hair

BEAT THE HEAT

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

Since it’s about 550 degrees here in sunny Los Angeles, I figured this would be the perfect day to show you a quick + pretty way to get your hair up and off your shoulders. Don’t let the 13 steps fool you– this tutorial is fairly simple, just wanted to make sure you saw every little step! Hope you’ve all been practicing your inside-out french braid lately. You can definitely do this with a regular french braid, but I like the volume that comes from loosening up an inside-out braid better. Here we go:

1. Part your hair starting at the top of your crown and go down right behind your ears. Pull those pieces forward and save them for later.
2. Put all the hair in the back into a loose ponytail. This will allow the chignon shape to sit a little lower. Optional: you can make your ponytail higher/tighter if you want it up and off your neck.
3. Lightly tease the ponytail.
4. Wrap it into a low bun and pin using large bobby pins to make it really secure.
5. Do an inside-out french braid, starting at your hairline and continuing down behind your ear.
6. Braid the remaining hair all the way down and tie it off with a clear elastic.
7. Repeat the same steps on the other side.
8. Gently tug the braid apart. Start at the front hairline and lightly tug each individual loop/piece until you get down to the elastic. This will “fatten” up your braid and give it much more volume and texture. If layered pieces fall out, you can tuck them and spray them or just let them fall. Totally up to you.
9. Cross the two braids over each other just above the bun and secure them with some bobby pins.
10. Remove the clear elastics from the bottom of one braid and give a gentle but secure tease to the ends of the braid.
11. Wrap it under the bottom of the bun and secure it with a strong bobby pin.
12. Repeat on the other side.
13. Tuck the remaining hair under the bun and secure with another strong bobby pin.

Use a hand mirror to look at the back and sides. Check to make sure it’s balanced. Pull a couple loose pieces out around your face if you want a softer look. Hope you all give this a go this weekend! As always, let’s see it! –> @TBDofficial