I am forever in search of a hairstyle that both makes me look presentable and doesn’t require me to wreck my hair with heat every day. My hair is super thick and unruly and I am the queen of baby curls (even in a ponytail I look like I have a wispy little lion’s mane) so this is no easy task. I chose two hairstyle tutorials on Youtube whose titles’ included the words “lazy” and “hairstyle” because that sounded right up my alley, and tried them out for your amusement.
This is the hairstyle (or lack thereof) that I started out with. My hair doesn’t have a particular curl pattern and it definitely isn’t straight. It’s just very big. On this particular morning I had followed my usual summer hair routine, which means that I washed my hair before bed, attempted to blow dry it until my arms got tired, then slept on my damp hair for 12 hours. Now can you see why lazy hairstyles are kind of my thing?
The first tutorial that I followed was Amanda Steele’s “Cute Lazy Day Hairstyles! (Heatless!)”. Her hair is a tad shorter than mine and it is bleached, which can often make a person’s hair courser, which probably helped her hair hold the styles.
The second tutorial that I followed was Chelsea Trevor's "Lazy Girl Hairstyles." As you can see, she waved her hair using a flat iron (which she explains how to do in the video) which is totally cheating if you ask me. When I say lazy hairstyles, I mean I want something that requires no effort and conceals the fact that my natural hair is a hot mess.
1. Space Buns
The first style, dubbed “space buns,” looked pretty cute on her. I’m guessing that only certain people can pull off the look though, because I think my dad would have had me sent back to rehab if I ever tried to leave the house with this style.
Comments: I kind of felt like Minnie Mouse and Miley Cyrus’ illegitimate love child with this hairstyle. It’s also not very durable- I shook my head and my right bun toppled right over!
Score: 1.5/5
2. Boxer Braids
Amanda’s second style, the boxer braids, is a style that I’ve seen a lot on the internet lately that I think looks amazing on girls with long thick hair, and she even made it work on short hair!
Comments: I usually avoid pigtails and double-braids due to the “handlebars” comments that generally ensue, but this hairstyle felt durable and kept my hair out of my face and would be great for the beach! A friend also told me that with the double-braided style, it's important for some people (like me) to keep your side part to avoid looking like a 5 year old.
Score: 4/5
3. Braided Bun
The final hairstyle, the braided bun, had me dubious from the start. I have no clue how she managed to make her little baby braid into a red-carpet-ready bun, but that was just not happening on my head. It didn’t help that I used my big black hair ties instead of the little clear elastics that she suggested. But it still took two hair ties and six bobby pins to attempt this failed style.
Comments: I love braids. I love buns. But it doesn’t look like I’ll be trying to mix the two again in the near future. I also didn’t find one of the bobby pins in my hair until two styles later.
Score: 1/5
4. Half Bun ("Hun")
I wear this hairstyle frequently since I cut my hair short. It's very simple but still requires me to straighten or curl the bottom half of my hair.
Comments: As much as I wear this style (which my boyfriend refers to as the "octopus bun"), I'm disqualifying it from my search for the ultimate heatless hairstyle.
Score: 1/5
5. Half-up Braids
This look is super simple- you just pin two braids at the back sides of your head, using your hair to hide the bobby pins.
Comments: Again, this style is disqualified because it does nothing to hide my frizz and mishappen curls. If I were to wear it again, I would curl the rest of my hair and tie the braids together in the back.
Score: 2/5
6. "Boho" Braid
As adorable as these styles look on her, Chelsea Trevor missed the mark when she called these styles "lazy." Unless your natural hair texture is already fabulous, all of her styles require heat tools to complete.
Comments: This is not "boho," and it is definitely not a hairstyle. Its just a random braid on the side of my head.
Score: 0/5
Disclaimer: Everyone's hair is different, so you may or may not achieve the same results/lack thereof on your own personal head.
The search for the ultimate "lazy" heatless hairstyle continues!
