I’ve called this week’s hairstyle the Mukule Bun. Mukule is the Bemba word for Cornrow, Bemba being a language that is quite widely spoken in Zambia.

I’ve wanted to do a bun of this sort since the beginning of this challenge but I never thought my hair was sufficiently stretched to achieve a sleek look. This time I decided to stretch my hair by threading it. This is a method of wrapping sections of hair with cotton thread that is popular with people who would rather not use heat on their hair. This was the first time that I threaded my own hair and it was a lot easier than I imagined.

I washed my hair on Saturday morning, threading it while it was still damp, after moisturising and sealing. I undid the threading or cotton this morning and re-moisturised the ends of my hair with a leave in conditioner sealing with an oil mixture before styling.

Step 1:

Divide the hair in two, leaving a U shaped section in the front for the Mukule pompadour. Tie the back section into as small a puff as you can get away with. Make sure the puff isn’t too tight. As usual, I used a band made from a pair of old tights. I like my buns high but this style would work just as well with a low bun.

Step 2:

Loosely plait your mukule from front to back. Tuck and pin the end down.

Step 3:

Place the hair in the puff into a bun maker. Pull the hair outward and pin it to the bottom of the bun maker. If your hair is longer or you use a smaller bun maker then you can probably get away with tucking the hair in rather than pinning it. If you are using pins you’ll have to play around with them to make sure they don’t show.

That’s it! I went for an especially simple style this week as I want to make sure my hair stays stretched for next weeks style. I’ve worked out a strategy to combat the encroaching dry weather but I’m jumping the gun; more on that next week.