Sofia Richie’s Hairstylist Shares All of Her Beset Bun Tips

Sofia Richie is a household title for rather a handful of reasons. She’s Lionel Richie’s daughter she’s an acclaimed product she had a wedding ceremony in the South of France final spring that manufactured it on to almost every single Pinterest wedding day board right away and she’s the slick-again bun inspiration for thousands and thousands of women all about the environment. You know the search: it really is the very same one particular she wore for that pretty viral marriage and continues to have on on purple carpets and everyday TikTok videos alike. But whilst Richie is unquestionably proficient at producing this modern updo, as shown by her plenty of TikTok tutorials, the serious mastermind powering most of her hairstyles is her movie star hairstylist, Kathleen Riley.

As Richie’s go-to stylist for about 8 a long time now and an market veteran with her personal model, Shae Hair, Riley has produced her have record of hacks to craft the fantastic slicked-back bun. Due to the fact when cameras choose your clients’ shots from all angles, you want to make confident the bun is snatched from not just the entrance, but also the sides and back — and that’s no simple feat.

Of study course, more than their eight-yr marriage, Riley has developed more than just bun updos on the model. One of her favorite types, aside from the wedding day seems to be (far more on those people in advance), was for a vogue 7 days get together with Alexander Wang and Bvlgari in 2019. “It was just [a] centre component, sleek, with two bobby pins on each and every aspect,” Riley suggests. “She experienced like this go well with outfit on. . . . She appeared like an actual little Bratz Doll in that. I just liked it so a great deal.”

While the smooth bun has develop into Richie’s go-to hairstyle, Riley however attempts to get her to action outside of her comfort zone every after in a while. “It is really truly really hard to get [clients] to experiment, but I often consider to have a Pinterest board or one thing to exhibit them,” she states.

Why adjust a very good thing, proper? That is why Richie determined to go with her signature bun for her wedding day, but items took an unpredicted change for her right after celebration. All those photographs of Richie dwelling it up on the dance floor noticed her hair in a extensive, textured ponytail, which wasn’t the initial plan.

“You know how it can be following a marriage ceremony? You’re just trying to get back out there and have pleasurable, not do a entire issue,” Riley claims. In their prep for the significant day, they had reviewed doing extensions and styling her hair into a fifty percent-up, fifty percent-down look, but the duo was fearful about them coming out though “dancing and whipping her head all around.” The ponytail they went with grew to become a joyful incident. “We just took down her hair, and there was a good deal of product in it, and just place it into the pony, and the merchandise type of gave it that quantity that it required, and it just stood straight up with 1 hair tie, and it was truthfully epic.”

Regardless of whether you happen to be arranging out your bridal hairstyles or just want a slicked-back again bun as snatched as Richie’s, hold looking through as Riley divulges her guidelines for having the glimpse.

Part the Hair
When Riley has several hours to do Richie’s hair, she takes her sweet time dividing it into five sections and making the bun from there. “I ordinarily do the 3 [in the back] and then do [two other] triangular sections all-around the section to definitely snatch all the things back,” she clarifies. Having said that, if you don’t want to spend “two hrs” doing your hair, she suggests commencing with 3: a person area for the again and a person on each aspect of the head. “When Sofia does it, she ties it around her neck like a beard,” Riley claims, referring to the two facet sections all around the facial area.

Sort a Ponytail in the Back again
Riley helps make a ponytail with the again portion of hair, in some cases making use of many hairbands to be certain every little thing stays restricted. To locate the correct posture for the ponytail, Riley claims, “I am often seeking on the aspect and looking to make confident it really is in the right area.” You can go as lower or as superior as you want, but if you want a mid-head bun, she says, “I normally abide by the eye line and slightly higher.”

Riley endorses loading the hair up with products to ensure you don’t have any frizz or flyaways. She applies products to every single portion of hair, even if it can be heading to be covered by a different area, simply because you can explain to “if the hair underneath is continue to poofy.”

Instead of working with a tricky gel to easy the hair down, she likes to use the Nexxus Slick Adhere Solid Keep Hair Wax ($20) and a boar-bristle brush, like The Hair Edit’s Cream Finish & Shine Boar Bristle Brush ($21). When the hair in the back of the head is secured, Riley repeats the procedure on the two sections on the aspect of the head. “All into the identical ponytail — it’s just likely to be a person ponytail by the stop,” she suggests.

Make a Heart Part in the Entrance
At the time the back again sections of hair are protected in a ponytail, Riley moves on to create a sharp center element with the two facial area-framing sections of hair. None of Richie’s hairstyles would be comprehensive with no a sharp center element. “When I am doing my clients’ hair, I do invest all day on the element — it truly is actually critical,” Riley claims. “If just one hair is out of put on the aspect, you will see it in photos.”

She makes use of a rattail comb to shift just about every strand of hair wherever she desires it, then employs the exact same merchandise and brush to pull those items of hair back again into the ponytail utilizing more ties.

Get Rid of Any Bumps
If your hair however just isn’t as modern and bump-cost-free as you would like, you should not fret. Riley has a great hack for smoothing any lumps without the need of needing to start all around. “You consider the finish of the rattail, place it in [the hair], and like, convey them back again,” Riley states. This tip functions particularly nicely when accomplishing a bun. “You can convey all the bumps to the foundation and the bun is heading to protect it.”

Make the Bun
“The bun is in which you can have enjoyable with it,” Riley states. How you craft your bun all relies upon on your hair form and texture. But to start with, she starts by putting some hair oil on the ends of the ponytail to make it more smooth. (We enjoy the Moroccanoil Treatment Hair Oil ($48).) From there, Riley both wraps the hair all-around itself into a bun or does a 3-strand braid. “If they have a good deal of items that are sticking out — a lot of levels — that is when I am going to probably do a braid,” she says. Or else, the layered ends will poke out of the bun as you wrap it.

Ultimately, it can be time to grab your bobby pins. “I commonly pin as I go,” Riley claims, referring to including pins to the bun just one at a time as she wraps the hair around the foundation. “And clearly, everyone’s hair is unique everyone’s braid is likely to look various everyone’s bun is likely to search distinct — you happen to be just heading to engage in with the placement.”

Don’t be concerned to wrap and unwrap it a couple instances to get it just proper, Riley advises: “When I am undertaking a bun, I twist it 30 different situations, distinct methods, to see which way it is laying.”

Previous but not the very least, lock everything in with a higher-maintain, large-shine hairspray, like the Nexxus Maximum Hold Finishing Hair Spray ($15). And just like that, you have a Sofia Richie-amount perfect bun.

Jessica Harrington is the senior splendor editor at PS, where by she writes about hair, makeup, pores and skin care, piercings, tattoos, and far more. As a New York City-dependent writer and editor with a diploma in journalism and over 8 several years of marketplace working experience, she loves to interview industry specialists, maintain up with the most up-to-date developments, and exam new solutions.