Elegant French Braid Updo

One of my young friends at church wore an adorable hairstyle similar to this some time ago.  It really struck my eye.  Gorgeous!  She had two regular french braids with a part down the middle, and the tails wrapped up like in this one.  It inspired me to try this on Belle with a little improvement in the braiding technique to lose the part.  This is done with french braids down both sides of the head, but rather than adding horizontal rectangles of hair to each plait, you add tall triangles with the top point at the same place each time.  The top front does have a part, at the side or middle, so you braid like normal at the beginning, but once you reach the crown of the head, you start adding triangles rather than rectangles.  The braids come close together at the back of the head.  Braid out the tails as far as you can and then add a clear elastic to each.

Next you need to wrap the braids together, almost tying them in a knot.  This diagram helps show the path that each braid takes.  If a braid doesn't turn sharp enough on the side, you can can try folding it and turning it backside out like I did on the right here.

If Belle's hair were just a little bit longer, the elastic would've been easier to hide.  At least it is clear.

Tuck the ends in to hide them, and add bobby pins.  Belle wanted these You-Pins (from Lilla Rose) to decorate.  You could use little flowers or ribbons or leave it without extras.

Belle's Baptism Bun

This is Belle's hairdo for her baptism.  Since she was baptized by immersion, I wanted something that would hold up to the water.  I also wanted something that wouldn't take long to fix up afterwards since all our family and friends would be waiting for us.  This hairstyle turned out amazingly well.  All I had to do was dab gently with a towel and use a comb to smooth back some flyaways.  Then it didn't even look like it was still wet.  It stayed in place.  These pictures are actually from after her baptism.  They are a few little fuzzy places, but overall, it still looks great.

I didn't get step by step pictures since I had bigger things on my mind that day.  Start with a half dutch braid for the front section of hair.  Put the rest back in a ponytail.  Add the braid in.  Make several more small braids from the tail of the pony until all the hair is braided.  Wrap the braids around the hairband.  Tuck the ends under, and use bobby pins to hold it all in.  Add a flower or bow to decorate if you want.  Ours is from Gimme Clips.  I removed it before she got wet and replaced it afterwards.

During her service, we sang a song called "When I Am Baptized."  The first line starts out with "I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain."  To hear the song, click on this link, and then mark the circle for "words and music."  We thought it was very special that we were given a rainbow on the day she was baptized!

If you would like more information about our church's view of baptism, click here.

S-Shaped Bun

This bun reminds me of the little angular figure 8 doodle I used to see everybody drawing in high school.
Begin with two piggies, one on top of the other.  Put the elastic of the top one right at the edge of the part so that the part will not show.

Split each of the tails into two sections.  Twist one of the sections and wrap it around the elastic, tucking in the loose ends.  Bobby pin in place.  Repeat for other piggy.

Twist the remaining tail of the top bun.  Drop it down to the bottom bun and wrap it around the outside of the other bun.  Tuck in the ends, and pin in place.

Twist the last tail. Pull it up and around the top bun.  Tuck in the ends and pin.

All twists should be done in the same direction, whether it be clockwise or counterclockwise.

French Twist with You-Pins

I am excited to share my new favorite hairstyle to do on myself.  It is elegant enough for a special occasion, yet fast enough for an every day do.  After a little bit of practice, it is really quick to put up.  I am using You-Pins from Lilla Rose.  They are beautiful pins with two prongs about the length of my finger.  They are malleable enough to bend somewhat to shape for a comfortable fit, but quite sturdy, and they hold a surprising amount of hair in place.  Belle and I chose the sparkly stars as our favorite, and this will be a fine hairstyle for the Fourth of July.  (This post is going to have a lot of labels!)

Begin as you would for a low ponytail.  I started here at the corner of my head to keep the roll at the center of the head.

Grab the hair from underneath, and begin to twist it.

Pull the tail upwards and continue to twist.

Twist upwards, tightening the inside of the twist by pulling the inside hair with the other hand.

