Practical - Buns and Plaits

Health & Safety: Always run a consultation with the client asking about hair type, condition, allergies or medication and any contraindications that may prevent you from touching the clients hair. This is vitally important especially if there is a risk of catching any skin conditions such as  Folliculitis or Head lice. 

Products Used:

• Small Kirby Grips
• Large Kirby Grips
• Hair Pins
• Denman Brush/Paddle Brush
• Fine Toothed Sectioning Comb
• Thin Hairbands 

Structured Bun

1. Brush the hair up into a high ponytail, low ponytail or side dependant on style and secure with a hair band.
2. Divide the hair into four sections.
3. Taking one section backcomb the underside of the hair to create a solid structure.
4. Smooth over the topside of the section and curl over into a tall pin curl fasten with a Kirby grip.
5. Repeat for the other three sections. 
6. Once you have four tall curls the hair should resemble something of a present. 
7. Using the sectioning end of the comb knit the sides of each curl together to resemble a doughnut. 
8. Fasten with a hair pin.
9. Gently comb over the doughnut and knit together any further gaps to create on solid doughnut shape.  

Process of completing a Conventional Plait 

1. Brush out all the hair to remove knots and tangles.
2. Taking the hair section that is to be plaited, divide the hair into three equal sections.
3. The stands should appear left, middle, right.  
4. Taking the right strand, cross over the middle so that they swap places. 
5. Next take the left strand and cross over the middle so they too swap places. 
6. Continue to cross the right and then left sections over the hair.
7. Repeat all the way down the hair until you run out of hair to plait or reach your desired length.
8. Secure the hair with a thin hairband. 

Process of completing a Fishtail Plait

1. Brush the hair out to remove all knots and tangles. 
2. Divide the section of hair into two.
3. Taking a small outer section of the right side cross over to meet with the left.
4. Hold the cross with your thumb to secure.
5. While held secure cross a outer section from the left hand side (not the piece just used) to the right hand side.
6. Again hold in place with thumb. 
7. The smaller the pieces you cross the better the overall effect of the plait.
8. Continue to repeat steps 3-5 down the plait until you run out of hair or reach desired  length.  
9. Once you have reached desired length secure with an elastic band. 

Process of completing a French Plait

1. Brush the hair out to remove all knots and tangles.
2. Section the hair into a decent sized chunk where you would like the plait to start. 
3. Separate the section into three even stands. 
4. Begin a conventional plait for the first couple of turns. 
5. Continue the plait down the hair but with each crossover incorporating a small section of loose hair into each strand. 
6. The further outside the plait the prettier the overall appearance.  
7. By the time you reach the end of the plait all loose hair should be incorporated into the plait. 
8. Once the end of the plait has been reached and you run out of hair or it reached desired length secure with a thin hairband. 

Evaluation
Despite its fiddly nature I found the process of creating both buns and plaits an enjoyable one as it was a practical study similar to that of textile work and sculpture. Completing a conventional plait was a fairly simple process where once the pattern was established could be carried out with ease, this would be a basic plait to use within a final hairstyle and would probably be most suitable for supporting other hair structures rather than a final decorative piece. Because of my ability in completing a conventional plait the french plait was also rather easy to complete, however it did take a few attempts to achieve the standard of neatness that I was happy with presenting as on my first few tries there were layers of hair exposed within the plait. The fishtail plait was arguably the most challenging hairstyle of all and this I did have to reattempt a few times before I was able to figure out who much hair was needed to create a suitable fishtail, however the process itself once practised was simple enough and gave an effective final result. 
The biggest challenge came within completing a bun which although fine in initial construction, presented a problem when knitting together the sections to create a neat doughnut. This process was somewhat fiddly and required a fair amount of patience, however the final look once polished was effective creating a bun that was full and well supported.