Since you’ll be pushing the sharpened end of the pencil down into the bun, make sure that you hold the ponytail in the center of your head and not below so that the pencil won’t poke you.
If you want the bun to be tighter, you can first hold the ponytail out straight and twist the hair a few times before wrapping it around the base into the bun.
You can push the pencil further in or pull it out a bit to adjust it so it sticks out evenly on either side of the bun.
If you’re going for a more relaxed pencil bun look, you can leave the loose hairs out and skip this step. You can also use a bobby pin to secure any loose ends in place.
If your hair is more of a medium length, you’ll likely only need to wrap it around the pencil once. If your hair is longer, you may need to wrap it around twice. If you want your bun to be a bit messier, you can leave more of your hair unwrapped so it’ll stick out of the bun a bit more.
The sharpened end of the pencil will naturally start pushing down into the bun as you rotate it clockwise.
Make sure that you stop pushing the pencil down before it comes out the bottom to keep it from poking you in the neck. While an inverted pencil bun is generally worn more relaxed and messy, you can use bobby pins to secure any loose hairs in place if you want a cleaner look. [9] X Research source
You can also use chopsticks instead of pencils. [12] X Research source
You can push the pencils straight down for a more uniform look, or rotate them a bit in opposite directions as you push down into the bun at an inward angle.
If you want your braided bun to be tighter, put your hair into a ponytail first and secure it with a hair tie. Then, braid the ponytail and secure the end with another hair tie before moving on to the next step. [15] X Research source
Rolling the braid in towards your head from the end will hide the hair tie within the pencil bun.
Depending on how tightly your hair is braided, you may be able to rotate the bun until the pencil is vertical with the sharpened end straight down, or you may only be able to rotate a bit. Both options will hold securely in place and look great.
