Ity Bity Buns! Mini Shell Buns! So gosh darn cute if you ask me.

Hello friends out there surfing the web...Have I got a treat for you?

Here is a Super-D-Duper Hairstyle for all my Braidy Blog followers (or for those casually taking a peek at my posts here and there).

I am taking a brief sidetrack from my movie-themed hairstyles because I discovered this new look that is just to die for!!

I didn't realize until after I completed this style that it was definitely subconsciously inspired by childhood hero, Gwen Stefani. She loves pigtail buns. And she pulls them off like a rock star...oh that's right, she is a rock star.

Below is a video tutorial of my newest hair creation.
Pigtail Shell Buns:

I have to include a photo of the beautiful Gwen in this blog post:

Take a look at how my hair looked after taking out the buns:

Please leave me comments with some hair ideas or if you have any questions. Thanks!!

Princess Leia Buns

This post is long overdue! I decided that I will start doing some hairstyle tutorials via videos which will be especially helpful for more complex styles. 

Check out my buns!!

Princess Leia's double bun hairstyle is my favorite one from the Star Wars movies. Click the link below to watch my hair-do guide:

https://youtu.be/40JG6QQeLPc

Here is the side-by-side outcome:

Padmé Amidala: French Twist

All hail Star Wars! 

My first movie-themed hair blog needs to be based on a hairstyle from Star Wars! All of us Star Wars fans are anticipating the new movie coming out in December, and this is my preparation for the upcoming movie release. 

The variety of hairstyles, make-up, and gowns of Queen Amidala blew my mind when the three prequels came out. I just need to find the metal contraptions that she wears on her head to complete her hairstyles. Below is my inspiration photo:

I had to get into character while doing my hair so I tried out the Queen of Naboo's traditional lipstick style:

Padmé Amidala's French Twist:

Step 1: Part hair right in the middle of your head. (I pinned back my bangs to keep them out of the way)

Step 2: Separate section of hair next to your part and starting from the highest point, start twisting/tucking your hair away from your forehead until it's tightly "tucked in".

Step 3: Continue to add in new sections, twisting the hair tightly into a "mound" of rolled up hair until you reach the nape of your neck. Secure with clip or hair tie or have someone hold it for you. 

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the other side.

Step 5: Combine the two sections of hair at the nape of your neck with a hair tie. 

Step 6: Using hair ties, section off the ponytail twice. Evenly space sections. I loosened up the hair in my ponytail sections to puff out my hair.

Here's the comparison photo!

I think I will have quite a few more Star Wars hairstyles coming soon...next one will be from Princess Leia!!

Project curls

As promised, here are the results of my twisted braids experiment. I'm not jumping-on-the-bed excited BUT the immediate product was pretty groovy, then it all went to sh...went downhill. 

I definitely had some pretty nice curls, but 15 minutes later, my hair was just wavy. I want to find an easy, heat-free way to curl my hair and I haven't found a way that works yet.

Below are the steps I took to prep my hair. On curly hair, this would probably come out incredible!!! And, this "prep" look is actually a cool hair-do to try, not even for the curly outcome:

This is what happened when I unbraided my twists:

I used Got2B, Ultra Glued in an attempt to hold the curls but it turns out my hair has superpowers and can resist even the strongest hair holding product. LOL.

Since my hair was a wavy, ultra glued mess, I did two buns to take control of my rebelling tresses.

Thanks for reading!! Check back for another attempt at curls!!

It's time I got back, And I don't even know how I got off the track

"It's time I got back to the good life, it's time I got back, it's time I got back, and I don't even know how I got off the track" -Weezer, The Good Life. Its time I got back to hair blogging!

Finally made time and took some pictures for a hair guide. Getting back into the blogging thing with an easy, quick style.

Here's the Teeney Weeney Twist:

Step 1: Take a small section of hair from the front of your head, next to your part. Going right along your part, about one inch from the first section, separate a second, small chunk of hair.

Step 2: Cross first separated section over the second one, wrapping them around each other- making a Teeney Weeney twist.

Step 3: Continue Step 2 until you reach the bottom and secure with hair tie.  

**Tip: Keeping about an inch between the two sections of hair, ensures that the twist will not UN-twist quite as much.

Let's go to a masquerade party!!!

Who doesn't dream of going to a masquerade party? Because I know I do! And I'm not weird or anything, haha.  I used to dream of being an extra in The Phantom of the Opera and if I'm honest with myself, I still do. 

"Masquerade! /Paper faces on parade/

Masquerade! /Hide your face so the world will never find you/Masquerade!" 

I had a vision of what my hair would look like and this vision was inspired by the above mentioned play/song but I had no idea how I was going to make this vision come to fruition. 

I started this hairstyle not knowing what the heck I was going to do until half way into it. So bear with me😋

Masquerade Braid (Dutch/Inverted French Braid)

Step 1: Part your hair to the side. On the smaller side, separate 1/4 of your hair from the front and clip/tie back. Then, clip/tie back the remaining 3/4 of your hair. You will start with the smaller section of hair.

