Yes, I know, there are approximately 82 billion tutorials for messy buns online. Which is funny, to me: isn't the whole point that it looks "undone?" Much like no-makeup makeup, it takes a whole lot of effort to look like you didn't make effort.
Anyway, back to what I was saying - yeah, there are tons of these tutorials out there, but I was never able to make one work for me. My hair was either too short, too long, too layered, too brown... you get the idea.
This is how I've been making a messy bun, ever since I discovered it last week. It was a feeling akin to finding the holy grail. It works great on my hair, and it's pretty secure, so I would assume it works well for layered hair. Its also pretty easy to tweak if your hair is super long.
Start by parting your hair straight down the middle:
