Posts Tagged ‘braids’

UPDO + BANGS

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photos, graphic design + post by Kristin Ess

Girls with bangs (aka: fringe) seem to have some trouble finding updos. Here’s one that I think is super cute and pretty easy to do. It takes about 5-10 minutes and keeps your hair out of your way all day. It’s a great way to deal with second day hair if you just don’t feel like doing it in the morning but have to look prim + proper for work. Here’s how this bun is done…

  1. Start with dry hair. It doesn’t have to be perfectly clean– in fact 2nd day hair does better than clean hair when it comes to this look. If your hair is on day 2, spray a little DRY SHAMPOO at the root before you start.
  2. Use this type of thick rubberband or something similar to gather all of your hair on the top of your head. Don’t worry about it being perfect, just make sure it won’t move.
  3. Take about 1/4 of the whole ponytail (as you see Kamille doing in photo 3) and drop it off to the side. Note: try taking this piece from the side, not all the way from the back– that way the best/thickest part of the braid will show up in the front.
  4. Leave the 1/4 section out and create a regular ballerina bun on top using the other 3/4 of the ponytail. If you don’t know how to do a ballerina bun, CLICK HERE for our video.
  5. Once you’ve secured the bun, take the 1/4 section you left out and braid it. Fishtail, regular braid, whatever kind you want. Tie that off with a small clear elastic.
  6. Secure the braid using small bobbypins. I like to put a bobby pin in every inch and a half to make sure it really stays put.

You can accessorize this with a rosette for added texture as you see in the top photo. The one we used was from Forever 21 a long time ago, but we found some good ones HERE, HERE + HERE. Good luck! Show us your buns on twitter!!!

THE SNAIL BRAID CHALLENGE

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photos + post designed by Kristin Ess

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON JUNE 30th.

Practice, practice, practice! The best way to learn new braids is to just TRY them! A lot of times we look at photos of braided hairstyles and say “I could never do that!”, but a lot of our favorite braids have been total accidents… like this, this and this. You just start braiding and weaving and see what happens. The best part about braids is there are no rules. These snail braids are no exception! Below, we’ve illustrated how the pattern of a snail braid, but everyone’s hair (and head shape/size) is going to be different, so the customizing the style is up to you. We would love to see you gorgeous gals (and guys?) give this hairstyle your best shot. Here’s the challenge: (more…)

CROWN OF BRAIDS

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photos + post design Kristin Ess

It seems pretty easy, but it’s not. Not everyone has long hair that reaches all the way around the head to make a perfect crown of braids. Girls with short hair need braids TOO! Using this technique, you make small, overlapping intersections of braids to create a full crown. Here’s how:

  1. Start with straight, wavy or curly hair. I personally like this best with a little wave or curl because the crown of braids holds better with texture.
  2. Grab a section of hair above the ear and split it into 2 pieces, like our lovely Nora is doing in this photo.
  3. Braid both pieces. (Gently loosen up the braid for a more natural, romantic texture.)
  4. Cross them over each other as seen above and clip them to hold them in place while you do the same thing on the other side! If your hair is short and won’t reach, do 3 or 4 intersections of hair instead of just 2!
  5. Once you finish the other side, take the two braids that go over the top, cross them over and pin them using small but strong bobby pins.
  6. Take the two pieces that will go backward and tie them together. Add a couple of pins where the braids meet.
  7. Add a few extra bobby pins around the crown of braids to keep them from slipping or moving.

A veil of hairspray isn’t necessary but will help keep things in place if your hair tends to slip.

 

BAND TOGETHER

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photos by angelaandithyle.com post designed by kristin ess

Music festivals like SXSW, Coachella + Bonnaroo not only bring out the serious sound, but the serious style as well. We’ve seen more types of braids at these festivals than we even knew existed. Our current favorite is this mamma jamma right here. It’s just a regular braid, but instead of taking 3 equal sized pieces like you do in a normal braid, you just make one piece smaller than the other 2. You can see how one section is smaller in the braid if you look closely at the top photo.

Luckily, Jaclyn Johnson, from the blog somenotesonnapkins.com, was kind enough to lend us her lovely locks. We did 3 of these braids to create a little cluster and tied each of them off with small clear elastics. We think doing a few of these in back makes wearing your hair half up so much more interesting! And since you’ll find yourself standing in the middle of a bazillion people at any given time, you’ll be giving the person behind you something fabulous to look at!

Why it’s great for a music festival: it’s totally texture friendly, so dancing + swinging this hair do everywhere is highly encouraged!