I undid my twists this morning, looked in the mirror and was really overwhelmed by how much hair there was. It looked so thick and I wondered how I ever manage to style it.

Anyway, I’m on week 20 of my protective style challenge. 20 weeks of different hairstyles! I thought that I would really struggle to get this far but I’m still having fun and there are still lots of styles left to try. Next week I’m back in a long term protective style to shield my hair from the dry weather so I thought I’d go all out this week and really get into the styling, outfit and all.

 

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o styled her hair like this for the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival and as usual caused a huge buzz. She called it the donut and it’s also known as a ballerina bun. Here is my take on it:

Step 1

Tie the hair into a high puff. I used a band made from a pair of old tights. I tend to slide the band up at the back until just where the head curves and then tie it at the front.

Step 2

Gather the hair in the puff together and plait the ends into a tiny braid. It’s ok if you don’t get all the hair in. You don’t want the bun to be too tight. Just smooth any loose hairs in to place.

 

Step 3

Tuck the braid in to the bun so that it isn’t visible.

 

That’s it. You’re done.

 

 

 

I added a scarf to make it a little more interesting.

 

To get the look Lupita rocked on the red carpet I used a gold necklace and placed it around the band at the base of the bun.

 

 

 

 

 

My dress isn’t as floaty as Lupita’s but I had fun trying.