I love the top bun, or ‘Odango’ hair – it gets your hair up and gives you an instantly polished look for very little effort. A lot of people think they can’t do this style if they have shoulder length hair. The challenge is two fold. One, getting all of your hair into a pony tail when the bottom layer is much shorter than the rest; two, getting a sufficiently poofy bun with relatively little hair. So I thought I might share with everyone how I do it.

So first, how long does your hair have to be? I think just above the shoulders is a good length, like mine was back in May 🙂

For best results, curl your hair with a curling iron or hair straightener before you begin.

Using a brush, gather hair as high on the top of your hair as you can get, ignoring the hair in the back that are too short to reach and of course your fringe, if you have one. Tie securely into a pony tail. Some people comb their hair upside down to do this, but I find this will often create a messy fringe part.

With all the left over hair not long enough to reach the top, just pin it to the back.

To get a really poofy bun, back-comb the pony tail. Then arrange the pony tail into a bun. Secure with as many pins as you need. With shorter hair you usually have to use a lot! Shake your head around to check the bun won’t fall out.

See? Easy!