only very slightly damp) hair in a ponytail right on the top of your head.
5. Put your ponytail through the sock donut.
6. Pull the sock donut to the tips of your ponytail, and just as you rolled the sock into the donut, proceed to roll your hair into the sock by just rolling and scrunching the sock into itself.
7. Voila. Sock bun.

It was super-de-duper easy to do. The only problem is that my shoulder-length hair wasn't quite long enough so the back pieces kept falling out of the ponytail. Also, the top part of my hair that was rolled in the sock was falling out, too. To fix that, I simply wrapped the sock bun in a silk scarf so I could sleep soundly and not worry about my hair unraveling all night.

Attractive, I know. If nothing great happens to you today, at least you know that you look better than I did last night. I will allow you to mock me at my expense. Go ahead.

This morning when I woke up, the scarf and sock were still in place. Just a couple more chunks of hair had fallen down the back of my neck, but that was no big deal. I unravelled the sock and was left with this:

Not too bad, but definitely not as great as the girl in the YouTube video. Bummer. I think I will try a different sock next time. Also, I think my hair will do much better when it is longer.

To make up for my drooping, falling out waves (which was pretty much just straight hair with a flip on the end), I added a fun headband that I bought at Burlington Coat Factory for $3.99 yesterday (um... steal!).

Burlington has so many hidden treasures. They are just wonderful. In fact... what do you think of my fun outfit? The top, socks and headband are all from Burlington, and cost me less than $20. Bada-boom-bada-bang.

Think you'll give the sock bun a go? My waves really fell out throughout the day, but it still gave my tresses a nice amount of volume to work with. If I ever want my hair to have a slight flip at the ends, I will definitely opt to sleep in the sock bun the night before. It is just so easy!

So, yes. I curled my hair with a sock. You can bet your buns it's one more trick of the trade I am adding to my hairstyle arsenal.

Rock The Band.

When you're running late, and you know that your hair is going to be the least of your concerns, why not opt for something easy? Usually I'm so preoccupied with trying to attempt intricate hairstyles, that once in a while it's nice to go with something simple.

That's where the headband comes in. What headband, you may say? Any headband. Plastic. Rhinestoned. Alligator patterned. Comb-like. Fabric. Elastic... any and all headbands work.

Today I picked my simple, black plastic Scunci headband. Last night I had thrown my hair into a couple of Wrap Snap & Go curlers (not freshly washed since I washed it yesterday morning), and this morning when I took them out I had a simple wave instead of corkscrew curls. I tossed a headband on and was out the door.

Easy as pie... well just kidding. If I were a baker, it would be easy as pie. But I surely am not (I make a fabulous bowl of cereal!) so I guess this hairstyle is more aptly said as easy peasy.

TBD Inspired.

Boy, oh boy. If there is one beauty site that I love out there, it is The Beauty Department. They feature makeup, hair, DIY, tutorials, polls, and all sorts of fun stuff. I check out their site each and every day looking for new ideas and things to try.

One downside of TBD's hair section is that they are huge fans of hairspray, hair products and teasing. Considering that I'm not allowed to tease or touch products for the next 350 days, I have to modify a couple of the hairstyles to suit my needs.

A particularly fun hairstyle that caught my eye recently was their Short Hair Chignon. It is meant for girls with long bobs, but considering my hair is just past shoulder-length, it works just fine. In fact, I'm a firm believer that this hairstyle will work for just about any length of hair if you secure it right.

For today's style, it's important to make sure your hair is curled or has some good texture. Yesterday, my hair had been Wrap Snap & Go curled, so it was just relaxed enough for this style today. I chose to keep my hair parted in the front just to make it easier. I grabbed one of my favorite elastic headbands and placed it on top of my hair and pulled it down a little bit to make it snug. With the hair at the back of my head, I simply separated a couple pieces, twisted them, and tucked them up and into the headband. And that is it. This style is so so so simple. The only bobby pin in my hair is the one holding the front curl in place (I can't stand loose hair around my face). Since my hair had some body from the day before, I didn't have to tease it or anything. I just tugged on a couple pieces to give it the teased look, and went on my merry way.

If my messy rant is too confusing, you could also visit the Short Hair Chignon link, since TBD was awesome and posted a video tutorial for how to do the style.

Basically... I love TBD. Love, love, LOVE. If I could be as cool as they are some day, that would be fabuloso. But until then, I'm the dork in the corner. Peace out, yo!

Headband Braid.

When I was a little girl, my mom used to always braid the front of my hair from one side to the other to make it look like a French braid headband. I thought it was so cool. And really, it was.

My mom used to show and jump horses when she was little, so she has plenty of experience with braiding. She used to braid the horse's tails and manes so intricately. It figures that she could make braiding magic with my hair.

Now, I'm fairly good at braiding. But when it comes to the headband braid, I struggled. It took me three times to even get it to look presentable. Also, since my hair is entirely lacking in volume, I braided cornrows (as I was informed that they were called, instead of reverse French braids... hehe) down the back of my head before bed as well to help give my hair some good body.

I'm going to warn you ahead of time. DO NOT be fooled by the photo. The picture actually makes this style look pretty sweet.

However, in person... not so much. it was so flat and dull. Also, on the left side, by my ear (no photo for you... sorry), there were lots of little hairs sticking out all over the place. It was just a mess.

I decided to scramble and re-do it at work. It ended up in two reverse French braids with a chignon in back. (I know... I did one yesterday... but I had to do something). And it looked lovely... so I let it stay in all day.

The best part about chignons is that they can be a little messy but still so chic at the same time. Want to know another secret about them? They even stay in during my workouts at the gym. Now that is a fool-proof hairdo!