How-to: New Year's Eve Curly Side Bun

When it comes to holiday hairstyles, it seems the urge to bust out the curling wand is almost mandatory. Before embracing my natural curls, I'd flat iron my hair at 400ºF, then proceed to curl "smoother" beachy curls at an additional 400ºF with a curling wand. My hair was fried for years until OLAPLEX. Since OLAPLEX treatments helped me have the healthiest curls possible, I've tossed my heat tools and now exclusively style my hair naturally. I go for big bouncy all-over curls most of the time, but since we're in the season, I'm taking my look to a classic adorned side bun for my New Year's Eve.

Here's how I did it:

Step 1: Before any event, when I want my hair to look its best, I do double treatments the day of using OLAPLEX Nº.0, Nº.3, and Nº.8. I begin by dampening my curls with Nº.0 (I use a little water to help dampen my hair faster and conserve product as my hair is dense). I wait ten minutes, then apply Nº.3 directly on top, combing through to saturate thoroughly. My curls love this treatment, so rather than keeping the Nº.3 on for an additional ten minutes as recommended, I typically leave it on for one to two hours while I multi-task.

After shampooing the treatment out with Nº.4, I then apply Nº.8 Bond Intense Moisture Mask, combing through to ensure complete saturation. Then, I rinse out the treatment and prep my hair.

Step 2: While still damp (not drenched), I apply a cocktail of OLAPLEX Nº.6 Bond Smoother and OLAPLEX Nº.7 Bonding Oil. The combination of the two reduces pesky frizz for up to 72 hours, smoothes my hair without hiding my texture, and adds shine. While this is a heat-free style, I love that Nº.7 protects against 450ºF if you choose to add curls thermally!

Step 3: Once my hair is dry, I choose the side I want the bun to lay, then add bobby pins to the opposite side for hold. Using small elastics, I create a loose bun, then pull my curls out, pinning them onto my head around the bun. This should almost resemble an open rose.

Step 4: I have curly bangs, but for this look I want a little extra hair hanging from the opposite side, so I take out my favorite curls then choose an adornment of my liking for extra holiday glam.

Step 5: For any flyaways I touch up lightly with Nº.6, then I'm ready to go!

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