Messy Braids

You've all heard of Messy Buns but here are some Messy Braids. 

These are very simple and need to be done with dry hair.  Simply braid the hair with Regular 3 Strand Braids and make sure to plait just past the halfway point and then secure it with an elastic so that the rest is still loose. 

 Now slowly start pulling those plaits loose - working from the bottom plaits up toward the top plaits.  They should not look even and should look more disheveled and messy. 

 Most of the hair that was previously left loose under your elastic will be pulled back up into the braid as you play with it but make sure to leave enough hair beneath the elastic so that the braid does not com apart. 

You will notice that the braid really fattens up when doing this process and actually has a really pretty look to it.

Friday's Film: Layered Triple French Braid

I've seen ideas of this hairstyle on Pinterest but I never originally pinned it so I can't for the life of me find a link to a picture.  I wish I could give credit where it's due but I have looked all over and I'm at a loss.   This style is very beautiful gets better and better with practice.

This video was my first attempt at trying this style and I've since done it a couple times and have to say that it's gotten much easier and it is much smoother.

You can see how it all comes together and looks really pretty.

Plait your side braids an equal amount of times so that your middle braid will have the right amount of strands to add in. 

Your side braids will be a bit smaller than your middle braids but there should not be too much of a difference. 

Here is what the top of the hair looks like along the bang line since it was really hard to see in the video.

I ended it by adding in the two small braids from the sides in (I made sure there was no plaiting after the last strands were added in.) and then finished it off in a Regular 3-Strand Braid.

Pretzel Knot & Piggies

Full Credit for this hairstyle needs to be given to Princess Hairstyles for this post.  It's called the Pretzel Knot and it's what inspired this hairstyle.  I first saw this Pretzel Knot here on Pinterest and then followed it to the Princess Hairstyles site where she has a fabulous tutorial video posted!

 When I first attempted the knot I had a hard time trying to keep my side strands secure so I started mine a bit differently and it helped me a lot.  I started by creating a small 2 inch part at the front of the head just a bit off-centered.  I then created a section on each side going from the part down to the ear. 

 I secured each side with an elastic next to the ear and this helped to hold my piece I was working with a little better and this made all the difference.  I then divided the remaining hair into two equal sides and set them aside for a moment.   

I brought those to pieces to the back of the head and create the Pretzel Knot as instructed by Princess Hairstyles video found here.  At this point I had my knot made but it looked as though it was loosening a bit so I decided to secure it. 

 I took my right end of hair from my knot and added it in with that right half of hair that I had previously sectioned out and secure it all into a piggie using an elastic.  I did the same on the left side as well.  Now my knot was tightly secured and was not loosening at all.

I created a 5-Strand Braid out of each piggie and secured it at the bottom with an elastic.  I finished it off by adding some flower clips and calling it good.  When she got home after a long day at school the hair looked just as great as when she had left!  (That's not always the case with my active daughter.)  :)  

Butterfly Wings

My princess named this the Butterfly Wings because of the pretty shape that is created on the back of the head.  This hairstyle is great because it can work for an adult, a tween, or a young girl.  You will have the best results if you start with wet hair. 

Create a 2 inch part at the front of the head.  This can be placed wherever you like but we've done ours a little off-center. 

Now section out a piece of hair on each side of your part that go from the part down to the ear.  Have your princess hold those two sections while you smooth the rest of the hair back.  Twist those two sections tightly.  (You want to make sure that you are having the twists roll in toward the head - i.e. the right side will be twisting counter clockwise and the left side will be twisting clockwise.)  Pull both twist to the back of the head and secure them together with a small clear elastic.  Smooth out the hair below the elastic. 

 Now grab another small section of hair on each side just directly below those first twists.  Twist those two sections in the same direction as you did before and have them combine in the back of the head with an elastic. 

 Now make sure that you combine those new twists just below your first elastic.   DO NOT add in the hair from your previous twists.  You want your new elastic to lie over the top of that hair. 

Continue twisting new sections of hair from each side of the head and combining them in the back with elastics.  Once all of the hair from the scalp has been gathered, you are finished!

Friday's Film: Jacob's Ladder

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get to this video.  I've still got a list of others that we are working on as well so thank you for your patience.  :)  This is the video for the Jacob's Ladder hairstyle:

Remember that the key to having it hold tightly is to create it with wet hair.

Here is what the finished Jacob's Ladder looks like without the weave.

Here is is with the weave.

Just take that bang area that you held out, separate it into two sections, and weave it through as shown in the video. 

Remember to use your comb to smooth up the side as you pull up your sections. 

You can have as many or as few sections as you like.  It's really just up to you and the look you are going for. 

Here's our finished style. 

We ended the ponytails with Corkscrews.

