Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Ballerina Wrap

This reminds me of lacing up ballet shoes and that's my explanation for the name. This is one of those hairdos that happens when you only have 5 minutes to get you daughter out the door for school. I seem to need a lot of those styles. Start with a basic ponytail in the back. Grab two small pieces of hair from each side of the ponytail and wrap the around the rest of the hair. Make sure that each of the two pieces is going opposite directions. When you run out of hair, secure it all with an elastic. Easy huh!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Firework

This is a borrowed hairstyle but I've always loved it and I think it was perfect for the Pioneer Day fireworks show in Utah. You have to kind of use you imagination with this one but see how it starts in the middle of her hair and shoots out into colorful explosions just like a firework! (I know it's a stretch) :) Start by parting the hair straight down the middle and tie one half off with an elastic. Now divide the other half into three equal triangles. Tie each little section off with an elastic to hold it out of the way. Now take the elastic out of one triangle section and twist it into an Odango Bun. (Odango Buns are made by twisting the whole strand of hair and then twisting the hair around itself and making a bun.) Secure the bun with an elastic. Now do this with the other two sections and repeat the process on the other half of the head. (Tip: It looks best if you can make the parts on the second half shoot straight off from the parts on the first side.) Finish it all off by twisting some pipe cleaners around each bun. The sparkly pipe cleaners work the best. She had a ball at the festivities and everyone kept commenting on her hair.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Uneven 5 Strand Braid

Here's a fun little twist on a favorite. You can pull the hair up any way you like - I've done piggies here. Now separate the hair into 5 sections, one being large and the other four being small. Now begin braiding. (See "5 Strand Braid" for more details.) It gives the braid a really cool pattern. We were at Wheeler Farm for Pioneer Day and everyone was commenting on her hair.

5 Strand Into a Messy Bun

This is easiest when the hair is completely wet. You can start this hairstyle with a small ponytail up front or you can do a Pull Through like we've done. Use the hair from that small ponytail to create your 5 Strand Braid. You can braid it as long as you want, depending on where you want to position it on the head. Pull the rest of the hair over to the side for a side pony. Add the Braid into the hair and make your Messy Bun. Add a cute little flower and you're all finished!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Something's Fishy

Don't you just love the names of our hairstyles? The princess herself comes up with most of them. We came across this hairstyle a little by accident. I had pulled all of her hair back and was going to do a loose Fish Bone Braid at the nape of her neck. I sectioned the hair into two pieces and then began grabbing small pieces to wrap around for the plates of the braid. After plating a few we decided to wrap an elastic around each of the two pieces and leave the piggies just hanging. I think it turned out pretty cool. It's a Fish Bone into piggies. It would also be cute to make individual Fish Bone Braids out of the two piggies.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Lucky Number Seven

I figured that since we are from Las Vegas, it was only fitting to name our 7-Strand Braid "Lucky Number Seven". :) You can being this braid in a Ponytail, with half the hair pulled up (like we've done here) or with no elastic at all. Start with the section of hair you are using and separate it into 7 equal sections. (It's just like the 5-Strand Braid but with two extra strands.) Begin with the outside section on one side and take it under the adjacent section, over the following section and under the very next section. That outside piece should now be right in the middle. Grab the outside section from the opposite side and do the same thing - under the adjacent piece, over the next piece and under the very next piece until that section is in the middle. Continue this down the entire braid, rotating from right side to left side. You will want to tie an elastic around the bottom of your braid to finish it off. I think this braid looks really cool and my princess was getting comments on it all day long.

Braid Crimps

Here is the hairstyle from the third day of our "Hairstyle for Multiple Days" on the last post. We just took out the elastics (using a seam ripper - it's the fastest) and Pulled everything back into one ponytail. Then I unwrapped all the braids, which took a couple minutes. What we were left with were these beautiful small crimps in her hair.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Hairstyle for Multiple Days

This one takes some time so it's nice that it lasts a couple days. My princess had a swimming party and we were going out right after so I knew I wouldn't have time to redo her hair. We decided to do one of our swimming styles. Start by sectioning out a circle right at the crown of the head. (Make it about 3 inches across.) Wrap it tightly in an elastic. There should be hair hanging down on all sides of the ponytail. Now make another circle part around the first one so that you are separating the remaining hair in half and in a circular shape around the original ponytail. Pull that middle section up around the original ponytail and attach it with a loose elastic just to get it out of the way. Section out the remaining hair into 1.5 inch squares. Combine the hair from each square into an elastic until all the remaining hair is in elastics around the perimeter of the head. Now let down the next section of hair from the ponytail. Section that out into 1.5 inch squares as well but make sure the squares are not parallel with the original squares. The parts need to look like stacked bricks - alternating, if that makes sense. Now separate each small ponytail into 2 sections and take one section from each adjacent square to add into the new ponytail on the square behind. Do that around the entire head. Now gather all the loose ponytails and attach them to the original middle ponytail with an elastic. All of the hair should be up in a ponytail now. Go ahead and break that up and create as many small braids as you like. You can add beads to the bottom of the braids if you want to, like we've done here. She swam in this hair and it still looked perfect for church the next day. We even took out all the braids and elastics and she had a crimped ponytail for school on Monday!

Summer Highlights

My sweet niece is visiting for a few weeks and she wanted a change with her hair. We decided to try the Herbal Essence Highlights kit. She was so brave to let her less-than-qualified aunt attempt this on her. She wanted some lighter streaks throughout her hair so this is how we did it. We left it in for 30 minutes and then washed everything out. I should have taken a before picture but she went from being all light brown to having subtle streaks of blonde. It looks great with her skin tone. I like that it's still a bit darker underneath but is all fun and "summer-y" on top. It's always fun to have a change and I think she looks beautiful!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Daisy Chains & Curls

Daisy Chains are really easy and are meant to have that "disheveled" look - not the clean and crisp look of french braids. The hair does not need to be wet but it will hold better when wet and you will get better curls at the end. Begin by parting the hair and creating two sections. Pull one section off to the side and begin on the other. Grab two small sections of hair at the top of the head. Pretend these are shoelaces and wrap them as you would if you were beginning to tie your shoes. Now gather some hair in to both strands and repeat that step. You will continue adding in hair and wrapping them. When you get to the base of the head, just continue wrapping without adding in hair and then tie it off with an elastic when you're done. It's important to remember to wrap the hair in the same direction each time. Go ahead and take the large section of hair that you set aside and do the same thing.
(Note: I wrapped the braids the same as I did on the previous side to show you what it looks like. If you want it to mirror the opposite side, make sure you wrap your strands opposite from what you did on the previous side.)
She wore her hair like this to school and then we took out the braids when she came home. Look at the beautiful curls made by the Daisy Chain! It's a whole new hairstyle made out of the first one!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Southern Belle

This style reminds me of "Gone With the Wind". Begin with 2 piggies that include all of the hair. Separate each piggy into 5 sections and criss cross them through each other. Once they've been weaved through on another, make each on into a 5-Strand Braid. Leave about 2.5 inches at the bottom of your braid. Now wrap the tow 5-Strand Braids around each other into a bun. Make sure the excess hair from your braids is at the bottom of the bun. Secure it all down with bobby pins and then curl ringlets into the bottom of the braids. Now you have your little "Scarlet" southern belle.