I have gotten a huge response from my post on sock bun curls! It is an easy and beautiful way to style your long hair, especially for busy moms- on the go. I had numerous questions and wanted to give you lady’s a video example of sock bun curls.
I am so excited to hear that so many of you are trying the sock bun curls. If you have not read my first post on this easy style, please do. It gives a photo and picture tutorial on how to get beautiful curls in your sleep using a sock. I am also glad to know that I am not the only mother that has run out the door a complete mess on many occasions! I have used this technique on my own hair many times and get great results. I have gotten a lot of comments from people saying that it looked great, some saying that it did not work on their hair, and some wanting to know more and see a video.
I hope that I did not give anyone false hope in my previous post by saying anyone can do this. When I said that, I meant that everyone has a sock on hand, and everyone can roll it in their long hair. However, this technique will not work on every single type of hair. The results in my picture will not be the same on every hair type. I think the best way to look at the sock bun curls is with an open mind and willingness to try something new and experiment with your own hair. For me, it is a fun and easy alternative to curling my entire head of hair with a curling iron. If you are going to give the sock bun curls a try – do it at a time that gives you the option to try again in case it does not work for your hair type. Since every type of hair reacts differently to styling methods, I cannot give you all the answers, but I hope that you will experiment on your own so that you can make this work for you. The time and effort that you will save in the long run is well worth the effort. I have created a video for you all so that you can see exactly how I roll a sock and put it into my own hair to create curls.
The first video will show you how to roll your sock (with the toe cut off) into a ring. It also demonstrates how I put my hair into a ponytail and spritz it with water. Basically, video number one is how to prepare your sock and hair for putting in a sock bun.
Video number two will show you how I actually wrap my hair onto the sock ring to create the sock bun. This process is pretty simple once you get it started, especially if you do not have layers in your hair. If you do have layers, like I do, this process is doable if you are patient and take your time. I do my best to neatly tuck and smooth all of the layers under the sock then do one roll of the sock and repeat. Tuck and smooth, roll, and repeat. Practice makes perfect here! Don’t be afraid to take it out and start again if it doesn’t feel smooth. Your curls will not be smooth if they are not rolled neatly onto the sock.
Here are three pictures of my own hair using the sock bun to create curls. Picture number one is a sock bun applied to just showered and air dried hair. These are the exact curls that I got from the sock bun that I applied in the video. You can see the before of my hair in video number one.
Picture number two is day two of sock bun curls (from the above picture) put half up.
Picture three is a sock bun applied to day old hair.
A few other tips for you to try:
To get rid of the “kink” from the hair band try wrapping a small section of your hair around the ponytail and securing with a bobby pin (instead of using a hair tie). I would also suggest trying a “scrunchie” type hair tie or a doubled up knit headband (as I did in video number 1) in place of an elastic hair tie. A reader suggested that you use the tip of the sock that you cut off, and another cuts the hair tie out after the bun is in place.
If you get “frizzy curls” I suggest adding some hair product (anti frizz serum or something along those lines) before your hair drys. If your hair is frizzy to begin with you might need to blow dry it smooth before you try the sock bun (I realize that requires heat) but you still are not putting a hot iron in your hair and the result will be much different for you.
Make sure that your hair is completely dry before you remove your sock bun in the morning. You may have to experiment with the level of dampness that you begin with in your hair. It is a crucial part of making nice curls using a sock bun.
I have also heard others suggest using more than one sock for ladies with a ton of hair, or a small child sized sock for tighter curls on hard to curl hair. I have not tried either on my own hair – but think that both techniques would work to achieve a different effect on other types of hair. Have fun and experiment! I have found that it works best for me on day old hair (after it has smoothed out a bit from air drying). Happy curling – I hope that my video gives you a good visual of how to roll a sock bun to get curls. I truly hope that this helps moms- or busy woman like me who put them selves last but would like to look fancy now and again!