The hairstyle held great throughout the day for her.

This is our horizontal Jacob's Ladder With Weave that we did previously and you can find that original post here.

Wrap It Up!

Some of the prettiest styles are created by simply giving everyday styles little additions.  This is a basic ponytail at the core but we've added a few things here and there.

Start by sectioning out a thin area of hair along the bang line from ear to ear.  Using wet hair will yield the best result for you.  Now pull the rest of the hair back into a tight ponytail.

Now divide that front section into 3 areas.  We've done ours with a little larger area in the front and smaller areas on the sides but you can separate it however you like just as long as you have 3. 

 Twist each of the sections and pull them back to the elastic that is holding your ponytail and wrap each one around the elastic only once.  Make sure that two of your twists go to one side and the other goes to the opposite side. 

 Also be sure to have one twist go above the elastic and one below as you wrap on the side with the two twists.  The side with only one twist will actually wrap around 1 1/2 times so that it ends on the same side of the elastic as the other two.  (It does not matter if you wrap this one above or below the elastic.)

  Now take all three of those twist and braid them into a Regular 3-Strand Braid right outside the elastic and this will secure those wraps in place.  Take that braid and wrap it around the ponytail as many times as you can and then wrap an elastic around the ponytail where the braid ends to secure it in place. 

 Grab a small strand of hair from the back of the remaining ponytail and wrap it around that new elastic to conceal it.  (You should only have to wrap it around a couple times.)  Use your Topsy Tail and poke it through that elastic and pull the ends of that new wrap through and back into the ponytail.  This will secure it tightly.  Now braid the remaining ponytail into which ever braid you like.  We've just done a Regular 3-Strand Braid here.  Secure it at the bottom with an elastic.  Conceal that last elastic the same way as your previous elastic with a strand of hair from the back wrapped around and pulled through with your Topsy Tail.

Quad Variation

This is your basic Quad Braid with a bit of a twist that really gives it a unique look.  You will want to pull all of the hair back into a ponytail and then section out two small bits of hair.

Create a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of each of those two areas.  Now go ahead and divide that remaining hair from the ponytail in half.  You should now have two braids and two sections of hair from your ponytail.  This is where you will begin your Quad Braid.  If you need instructions on how to create this we have a video here.

You'll just want to make sure that as you start you will place the two braids as your OUTSIDE strands so that the two unbraided sections are in the middle as you begin plating. 

 This will place your braids correctly inside your Quad.  It's pretty simple but looks very beautiful!

Friday's Film: French Fish Bone

We had a request for a tutorial on the French Fish Bone Braid.  This is a VERY simple braid but is so pretty. 

This braid also created some pretty waves for the following day!

These are the Scunci "Evolution" bands that I bought and used in this video.  I absolutely love them because there's no twisting, they come out easily, and they don't rip the hair.  I got mine at Smith's grocery store but I'm sure they can be found all over. 

We also use these Scunci elastics ALL THE TIME and love them because they are made out of the same stretchy material that doesn't fall out or rip the hair when removed.  We grabbed these ones at Walmart and these are our favorites.

We also love these little Goody clear elastic for the smaller piggies because they are STRONG!  We also bought these at Walmart.

Here's a picture of the finished product from today's video.
This is a previous post where we did two of these braids.  You can find that post here.

We've done this technique before with out "Something's Fishy" hairstyle and you can find that original post here.  We just secured our two section into elastics at the end without braiding any further.
 Here is the original post on our regular Fish Bone Braid.  You can see that I have gotten much better at doing them as I've practiced so don't get discouraged if it's not perfect at first.  :)
There is also our "I Wish it was a 'U' Instead of a 'Y'" hairstyle and that original post is here.  This uses two Fish Bones that combine into one.

Diagonal French 5-Strand

For Easter this year my princess decided on the hairstyle that she wanted.

(Please excuse the loose strands of hair - it was a VERY windy day and I didn't take pictures until after they had been outside hunting Easter eggs for a while.)  :)

 She loves 5-Strand Braids so she chose this Diagonal French 5-Strand.

We've done these French 5-Strands before and you can click here to see that original post but this one was just a bit different.

We started on the left side of her head by gathering a small area of hair that was divided equally into 5 strands.  (You will want to know how to create a 5-Strand Braid before attempting the French version and we do have a tutorial video here.) 

We worked our way from the top left part of the head down to the bottom right part of the head, gathering new sections of hair into only the two outside strand of the braid each time it was plated.

When all of the hair was gathered we finished plating the rest of the hair without adding strands in.  An elastic was placed at the bottom of that braid to secure it and then we tucked that end up underneath the French part of our braid and bobby pinned it into place. 

We added some hair pins that matched her dress and she was all set for Easter Sunday.