Braided Vortex Bun

I've always loved vortex buns.  There's just something about them that always had a high "wow" factor for me.  However, when you combine my inability to use bobby pins with my already slippery hair, you get a recipe for repeatedly failing at creating a decent vortex bun.

So, I have recently gone on a mission to learn how to successfully use pins in my hair.  This mission has had some sketchy moments, and it's only in the last few days that I've actually managed to get my hair up using bobby pins, and have it both look decent and feel secure.

Today was my first truly successful vortex bun.

Behold!

feel free to ignore the terrible webcam picture...

I did a little French lace braid accent :-)

I think it looks pretty good (minus the pretty terrible pictures), and it's actually remarkably comfortable.  The pins aren't stabbing me, it feels secure, and it distributes the weight of my hair across the entire back of my head.  Triple win!

Not to mention the fact that this bun is HUGE!  Seriously, the thing is massive.

I made a small French lace braid on the right side of my head, then did a ponytail base with all of my hair.  Split the ponytail in three, english braided one of the pieces with the accent braid as one section, and rope braided the other two sections.  Then made the vortex bun from there.

You can't really see the fact that there is an English braid (which contains another English braid - BRAIDCEPTION) in the mass of rope braiding, but it is there, I promise.

Methinks I'm entirely too excited about this...