Braided Updo Tutorial for long and thick hair

Elle's sister Anneliis has the most gorgeous thick hair I have ever seen. With that beauty also come some challenges. Her hair is so thick and heavy that it's hard for her to put it up. So, she asked me to come up with a simple enough updo that she can manage to replicate herself, and that would hold her hair firmly and last for more than 10 minutes.

As you can see from the pictures above, her hair is very long and very thick. But, oh so gorgeous!
Here's the updo I up with:

1. & 2. Take the upper section of your hair on one side and simply braid it.
3. Anneliis parts her hair on the side, so I did a side braid on the other sides upper section. Here's the tutorial on how to do it. You can opt to do a simple braid on the other side as well.
4. & 5. Now you have two braids that meet at the center back.
6. & 7. Take the unbraided portion of the hair and twist it into a simple bun. Make sure to secure it tightly with a hair elastic.
8. Push the bun back against the head and secure firmly with pins. Girls with lots of hair should try to find those super long pins that can almost go through their thick bun.
9. Take the first braid you made and twist it around the bun.
10. Tuck the tip of the braid underneath the start of the braid and secure it with a bobby pin or two under the second braid.
11. Take the second braid and twist it around the bun making sure you cover the end of the first braid.
12. Secure the tip of the second braid with a couple of bobby pins (you can customize them with buttons) and secure the bun with extra pins to hold the braids in place.

Anneliis said that the hair-do did stay in place for hours, but started to bother her because the short pins I used (that are plenty long for my own hair) started to scratch her scalp. I guess we need to find her some new pins. 

How to combine a French braid and a Fishtail braid

While I was doing my hair for the last photo shoot for the blog, I was thinking of new ways to braid my hair using the same old techniques. I came up with this French braid and fishtail braid combination and wanted to share a closer look at it with you as well. Once you've mastered the basics of braiding there are hundreds of possibilities to combine them into pretty hairdos.

Here are the steps to recreate this look:

1) Braid your bangs (using this or this tutorial) up to your ears, then braid the tail until the end and fasten with a clear elastic.
2) Gather all your hair into a side ponytail and fasten. Braid the ponytail fishtail style (a good tutorial here). Pull here and there to add a little messiness and fluff to the braid.
3) Twist the bangs' braid around the ponytail and fasten with a bobby pin.

What's your favorite way of braiding your hair? Do you combine different techniques or usually use just one? Let me know in the comments!

9 Pretty Hairstyles

My hair is getting longer and it makes me want to experiment with different hairstyles. Here's some pretty hair inspiration. Aren't these gorgeous? Click on the links for the tutorials.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Have a creative weekend!

Twisted Bangs Tutorial

I have to admit something. I cheated a little bit in the 4 ways to braid bangs post. This one is actually not a braid but a twist. But it looks a bit like a braid and the principle is a bit similar as well. I totally stole this idea from my friend Anneliis, who rocks this style.

I twisted every new hair strand twice and then added a new strand. Just keep on twisting and adding until you get to the point you like. Then twist the end and pin in place.

This week went by so quickly for me. I hope you all had a great week and are planning to relax and have some fun during the weekend. Do you have any special plans for the weekend?

Braided Bangs Tutorial, vol.2

Time for another round of braided bangs. I hope you've had time to practice the first one. I know some of you have. This is the braid you asked for the most, so here's the step by step tutorial:

A few notes about this one. As you can see from the pictures, you'll only be adding hair from one side of the braid. These kinds of one-sided braids can have the tendency to stick up on the side that doesn't gather hair. So, I've found that it helps to flatted the braid as you go along, like I do in picture 7. Be careful not to pull the gathering side too tight. Also, once you're done, mold the braid with your fingers to help it stay flat. And, if needed, add a few pins to pin the stick-up side down.

I hope you'll have fun practicing over the weekend. If you have any questions about this tutorial, please leave them in the comments. I'll be happy to explain some more. All of your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Braided Bangs, vol.1

It seems that a lot of you want to get your bangs out of your face, cause you all wanted to know how I braided mine in last Friday's post. So, here's the first tutorial in this series. The next one will be up next week, so you'll have a little time to try this out and practice.

(Sidenote - braiding is a serious business, hence the wrinkles on my forehead and the look on my face in picture 9.)

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. See you in the comments!