Have you seen any of the social media ads with the fake updo buns?
These started popping up all over my social media a few weeks ago. I didn’t know they existed. I wasn’t searching for them. I’d never heard of them. And yet, several times a day, the algorithms of social media marketing flashed them past my face.
Although they fascinated me, there were so many competitors, so many options, so many similar versions that it was impossible to separate them. If five of them look the same, how can you decide which one to purchase?
Different price points, different color options, different quality it seemed.
It was too hard to make a choice and pull the trigger. Until it occurred to me – I could compare them for YOU to make the choice easier. And there was a burning question to answer – Do we even need this?
The Backstory
I’ve always envied those effortlessly chic southern women with their messy buns. I watch youtube videos trying to decide what the secret is. Do they wear hair extensions? It is time lapse? Is it MAGIC?!
When I try to pin my hair up, it’s a sad and pathetic little bun. Am I twisting it too tight? Is my hair too fine? Too long? Too straight?
Have you ever read the Moomintrolls? If yes and I tell you that I have a Little My bun, you’ll know what I mean!
If not, here’s my natural bun.
The Purchases
If this is a topic that ever interested you, then you probably already know that none of these sites/brands answer the burning question “But what’s the difference between them all?!”
No worries, that’s where I come in!
I started with a purchase of the two messy buns (Juva Bun and Cassie Braids) that had been offered up in routine social media marketing.
Oh they are good, the social media marketing gods…once I bought them the ads nearly disappeared…big brother knows my spending habits!
Then I decided to search for “bargains” on Amazon.
So here’s my list of purchases and the fees I paid for at the time of sale. (There are always deals to be had so it’s really just to give you a ballpark.)
- Cassie Braids Messy Bun (2 small buns) (Black) $17.99 before S/H
- Juva Bun Messy Bun (Black) $24.99 free S/H
- Amazon/Morica Messy Hair Bun (Darkest Brown) $7.64 [affiliate link]
- Amazon/Morica Messy Hair Bun (Natural Black) $7.64 [affiliate link]
- Amazon/Maorrew Messy Bun Hair Piece Thick Updo Scrunchies (Off Black) $8.59 {affiliate link]
The Comparison
It took a while for everything to come in – but I have to lay that more at the feet of USPS, pandemic and poor weather. I could see that everything shipped very quickly.
Color
For the record, my natural hair color is a dark brown which tends towards red. However, my colorist deepens my color to a deep chocolate brown usually with some blue or berry undertones thrown in. This makes my hair cooler and richer than it is naturally. It’s subtle but noticeable. So for color comparisons, my concern was that BLACK would be too blackish blue and that brownish colors might be too light.
It’s also worth noting that naturally ends are often lighter than the crown of the head. This means that you have a little wiggle room on the shade of the “ends” of the bun and you can go lighter – but going darker would probably look odd.
As you may be able to tell from the samples above (taken outside in daylight), there is a definitely difference in color. However, I’m not sure it matters that much.
- The Maorrew messy bun comes in 35 color choices.
- The Morica messy bun comes in 25 options.
- The Juva Bun messy bun comes in 16 colors.
- The Cassie Braid messy bun (not pictured here) only has 5 color choices.
For me, the Black and Natural Black versions work the best. The Off Black ended up being a little too honey/brown and the Darkest Brown had a little more yellow tone to it than my current color.
Which really leads me to two points.
- First, the TONE of the color may be more important than the color.
- Second, it’s better to be lighter than darker if you have to pick.
- A bonus third, Juva Bun has a 60-day risk free guarantee, the Amazon options are returnable, and the Cassie Braids buns can be returned within 30 days if they are in original condition.
Size and Quality
My next unanswerable question looking at the site was how they compared in size and quality.
They are definitely different sizes. This depends on several factors which you cannot discern online.
- The size of the elastic at the middle
- The density of the hair on the elastic
- The length of the hair on the elastic.
The smallest messy buns come in a pack of two. I love them for space buns. They would also work well for someone with less hair. My hair goes down to my mid back so even though it’s fine, when I twirl it up into a single bun, it needs a larger elastic to wrap around it twice. I didn’t feel the smallest buns had that much give to them.
The medium size bun is consistent across the Amazon messy buns I tried. They are totally sufficient for a double wrap on a single bun on my head and the elastic feels solid.
The large bun feels only very slightly looser (i.e. larger) in size based on the elastic, but the wrap of the hair is longer and thicker in a more usable way. That probably sounds weird. The hair on the elastic feels looser but I think that’s because the elastic is larger. It doesn’t feel thin, it actually makes it feel and look more natural when it’s in place. I’ve also brushed this almost daily and it doesn’t shed. It can look sleek and polished if you smooth it around the bun, or you can brush it and let it be for the messy look. In this way, I’d say the quality of the hair and the construction is superior to lesser brands.
Brushing these is really all the maintenance they need, though they can be washed gently like hair if they require it.
Like anything with elastic, I assume with enough use and tension, they will break. I consider that part of the lifecycle of the product. Size is going to be personal preference, usage and desired look. So move on to the next part to see my amateur samples of what they look like.
The Outcome
For all of these looks, I pulled my hair into a ponytail using a hair coil, then wrapped the rest of my hair around it (two smaller ponytails for the space buns, obvs!). Then I wrapped each of the messy buns around my baby bun twice. That’s it! As you can see from the flyaways and baby hairs, I really didn’t do any prep. That is a huge part of the appeal of these fake hair messy bun pieces.
The End Result
Hands down, for me, the Juva Bun is the clear winner. It provided the loose, tousled, woke-up-this-way effortless chic that I was going for. It looks, feels, and performs like a higher quality product than its imitators. I wore this on meeting zoom calls for a couple of weeks and got tons of compliments. I can toss on a pair of earrings, a coat of mascara and look polished and sophisticated in a casual way. Love it!!
Now, since I had the others, I definitely tried them out. The medium size bun was NOT the look I was going for, but it creates a very nice, neat, tight bun that’s still more casual than the sleek up do buns. If that’s the look you want, it might appeal to you.
Oh just-you-wait! There will be a fake hair installment for sleek buns too!
I don’t wear it as much as the Juva Bun but it’s a great way to get my hair out of my face and still be able to dash to the grocery store for a quick errand.
As for the space buns – what can I say? I’m a child at heart and simply love space buns. But they are not an everyday look, even for me. These will stick around for silly days and just-because occasions.
What do you think? Will you try the trend? Will you check out the fake hair messy bun?
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. Some of these links are affiliate links. If you click a link and buy something, I may receive a commission for the sale. It does not cost you anything extra and you are free to use the link or not. Product purchases for review are made with my own money and my opinions are my own. If product is ever provided or the article is sponsored, it will be clearly noted at the top of the page.