The Bow Braid | Cute Braided Hairstyles
May 09, 2012
I am always on the lookout for the next Waterfall Braid-type hairstyle!
About two weeks ago, a Twitter fan tweeted us a photo of a very intricately-laced bow braid hairstyle, and I thought the idea was so fun and unique! In fact, it was likely the most creative and cute hairstyle I have seen since the Waterfall Braid! So… I sat down to figure it out, but after many attempts I wasn’t having much luck at all. Close, but nothing worth posting…
Another fan, Katrina on Facebook, posted her version along with a link to a low resolution Russian YouTube video showing the exact technique. The video was at times hard to follow, and it does not show a finished hairstyle, but it provided me with just enough info to be able to master the braid! With that, I am now ready to teach you all!
You can use The Bow Braid in pretty much any hairstyle as long as there is a three-stranded French or Lace Braid involved. It will work on short hair, medium hair, long hair, layered hair, hair with bangs, combos, etc.
In the tutorial, I show you how to do Bow Braid Ponytails, but I also show you on myself and the other daughters some finished looks for a braided headband, diagonal braid, and lace braid.
Items Needed: A brush, rat-tail comb, spray bottle, hairspray or pomade, a hairpin (not a bobby pin), and a few hair elastics.
Time Requirement: 10-15 minutes, depending on the hairstyle you choose.
Skill Level: Hard
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Begin by braiding a section of your hair. You can use a lace braid or a 3 strand French braid. Remember you will need another ½ inch section of hair parted next to your braid to create the bows.
- Thread the hairpin, loop end first, through a section of your braid to prepare it to pull through hair for the bow.
- Take a small section of hair from the ½ inch parted section and create a loop with your fingers.
- Thread the loop of hair through the hairpin and grab loop of hair with left hand while gently tugging the hairpin back through your hair with your right hand.
- As you pull the hairpin out of the braid it will begin to form the other half of the bow. Gently tug the hairpin until you like the look of the second loop and then remove it from hair. You should now have one competed bow that runs through the braid.
- Repeat Steps 1-5 all the way down the braid until you run out of hair.
{You can see in the video that I mixed in the remaining tails of the bows back into the next strand. It may be easier and less “messy” to simply lay the tails alongside the French Braid and then bring down the next section of hair over the top for the next loop. As you finish the braid, most of the tails will be covered by the hair from the top. It all depends on how you want the bow braid to look.}
Happy Hairdoing!
* Note from Mindy: Don’t forget to follow us on BlogLovin, a new easy-to-use blog reader!
Flipped Ends | Layered Hairstyles
December 21, 2011
Although the focus of our tutorials is on doing cute hairstyles on my girls, you can still do all the styles on yourself as well. More and more, we receive questions on how I do my own hair in the videos we film. My goal is to include more of these self hairstyles from time to time.
This straight hairstyle is easy to do. With naturally straight or straightened hair, you can alter the way it looks a bit by using a flat iron to flip the hair ends “in” or “out”. This is the most common style technique on straight hair.
When we were being filmed for YouTube’s 20/20 special, our stylist actually recommended that I flip the ends the same direction… which was something I had never thought about, but loved it! . It turned out super cute, and I receive compliments whenever I do this!
You can do this technique on short to medium hair, but with longer hair you will not benefit from the flips as much. You can also choose to back-comb some of the hair on the top to help add a little volume. I show you how to do this in the video.
{I also apologize for the clapping of the flat iron, as it is an iron that I have had for a long time. As with all hairstyles that use heat, please be sure to use a good heat protectant first.}
Enjoy!
Items Needed: Brush, rat-tail comb, alligator clip {to hold top sections of hair}, heat protectant, flat-iron, and hairspray.
Time Requirement: 10+ minutes
Skill Level: Easy
Happy Hairdoing!
* Note from Mindy: Don’t forget to follow us on BlogLovin, a new easy-to-use blog reader!
Comment on this post »Suave Dry Shampoo | Hairstyle Tips
October 17, 2011
Two months ago a friend of mine introduced me to the idea of dry shampoo. I guess I have seen it around for awhile, but literally thought to myself, “C’mon, a dry shampoo? How useful can that be?”
On this occasion, I saw how it was used and we were hooked from then on!
With that recommendation, and with a limited budget, I went to WalMart and purchased several bottles of Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo for about USD$2.50.
Most girls have learned that washing the hair everyday can be high maintenance and may actually cause damage by stripping the hair of its natural oils. If you do not wash it often enough, however, the hairline and parts {areas next to the scalp} start to get oily, leaving an unsightly greasy look and feel.
We wash our hair every other day, sometimes skipping two days. How regular you wash your hair is really up to you, as everyone is different. {We do find, however, that not washing the hair daily can actually help in styling as a little bit of natural buildup and left-over hairspray/gel gives the hair more “grip”.} So, what can you do on those in-between days when the hair starts to look a little greasy? Try a dry shampoo to revive it!
Suave’s Dry Shampoo contains a mineral clay that helps absorb excess oils secreted from the skin glands next to the hair follicles. Notice I did not say that it eliminates the oils 100%, as natural oils are good for the hair – it just helps remove the excess. After spraying along the hairline, 10-12 inches from the hair, gently rub the powder in with the palm of your hand or fingertips and style as desired. It also has a citrus/grapefruit smell that is very nice.
You can read more about ingredients and product usage from the Suave website, and can see the professional Suave Stylists use the product. If you cannot find this in stores near you, those of you in the US can buy it online from Amazon.com.
The tutorial below shows how we use Suave Professional’s Dry Shampoo on those off-wash days. I include before and after shots of our actual results, although please recognize that with different hair types, your results may not be exactly like ours.
{To get a sneak peak of all future videos, the moment they are uploaded to YouTube, and before they are posted here or on Facebook, be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel!}
So if you are looking for a way to revive your hair on those in-between wash days, give Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo a try! If your results are as good as mine, you will not be able to live without it!
Happy Hairdoing!
* Note from Mindy: Don’t forget to follow us on BlogLovin, a new easy-to-use blog reader! I purchased this product on my own, the results are our actual results, and I am not being compensated by Suave for this review. I just wanted to share one of my new loves with all of you!
Comment on this post »Straight Bangs | Fringe Hairstyles
September 01, 2011
As I mentioned earlier, I decided to give my #2 the straight bangs/fringe that she has been wanting. She had side bangs before, so we figured why not!
I do not have much experience at all with bang hairstyles since I, myself, have not had bangs for 16 years. This particular week I had my best friend Jenny from ShowMeCute in town visiting, who is a master at bangs.
Jenny my daughter’s bangs for me, since I had cut them myself, and then showed me how to style them. Thank heavens she was here to help me out!!! {I apologize in advance that my daughter’s bangs do not look much different before/after because Jenny actually showed me how to do them before we filmed the tutorial.}
What we show you here is how to add some “shape and dimension” to the bangs, by straightening the lower bangs, and then using the straightener to curve the upper bangs. This, in effect, makes the bangs look longer. {Of course, then you can combine the this with many of our other hairstyles!} This is beginning a whole other category for us! Enjoy!
Items Needed: Heat protectant, straightener, brush, comb, hairspray {if desired}
Time Requirement: 2-3 minutes
Skill Level: Easy
Happy Hairdoing!
* Note from Mindy: Don’t forget to follow us on BlogLovin, a new easy-to-use blog reader!
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