Step 2: From the smaller section of hair, take a small chunk of hair, starting at the point furthest back on your head. Separate the section into thirds and start the Dutch Braid/Inverted French Braid (instead of crossing the pieces OVER each other, you cross them UNDER...I find this difficult to accomplish neatly but it still looks good when it's messy).

Step 3: After starting the braid by crossing the outside pieces UNDERNEATH the center piece, you need to start adding in pieces of hair into your braid (just as you would do with a regular French Braid).

Step 4: Once all the hair from this front section is added into the Dutch Braid, continue to braid, crossing each piece under the center strand.

Step 5: Take the large section of hair that was clipped/tied back and complete a second Dutch style braid starting at the crown of your head and continuing to the nape of your neck ( this is quite a workout and took me about 5 attempts to get it right...please persist)

Step 6: Wrap the small braid in the front around your forehead, securing the end in the back of your hair, near your neck, if your hair is long enough (I was able to secure mine at the nape of my neck since my hair is long.) **I braided my bangs and pinned them next to this braid to keep them out of the way**

Step 7: Wrap the large braid around to the front of your head, meeting up where the small braid started. Using a lot of bobby pins, secure both braids to the desired position, tucking in the fly away strand of hair. 

Now decorate with pretty clips, flowers, or in my case, a masquerade mask!!

Sunday Family Funday!

This morning was one of the BEST ever! Today I got to experiment with some hairstyles on my Sister's hair and my Mom's hair- they are the best, most easy-going hair models. Big thank you to both of them!! Plus we had a huge breakfast and watched Waterford win the Hurling match.

Hold on to your butts! This post is going to have three hair tutorials.

First hair-do!! 

I have done this before but this shows the style on short hair. Thanks for being my model, Mom!

French Twisted Side Headband:

Step 1: Part hair to the side. At your part, take a small section of hair, split the section in half and cross one piece over the other.

Step 2: This step is where this style resembles a French Braid, but you will use two strands instead of three. Add a small section of hair to the piece that is on the bottom of the twist and complete another twist (See 3rd photo, showing that additional hair is being incorporated)

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 as many times as needed until you reach your ear, continuing to add hair into the twist.

Second Hair-do!! I do not provide a detailed guide for a fishtail braid because I have not yet perfected it. As my sister can attest to, I had some major issues getting this one right. Thanks Cara, I love doing your hair!!

Ponytail Waterfall Fishtail:

Step 1: Complete a ponytail at the crown of your head. Pin up this hair to keep it out of the way or have someone hold it up.

Step 2: Complete a second ponytail. 

Step 3: Unpin the first ponytail, split it in half and position around the hair of the second ponytail. Add hair from the first pony into a third ponytail under the second one by adding in new hair. (See photo below on left: Cara is holding the second ponytail to keep it out of the way).

Step 4: Take the second ponytail and split it in half, wrap it around the third ponytail, making a FOURTH (I know, this is getting a little nuts) ponytail, adding in the rest of your hair at the nape of your neck. Fluff up the Waterfall Ponytails for a little hair drama!

Step 5: Separate hair into two sections and complete a fishtail braid (tutorial on this style coming soon). 

Third Hair-do!! Sorry, this one is not broken down into separate pictures for each step. 

Loch Ness Faux Hawk:

Step 1: Complete small ponytail in center, front part of your head. 

Step 2: Take hair from first pony and add it to another small ponytail directly under the first one, keeping it in the center of your head.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 as many times as needed until you reach the nape of your neck.

Step 4: Starting at the top ponytail, loosen up all the ponytail loops, making a puffy faux hawk that also looks like the Loch Ness Monster (at least it does to me). 

Step 4: Braid the ponytail. Bam! You have a funky, easy hair-do!!!

Scrunchy Braid XL

I'm so happy it's the weekend!!! And it's a beautiful day! A beautiful day for a braid, actually!!

Here's what I have for everyone today.

I've already done a tutorial on the Scrunchy braid (a small one) but this one incorporates more hair and looks significantly different...and pretty awesome!

XL Scrunchy Braid:

 

Step 1: Take a large chunk of hair from anywhere on your head and start a standard braid, keeping it pretty loose.

Step 2: Once you get to the bottom of the braid, group together two of the strands, leaving one strand all alone.

Step 3: Hold the single lonely piece straight down, keeping it secured tightly. Then, carefully take the two stands and slide them up, letting the hair gather up at the top. 

Step 4: Once you're finished scrunching up your braid, separate your hair into three stands again and complete the rest of your braid...make sure you keep the braid very tight or the braid will "unscrunch" at the top. 

Hair Patriotism

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Thank you to all who have served our country - past, present and future - to make this the land of the free.

Fancy Schmancy

People loved my hairstyle today...made me blush and stuff. It's not hard to do that though. 

Want to get lots of compliments on your stylin' tresses?...then give this one a try. Not difficult at all. I promise.

