Mastering Bella Hadid's slick bun is simpler than you think
This is your expert-approved tutorial
Celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton truly is the gift that keeps on giving. First, he blessed us with the ability to buy the exact hairspray Kylie Jenner uses for silky strands. Then, he gifted us a trick that delivers a Dua Lipa-level ponytail with just three hair elastics (yes, seriously). And now he’s spilled the secrets behind a style that we’ve long wanted to recreate for ourselves: Bella Hadid's slick bun.
Because here’s the thing about said bun; searches on TikTok for 'Bella Hadid slick bun tutorial' are up 73 per cent, but it looks hard as hell to recreate. Like, how exactly does one keep a centre part perfectly intact while still sweeping the hair back in a flyaway-free way that grants you instantly chiselled cheekbones? Seems like a tall order, right?
Not according to Appleton; he created the entire style (which he accurately refers to as a “snatched middle part bun”) in one speedy TikTok tutorial, dropping some serious wisdom around what you need (just four products) and how to easily achieve the coveted aesthetic. However, if the pro's technique is too tough for you to master, we've also asked Australian hairstylist and founder of Eleven Haircare, Joey Scandizzo, to simplify the process for you too. But more on that later...
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How to recreate Bella Hadid's sleek centre-parted red carpet bun
1/ Pull your hair back into a ponytail
Surprisingly, you actually want to start out by establishing a ponytail, not a parting. “Take a triangular section at the front and separate it,” Appleton explains, clipping up a portion of hair at the front of the head (spoiler alert: this will later serve as the ‘parted’ section).
Once you’re ready to pull back your hair, you’ll want to get your texture looking super sleek. “You want to saturate the first two inches of the roots with hairspray,” says Appleton, noting that he uses the ColorWow Cult Favourite Firm + Flexible Hairspray ($33.39 from Oz Hair & Beauty).
“Follow [the line of] your cheekbone and tie [hair back] into a snatched ponytail [wherever you want your bun to sit],” he shares.
2/ Define your centre parting
“Once you’ve got your ponytail in place, [let down your pinned front section], clean up your middle part with a tail comb, and add more hairspray [to enhance sleekness and smoothness].” Any tail comb will do the trick, but we’re definitely partial to the Mason Pearson Tail Comb ($55 from SSSHair).
Next you want to join the two sections together. “Add that [centre-parted section] back [into the ponytail], but brush it down lower so you get the cheekbones that are popping but then you [also] get the sleekness of the middle part,” Appleton explains.
3/ Straighten the ends with a flat iron
Almost done — just a few finishing touches to go!
“Twist your bun round and add a bit more hairspray,” says Appleton. “I like to leave the ends out just for a little bit of that kind of cool-girl finish. I usually use an elastic [to secure] and then flick the ends with a flat iron.”
Hello, ‘90s aesthetic. For the record, if you're after similar straight ends, we're fans of the ghd Mini Hair Straightener ($232.50 from ghd) for detail work like this.
4/ Fill in your hairline with root touch-up powder
“Don’t forget to fill out your hairline [with a little root touch-up powder suited to your hair colour]; that’s a game changer,” Appleton adds. His powder of choice? ColorWow Root Cover Up ($52.50 at Adore Beauty).
And that’s it; you’ve got (as Appleton would say) “a perfectly snatched bun [and the] cheekbones are popping.”
Want to see Appleton's approach in action? Here's his guide to nailing the look.
How to recreate Bella Hadid's easy everyday slick bun
1/ Start with damp hair
According to Joey Scandizzo starting with damp, towel-dried hair is the key to styling this 'slick' look — "[it's] the sweet spot for styling without frizz".
2/ Dry the hair with a frizz smoothing hair dryer attachment
Most modern hairdryers are equipped with a frizz smoothing attachment like the Shark SpeedStyle ($249.99 from Shark Beauty).
Scandizzo likes to dry the hair using the Shark FlexStyle FrizzFix Finishing Tool ($39.99 from Shark Beauty) from roots to ends for a smooth, glassy finish.
3/ Slick it back
Now, depending on your preferred look for the day, you can part the hair sharply down the centre, or you can simply slick it back using a smoothing detail brush like ghd's The Final Touch Narrow Dressing Brush ($30.40 from ghd).
"Slick it back into a low or mid ponytail, keeping the sides tight and clean," Scandizzo advises.
Then twist the lengths of your hair into a sleek bun and secure it with hair pins ($6.59 from Amazon Australia), and finish with a light mist of hairspray, or leave as-is for an effortless vibe, he tells us.
Main image credit: Getty Images
Want more helpful hair tips? This is how to get Hailey Bieber's hair colour.
Delaney began her career in the Australian beauty media industry in 2015, landing amidst the glossy world of women’s lifestyle magazines (or more literally, in their beauty cupboards). Since then, she has gone on to write across a multitude of beloved Australian media brands, including OK!, NW, InStyle, and Harper’s BAZAAR. She’s covered every side of beauty content, from directing beauty editorial shoots to rounding up the best glossy serums for golden hour skin. Having spent nearly a decade immersed in the beauty realm, Delaney’s knowledge of beauty is as extensive as her collection of tinted lip oils (read: extremely extensive). Delaney is currently the Digital Managing Editor of BEAUTYcrew, and her beauty wisdom also appears across beautyheaven, ELLE and Marie Claire. She enjoys channelling her personal hobby (testing beauty products) into her professional work (talking about testing beauty products), and considers perfecting the art of a cat eye in a moving car her life’s greatest accomplishment.
