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Thinking about switching up your hairstyle and trying a slicked back bun but don’t know where to begin? Have no fear, because we spoke to celebrity hairstylists EXCLUSIVELY, on how to achieve the look in a few simples steps.
Stars including Olivia Culpo, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, and Hailey Baldwin, (just to name a few!) have been loving this hairstyle and it’s actually not as complicated as you think. So, to help you get the sleek look, we spoke to three different celebrity hairstylists and you can follow their steps below.
Celebrity hairstylist, Clariss Rubenstein, told HollywoodLife, “I love a slicked back bun and it’s easy if you follow the right steps and use the right product.” Clariss’s four steps include:
1. “Start with dry straightened hair (if the hair is dirty even better), a ponytail holder, bobby or French hair pins, a smoothing brush, and a shiny pomade. I love MONAT Molding Shine Pomade. It’s part of their men’s line but works great for a look like this.
2. “Take your pomade and emulsify it in your hands, run it through inch sections of your hair. Hair doesn’t need to be saturated with product, but the hair should be somewhat coated.
3. “You can also use oil for the interior parts of the hair to make it slick, heavy, and wet looking and reserve your pomade smoothing the top layer. Totally up to you. MONAT REJUVENIQE Oil Intensive is a great oil and will also condition your hair while you’re wearing this look.
4. “Once your hair is ready for the bun, brush it with your smoothing brush band secure it into a ponytail using your ponytail holder, twist the ponytail into a bun, and secure with pins.”
Meanwhile, celebrity hairstylist and International Colour Creative Director for evo hair, Tom Smith, calls this trend “Botox Hair” and he explained that the “style can work on any hair length longer than the chin.” Tom shared, “It involves sweeping all the hair up into an extremely tight bun that sits on the crown of your head.”
Tom shared some tips, explaining, “The hair must be combed back and up tightly in a line that is a continuation of your cheekbones, giving the ‘snatched,’ freshly Botoxed look of this sleek, sharp style. For this style, use a strong hold styling gel like evo Gangsta Grip to comb all your hair up and back and secure with a tight hair elastic at your crown. Use a toothbrush or the evo Tyler brush and more gel to slick down any flyaways around your hairline.”
Stacey-Ann Houston, Ulta Beauty Design Team Member & Master Hair Stylist, shared another technique you can try, explaining, “The slicked back bun look is a great style to wear especially on ‘day five’ hair for a better hold. To achieve this look, you will need a detangling brush, boar bristle brush, a comb, and two ponytails or elastic scrunchies.”
Stacey-Ann’s steps to achieving the look:
1. “Detangle your hair with the detangling brush starting from the ends and work your way up the hair shaft until you reach your roots. Repeat these steps until all your hair is detangled.
2. “Use your comb to create a center part down the middle of your head.
3. “Apply Pattern Beauty’s Strong Hold Gel in the palm of your hands (about the size of a quarter then a little more if needed) and distribute the product on your hair from the roots to the ends.
4. “Use your boar bristle brush to help smooth your hair into a low ponytail and apply one of your scrunchies to hold the hair together.
5. “Take the hair hanging from the back of the ponytail, and in a circular motion wrap the hair around the first scrunchies, repeat until there’s no more hair left to wrap around the bun. Place the other scrunches around the bun to hold the bun in place.
6. “Apply TGIN’s Edge Control around the edges of your slicked back bun to help with securing the edges. For extra hold use Redken 23 Spray.”