Exactly How To Achieve Sofia Richie Grainge’s Sleek Bun – Minus The Breakage
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SEP 04, 2023 3:27PM | BY KIRSTY THATCHER
The sleek bun has reigned supreme as the hairstyle of choice amongst it-girls for years now.
Loved for its face-snatching ability, this hairstyle is the perfect low-maintenance hack when a full blow wave feels like a little too much effort.
It’s also been the go-to look of Sofia Richie Grainge, with the stylish socialite often snapping pictures of herself with her hair secured in an elegant updo.
And now, proving she really is a woman of the people, Sofia has shared the exact products she uses to create the look – and they’re not what we expected.
HOW TO ACHIEVE SOFIA RICHIE GRAINGE’S SLEEK BUN
Typically, hairstyles of this kind require lashings of hairspray and a heavy-handed helping of gel, which is why they’re often favoured at the end of the hair-washing cycle, as an antidote to slightly greasier locks.
But in a TikTok shared to her over 3 million TikTok followers, Sofia revealed that she actually strays away from traditional hair styling products, in favour of nourishing treatments instead.
She begins the video by saying, “First I’m gonna start off by saying I really love you guys for thinking this is, like, my chic hairstyle. This is actually my lazy girl hairstyle. I do it all the time because I’m very lazy with my hair.”
Sofia then goes on to share that she begins the look with wet hair, and starts by securing a “strong” centre part down the front portion of her head.
As for products, she shares that she “typically [uses] a lotion, but most importantly, any hair mask… And I honestly take it through my entire hair.”
While, according to Sofia, you can “pretty much do this hairstyle with any product,” for those (like us) who are keen to know exactly what the TikTok queen uses, we’ve got you covered.
First, she runs the Christophe Robin Regenerating Mask with Rare Prickly Pear Oil from root to tip.
Once that’s distributed, she takes a fine-toothed comb and separates the front half of her hair from the back, using her ear as a guide, while maintaining the centre part from earlier.
Next, she lathers the Oribe Matte Waves Texture Lotion to the back half of her hair before pulling this section into a ponytail using a Mason Pearson brush.
Then, using the same brush and lotion, she repeated this process to the front half of her hair, pulling each side into the existing ponytail separately.
“This is the most satisfying part. I [just] brush this against my head as tightly as I can,” she says.
And there you have it. After some careful brushing to get everything just right, she finishes the look by wrapping the hair on itself to form a bun, and fastening with a hair tie. We’re obsessed.
IS SOFIA’S SLEEK HAIRSTYLE *ACTUALLY* GOOD FOR YOUR HAIR?
In the video, Sofia credits this hairstyle–and the nourishing products at the centre of it– with revitalising her hair.
“I would say in the beginning of COVID… my hair length was, like, stuck from all the bleaching, all the dyeing,” she explained, prompting her to make the switch from gel to a hair mask.
“I’m convinced it’s the only reason why my hair grew lusciously over COVID,” she added.
But viewers of her video were quick to question whether it’s actually any healthier to pull your hair back in such a tight style, particularly when the strands are wet.
“Ok she looks STUNNING but is anybody else worried about how she does this with wet hair? I mean breakage is so likely to happen,” one user commented.
To get to the bottom of this dilemma, we consulted award-winning hairdresser Anthony Nader for his take on Sofia’s go-to ‘do.
When it comes to products, “hair masking earns double points in my beauty bible that’s for sure,” Anthony told ELLE Australia.
However, when it comes to Sofia’s generous application of the products in question, Anthony said more isn’t always best.
“I see time and time again consumers overusing styling products, and by the time you’ve applied [them], you’ve lost the whole purpose of what you were trying to achieve, and instead end up washing your hard-earned dollars down the drain.”
When it comes to breakage associated with tighter styles like this, Anthony warns you to be wary of the type of hair elastics you use.
“Hair elastics always need to be on the thicker side and not thin. This especially puts an enormous amount of pressure on the hair strands and if your hair is already weak, you’ll eventually end up with hair breakage.”
As for styling the hair when wet, he agrees it’s best to watch out for over-brushing.
“Hair strands are at their most delicate and fragile state here. For virgin hair, you’re safe to a degree but don’t abuse your friendship with your brush. Highly bleached or highlighted hair strands should be more mindful, as the hair strands’ elasticity may not bounce back to its original length.”