In an up-scale street market (Lusaka dwellers read: Dutch Reformed monthly yard sales or Arcades Sunday parking lot sales), I found these cute little hair sticks with a giraffe print painted on them. I picked them up for K2,000 (approximately $0.50 at that time), and wore my hair in sticks as much as possible.

Fast-forward 4-5 years and my hair-dresser, is on my case about how my habit of wearing my hair pulled back in tight ponytails almost every day is doing some major damage to my hairline. So, I began to find new and different ways to wear my hair and as an easily-bored, hairstylist myself, this has been a fun challenge.

My 3-minute updo is an ever-changing beast, but all it requires are bobby pins and the willingness to do something different. This is really what separates it from the faux-hawk or any other hairstyles because it is not a distinct style and it is hardly ever the same.

What I like the most about the 3-Minute Up-do is that it does not require very much. If you don’t want to, you don’t even have to comb your hair. I didn’t when I put my hair up yesterday! I wear my hair up most of the time, so this has become a handy tool for me to get my hair done quickly and get out the door.

In the simplest way possible, all you have to do for the 3-minute up-do is grab a section of hair twist, and then pin it up and do this all over till the hair is pulled back and pinned up. sometimes I like to throw in a braid or two or separate out a section of hair in the front and do something different with it, messy bantu knots (I’ll post a bantu knot tutorial soon) or a slight bump. Bumps can be created by grabbing the section of hair loosely at the back, twisting it slightly and then pushing the hair forward, and securing with a pin.

Here are some more pictures of the up-do I have pictured above. To get this style I parted out a section in the the front, enough to get about a handful of hair. This front section I split in half diagonally and then twisted each section and then twisted the twist around itself to make the know. I then used a bobby pin to secure the knot. Now it is possible to make these knots tidy but I like the messy look and so I let the ends stick out. Then with the hair that was left at the back, using my finger, I split it diagonally from one end to the other and then I plaited French braids following the diagonal and then using bobby pins, secured the braids into each other. Again I let the ends hang out and messy-up the style a little bit. This look can be done with natural and relaxed hair. However, with natural hair, I might go for a cleaner, less messy look. More pictures of the final product:

Let us know if you try this style and send pictures of what you come up with when you do your own 3-minute up-do.