Pull the ends of the tail over to one side, away from the crevice. Insert a You-Pin at the edge at the top of the roll.  The curve of the pin should be opposite of the curve of your head at this point.

Roll the pin over to the side and push it in against the scalp.

Insert another You-Pin the same way a little bit lower.  With practice, these two pins are enough to keep the whole thing in place.  If you have trouble keeping it all together, you can add a bobby pin or two down through the top, or a spin pin.  Also, if your roll angles to the side like in the above photo (which, by the way, was taken by five year old Sweetheart, and I couldn't see what I was doing without my mirrors), try starting the ponytail on the opposite bottom corner and rolling up as if to the opposite temple rather than straight up.

Double Hawser Buns

I'm finally getting this style posted!  It's been in my banner for a long time.  This works best with very long hair.

Begin with a horizontal part ear to ear, and make two ponies, the top one at the part, and the bottom one halfway up the lower section.

Get the front section out of the way by twisting and bunching it up on top and holding it down with a big jaw clip.  Do a hawser twist on the lower pony.

Wrap the twist around the hairband to form a bun, hiding the tail ends under the bun.  Use bobby pins to hold it in place.

Let out the jaw clip.  Do a hawser twist on the top pony.

Form the bun on the top.  Try to make the bun low enough to touch the lower bun.  Pin in place.

You can finish here, or add some embellishments.  I made my own by hot-gluing some fake flowers to the end of a couple bobby pins.  To make the bow, I folded the ends of a short ribbon over, and then put the bobby pin over the middle like so:

Insert the bobby pins in random places.

Curly Woven Updo

I'm getting ahead of myself with this style here since I have a few steps without previous posts to show how, but many of you will know how to do them anyway.
To begin, you need some curls at the top of the head.  I used Curlformers (more on these in the future), but you can use rag curls or a curling iron to achieve the same effect.  I left them in overnight, and just used six.

Get the curls out of the way, and pull the back hair into a ponytail.

Now do a four-strand flat plait (cross the sides, then cross the middle in the other direction).

After crossing the middle strands, combine each two side pieces together so you have only two strands instead of four.  Pull these strands up and around the sides of the pony (one on either side) and bring them together at the top.

Add a clear elastic to hold them together.

Now tuck the tail down to one side and hid it under.  I sprayed on some water to help it bend better.  Stick in a bobby pin.

Spread out some of the plaits from the braid to widen the bun and make it look even by pinching at the edges, pull out gently to the sides, and then pinning in place.

Let out the curls.

Brush the curls back into a piggy above the bun.  Spray with water to soften some of the bumps from curling if you need to.

Lift the piggy, and then pull out a couple thin strands of curls.

Lower the piggy again.  Press down with your finger a couple inches down from the elastic, and then draw the end up again to form a U shape.  Insert a flexi-clip to hold it in place.

Arrange the curls by splitting or combining if necessary.  I pinched a small section or two hair and pulled it to add some more definition and variety of curl lengths.

I suggest using some finishing spray to help keep it nice and neat and to help make the curls last longer.

Lilla Rose is having a Mother's Day sale this week, FYI.  They have a new clip for moms and free shipping. I got this fairy flexi-clip from them, and I love it! (They aren't paying me to say that, by the way.)

Lesson 101: Side Twist into Twisted Side Bun

(This is the hairstyle in the April Fool's Day post.)  To begin, make a diagonal part from the front side of the head back to the opposite side behind the ear.  Push the front section of hair out of the way while you draw the back section into a side ponytail.

Brush the front section of hair together and twist it.  Add the twist into the ponytail with another hairband.

Make a bun: Do a hawser twist with the hair from the original ponytail, fastening off with a clear elastic.  (Leave out the shorter hair from the twist at this point.)

Wrap the twist around the hairband, tucking in the ends to hide, and securing it all with bobby pins.

Now do a hawser twist with the remaining hair that was added in from the twist.  Wrap it around, concealing any hairbands or fray from the first twist.  Tuck in the ends, and then put in bobby pins.

We added our rose from Gimme Clips to the side to decorate.  Then Belle reminded me of a Spanish flamenco dancer.