How to Grow Out Your Hair for the Man Bun Trend in India

July 26, 2026

Walk into any barbershop in Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore right now and ask what young men are actually requesting. Man buns. Not fades, not buzzcuts, man buns. It has become one of the top salon asks among Indian men aged 24 to 36 in 2026, and it is easy to see why. The messy, tied back, slightly rugged look, the one Vijay Deverakonda has built an entire screen persona around, reads as confident and low effort at the same time. Everyone wants it. Almost nobody sticks around long enough to actually get it.

The Trend Is Real. The Patience Isn't.

Here is Dapr.'s take: the man bun trend is not a haircut decision, it is a patience test. Growing hair from a regular short cut to bun length, that is 6 to 8 inches minimum for a basic tie, 8 to 10 for something that actually holds, takes 12 to 18 months. Somewhere around month four or five, hair hits the worst possible length: too long to look sharp, too short to tie back. This is the ear length stage. It looks messy, it catches wind, it frizzes in humidity, and it is exactly when most Indian men give up and go back to the barber for a fade.

What this really means is: the man bun trend does not fail at the styling stage. It fails at the growing stage, months before anyone gets close to tying a knot. If you want the look, the real work is managing hair through the awkward middle, not picking a product for the finished bun.

Getting Through the Awkward Stage

1. Set a real timeline before you start. Know that month four to seven is going to look rough, and decide now that you are not cutting it out of frustration.

2. Control frizz daily, not just on good hair days. Indian humidity is unforgiving on hair that is neither short nor tied back, and unmanaged frizz is the single biggest reason men quit early. A lightweight styling cream works better here than a heavy pomade or clay. The Hair Styling Cream from Dapr. gives a natural finish with a light hold and keeps flyaways down without making hair look product heavy, which matters when you are working with in between length.

3. Feed the hair, don't just style it. Growing hair out for over a year means more exposure to sun, pollution and repeated friction from tying it back, which shows up as dryness, split ends and breakage right when you need length the most. This is where a nourishing serum earns its place in the routine. If you already track shedding closely, our piece on monsoon hair fall covers what counts as normal versus what needs attention, and the same care logic applies here. The Ultimate Hair Serum adds SPF 30 protection along with argan oil nourishment, which matters because longer hair spends more time exposed and less time hidden under a fresh cut.

4. Protect it if you are blow drying or styling with heat. Some men speed up the process by round brushing hair to encourage it to sit flatter while it grows. If that is you, heat without protection is how healthy growth turns into damaged growth. The Hair Grooming Spray shields hair from dryer heat so you are not undoing months of patience in a five minute styling session.

5. Accept that this is a low maintenance look built on high maintenance patience. It sounds contradictory, but the finished man bun reads effortless precisely because the growing phase was not. If the whole unstructured, natural aesthetic appeals to you, it is worth reading our take on the low maintenance beard trend too, since the two often go together on the same face.

Action Points (Save This)

Commit to a 12 to 18 month timeline before you start growing it out.
Expect the ear length stage around month four to seven and plan to push through it.
Use a light hold, low frizz cream daily instead of heavy pomade during the growth phase.
Add a nourishing, SPF protective serum to prevent split ends and sun damage over the long grow-out.
Use heat protection every time you blow dry or style, not just on special occasions.
Judge progress in months, not weeks. This look rewards patience, not product alone.