Blush'n Braid:

Step 1: Separate a front section of hair as in picture 1. Secure the rest of your hair with a hair tie or clip to keep it out of the way. Complete one standard braid cycle.

Step 2: Incorporate one new section hair to start the French Braid, see pictures 3 and 4. Add another piece of hair from the other side, continuing to cross the hair over to continue your braid. (You can clearly see in these two pictures how I manipulate the pieces of hair using all of my fingers to keep the hair held tightly).

Step 3: Repeat Step 2. Continue French braiding until you have added in all hair that was sectioned out in Step 1.

Step 4: Finish your braid and secure with hair tie. Tie up your hair into a ponytail or bun, or some sort of up-do to complete your beautiful style.

More Twists...Twisted Headband

Spring is flying by and it's been over a month since I've posted a hair tutorial! To my loyal fans, my deepest apologies. 

Here's a simple hairdo that would be great for work or could be made more formal as well.

Twisty Headband:

Step 1: Part your hair to the side. Take a small section of hair from next to your part and separate into two evenly divided pieces.

Step 2: Twist these two pieces once and then carefully grab a new small section of hair underneath this twist (just like with a French Braid, it's difficult to hold the pieces of hair tightly while adding in new pieces). 

Step 3: Add the newly sectioned hair into the bottom piece of the initial twist and complete another rotation of the twist. 

Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you reach your ear and finish by twisting your hair all the way to the bottom (I "anchored" the twist to another piece of hair so it didn't untwist).

Step 5 (optional): I wanted to add a little more to this hairstyle, so I took a chunk of hair next to my ear, right behind the twist, and completed another simple twist. 

Step 6 (optional): Twist together the Twisted Headband do and the simple twist from Step 5. See above

Let's Twist Again

Before I start my twisted hair tutorial, I just thought I'd share an interesting quote from the creator of "The Twist", Chubby Checker:

"...Dick Clark once said that the three biggest influences ever to come into music were Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Chubby Checker. I [Chubby Checker] thought about that for a while. I am Christopher Columbus, Alexander Graham Bell, Dr. George Washington Carver. Since I recorded 'The Twist,' people have never danced (close) together again, whether it was to my music or somebody else's...That, to me, is as important in the world of music as electricity is in the world of lighting. I'm the tires the cars roll on."

That's a pretty big statement right there. I do applaud his high self-regard, but whoa man. 

Twisty twists:

Step 1: Separate a small section of hair next to your part, split that section in half and twist together. To get the twist to stay tightly twisted, secure the end of the twisty hair to a section of untwisted hair to prevent it from untwisting.

Step 2: Repeat Step 1 two more times so that you have three twists. All three twists should be secured with a hair tie to a neighboring chunk of hair to stop it from untwisting, as explained in Step 1.

Step 3: Now, braid together the three twists. Since it's difficult to keep the strands twisted tightly, I kept all three anchored to untwisted hair until I approached the bottom of my hair and needed to untie the anchored strands and then complete the braid.

I thought it looked really cool when I took out the twisty braids:

Getting excited about Baseball and Braids

I don't know about everyone else, but it's been a crazy few weeks for me. We have been celebrating my son's birthday for the past few weeks...it's more like, happy birthmonth, Jonas! He deserves it though, he makes life worth living. Then came Easter, which we had a lot of pressure to make an awesome Easter Basket thanks to those viral Surprise Egg videos on YouTube that our son loves. 

And that's my excuse for not posting anything for so long, okay people. J/k

Well, here is my hairstyle for today!!

Triple Play Braid (my tribute to the commencement of baseball season):

Step 1: Part hair to the side and separate a section in the front, clipping/tying back the rest of your hair. Complete a French Braid down to your ear.

Step 2: Separate section of hair directly behind the French Braid, and clip/tie back rest of your hair to keep it out of the way. Complete the second French Braid.

Step 3: Separate another section of hair and complete the third French Braid.

Step 4: Braid together the three French Braids. You can finish the style right here or you can take it a step further and complete another braid combining the triple French braid with the rest of your hair. So many options!!!

Scrunchy Braid

This style looks way more difficult than it actually is. It's all about being delicate when you "scrunch" up your braid.

The "Scrunchy" Braid:

Step 1: Separate a section of hair next to your part, either in the front or middle of your head (I chose the middle).

Step 2: Start a standard braid, keep it loose all the way to the end. If you can, pay attention to which strand you started with and try to end with that piece identified (need this info for the next step).

Step 3: When you finish the braid, combine two of the strands together in one hand and keep one strand separate (the strand you started the braid with).

Step 4: Tightly hold this single strand of hair straight down as you slide up the hair in your other hand (with the two combined pieces of hair) and let the hair gather into a "scrunchy" braid.

Step 5: Evenly space out the "scrunches" and since you pushed up the braid, you will have a few inches of unbraided hair. So, just finish up with a standard braid and secure with a hair tie. (You can see in the bottom picture where I had to finish off the braid.)