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!!!