Sock Bun Inspired Hairstyles
If you are looking for a quick hairstyle using the sock bun curl technique, you can find one here:
Fancy Five Minute Hairstyle Using Overnight Sock Bun Curls
Your an angel for taking the time to do this video. I’ve always wondered how my mother in law got my daughters hair curly after a sleep over at her house. She always told me she does the sock curl but I had nooo idea what or how it was done! She never seemed to want to show me how it was done! Now that my daughters 29 yrs. old now, I still never knewwwww that little sock trick. Wow….thank you soooo much for putting this out here! I kind of want to stick my tongue out now at my mother in law cause THANKS TO YOUUUUUUUUUU —- I KNOW HOW IT WAS DONE NOW! Maybe I’ll have a grand daughter that I can use this on myself someday!Thank you AGAIN FOR PUTTING THIS ON THE COMPUTER!
Well one weekend I over heard my sister in law telling someone, you know women over 50 should cut their hair short. Well I’m over 50 – heading toward my 60s but my hair is longer then it has ever been. Even as a long haired hippyie (as my Grandpa called me 🙂 Anyway since then I have had surgery on both shoulders. With my hair this long, it has been very hard for me to curl my long hair & almost thought maybe my she was right. Then I found your videos & I thought “I could do this..” and rolled my hair up right away. I can’t believe how beautiful it turned out with so little of work involved. Thank you for sharing your videos it saved my long gray hair 🙂 signed – artist at play with hair of curls
I am a teenager, and I found this article to be very informative. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I don’t have a lot of time in the mornings to get ready for school, so this time-saver is awesome! As I type this comment, I have a sock bun in. I can’t wait until the morning!
Love to hear that! So happy it is working so well for you and that it fits into your daily routine!
This was super frustrating! My layers will not allow for this at all. I have up after the seventh try:(
Gave up*
I used pedicure socks, since they already have the toes cut out. One I used for the initial ponytail and the other I used to roll the hair on. Perfect!!
The curls at the bottom of my hair came out beautiful. However, the top of my hair was so frizzy the next day and one side of my hair fell flat after an hour. I know mousse could help, should I apply it right before I roll my hair? or while my hair is drying?
I would apply it to wet hair!
Thanks so much for sharing. I don’t like messing with my hair to much but do want to always look my best. This will be something new for me to try. My hair looks to be just like yours so tonight I’ll give it a try.
I tried it…
I have to say: it takes 30 minutes to brush out my hair!
And it didn’t even worked… Maybe i did it wrong but i realy didn’t had the curls like you had. I’m sorry but I will not try this again.
This post is really helpful! I am so glad you included the videos as well, definitely cleared up some of my confusion. I also have wavy/curly hair that I normally wear curly. When I do I don’t brush it out. Do do this hairstyle, would you recommend brushing out the curls first or styling without?
I so wish i had found this before i got this really bad perm i look like the lion on the wizard of OZ.
I find it easier to get the bun neat and all the ends tucked in neatly if I roll it with my head up side down. About to sleep in it, I’ve put a panty hose ‘sockette’ over the bun to keep together. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out 😉
Thanks so much for the video! Gonna try this tomorrow!!!
Thank you so much for this!!! I am the mom of 3 kids 3 and under, so doing my hair is the last thing on my mind. I tried this last night and it worked great. My hair looks so pretty!
Yeah! So happy to hear that it worked so well for you! It is a true miracle for us busy mommies 🙂
Kim,
I think this is genuinely keen. The post has been going for over two years now. Generally the comments are positive which I like to see. It seems the ones who give up don’t have the right kind of hair type or layers or just didn’t have the patience to get it to work for them. I have a little past shoulder length with layers and think I’m going to try to put my hair through the unrolled sock so I can keep the shorter layers tucked under as I roll the sock into a bun. I will have to watch the video again, but I can’t remember if you used anything after to secure your hair after rolling it all the way down the sock into the bun? I think maybe your hair is long enough that it just stayed in place. Wondering if you have any ideas for securing it in place when it’s completely rolled up or if the sock just holds it in place? I think this is phenomenal. I wish I wouldn’t have cut my hair a couple of years ago. It’s longer now enough to try it though. Super-excited to try and completely understand if it doesn’t work on my hair after reading all of these comments. It’s still a great concept. I’ll just have to let the layers grow out a little more. I’ll get back. Thanks so much! Kim
I’m trying hope my hair will be nice as you…thanks for sharing!! I’m from Brazil, hugs.