1. Position, Position, Position
The key to the perfect bun is all about the position. The ballet bun is very different to the trendy top knot and as such the biggest mistake most people make is placing the ponytail too high so the bun then sits in an awkward position right on the top of the head.
For the perfect bun, the ponytail should sit right at the “point” on the skull. If you feel your head you feel where the top slope and bottom slope meet forming a “point”. This is where your ponytail should sit – at exactly halfway on the head.
2. The Perfect Ponytail
No dancer ever wants flyaways but the trick is to tame your flyaways before you start constructing the bun. This then allows you to hide any bumps or stray hairs underneath the bun making it super neat and tidy.
Spraying your hair with hairspray before you brush it into a ponytail will give you a good base to work from. But you must then work fast. You want the hairspray to still be tacky while you’re brushing. No-one enjoys brushing hair with hairspray that has set.
3. Pin As You Go
You’ll see many hair tutorials where you twist the hair and create the entire bun before you insert a single pin. While this might work on short hair, if your hair is long or thick you’ll find the bun falls apart before you start to secure it.
My advice pin as you go. Each time your hair “turns the corner” insert a pin to secure the hair in a perfect circle.
Then once the hair has been coiled you can easily place a hairnet over with having to sprout a third arm to keep everything in place. Two simple pins is then all you need to secure the hair net and you’re done.
Again if you find the hairnet doesn’t tame all the flyaways, spray the bun and again using the hairspray lid roll from the centre of the bun out and around sticking everything down in place.