Friday's Film: The Switchback

We got many requests for a video on our hairstyle called "The Switchback". It's a simple concept, just make sure you have lots of bobby pins ready to go.

 

You can find the original post here.

I wish that my arm wasn't in front of the camera so much but I wanted you to be able to see the back of her head.  Hopefully you get the idea!  :)

French Roll

This hairstyle has been around forever but this is the first time I have ever actually done it on my princess.  I have to admit that the length of her hair made it a bit tricky and this style is probably best for shoulder-length hair.

I have found that starting with wet hair is easiest when you are doing any type of bun or twist because it helps hold much longer when it dries in a specific position.  I created a small off-centered part at the top of her head to start off.  I then combed all of the hair back down toward the nape of the neck. 

Move to the side of the head that has less hair from the part to begin.  This was the left side for us so my directions will follow that.  Comb all of the hair from the left around the back and toward the right side of the head.  Now grab some bobby pins and pin that hair flat against the head - just a bit to the right of the middle of the neck. Your bobby pins should start down by the neck and create a line going straight up about 3-4 inches.  This will hold that left side of hair nice and flat against the head. 

 Now comb all of the hair on the right side straight out until it is flat and then roll it to the left and into the head.  Your roll should be covering that line of bobby pins now. 

Go ahead and pin the roll into place and add some decorative hair pins to hide the bobby pins.  Give it a good spray with hairspray for extra hold and you are good to go! 

 My princess wore my baptism dress from when I was 8 years old to church on this day.  It's a bit old-fashioned so her hairstyle matched perfectly because it is a bit old-fashioned as well.  :)

Milk Maid Wrap

This is a really basic style but it does require long hair.  (Sorry all you cute bobs out there!)

 

 Start by dividing the hair down the middle using any part you like.  Now pull each side up into a ponytail and secure it with an elastic.  Create a 3-Strand Braid out of each ponytail and secure it at the end with an elastic. 

 Now have some bobby pins ready for this next step.  Take the right braid and wrap it around the elastic holding the left braid and add some bobby pins by the elastic to hold the braid there in place. 

 Repeat the same step with the left braid going over the right elastic. 

 Now gather both of the remaining braids on each side and bring them to the middle and join them with a new elastic. 

You can take out the previous two elastics that were holding the ends of the braids and unplate any braid that falls under the new joining elastic.  You can use some bobby pins to secure this elastic area to the braids above but it is not a necessary step. 

 Place a hair clip over the elastic to hide it and fan out the ends of your braids.

Friday's Film: Barrel Roll Bun

This is one of my personal favorite hairstyles because it's so fast, holds well and creates curls for the following day.  The original post is found here: Barrel Roll Bun.


Here are the pictures of the completed bun:

We put some decorative hairpins in for church. 

You can see that we've used a pretty high ponytail so that the bun is right at the crown of the head. 

You can use smaller sections of hair to create more rolls.

We've done pretty large rolls here just because of time reasons but I love the look of both.

Remember to have your bobby pins handy because you will definitely need them!  

7-Strand Braid

Here's a style that is a very simple pattern but there are so many strands of hair that it can be confusing for your fingers.  Just take it slow and it gets easier with practice!

 

We started our with a basic ponytail but you can begin with the hair anyway you like.  Make sure the hair you are working with is divided into 7 equal sections.  Start with the farthest right section and weave it through the other section with an "over/under" pattern.  Once that strand is all the way through and on the other side of the hair, grab the strand that is now just to the right of it.  (This is the strand that was previously the farthest left strand.)  Weave that through the hair moving to the right.

  Once that strand is all the way through, grab the strand just to it's left and weave back toward the left side again.  Basically you will be weaving left when you start on the right side and weaving right when you start on the left side.  That may sound confusing as you read it but it's easier once you give it a try.  Continue going back and forth until you get to the end of your hair and then you can secure it with an elastic. 

This is a bit different than the Lucky Number 7 Braid that we've posted before.  You'll see that the steps are just a bit different and that makes the appearance of the braid very different.  Both are very beautiful braids though!

Go Utes!

In honor of this weekends fabulous game, we decided to come up with a Utah Utes "U" hairstyle.  (Sorry all of you BYU fans!)   :)  We had church the day after the game and we've had a friendly rivalry going on with some of our church members.  Of course, we had to rub in our victory just a bit!  :)  Our whole family wore red to church and we came up with this red "U" for my princess's hair.  *This is one hairstyle that I'm PLEASED to say was not well received by some!*

I started by dividing the hair in half with a part and we chose to do a zig-zag part.  Next, I pulled each side up into a ponytail and then finished them off with a 3-Strand Braid.  I secured each braid at the end with a clear elastic and then I took those elastics across to the opposite side and secured them into the top of the other braid.  I found the best way to secure them was to lift part of the original top elastic and feed the bottom end of the other through. 

 I then bobby-pinned the ends under the braids.  I wrapped some red ribbon around the two braids and tucked the ends of the ribbon through the elastics to hold it in place. 

 Our finishing touch were the coordinating ribbons.  :) 

For those of you that are BYU fans, you can check out this style:

I call it the Wish it was a "U" Instead of a "Y". 
It would be cute with blue ribbon wrapped around it as well. 

Friday's Film: Angel Halo

This is a fun hairstyle that is really quite simple but takes a couple times doing it to get used to the flow of it.  The original post on this is here: Angel Halo.

We've also used this concept for Halloween Hairdos: The Great Pumpkin

And for The Rose Bowl.

The more you practice this hairstyle the easier it is to get it looking perfect!

"Fan"cy

We were running a bit late for church this last week so we had to come up with a hairstyle that was fast!  We call this one "FAN"cy because it looks like a fan on top.  :)

Start by dividing the hair from one ear to the other and securing the top half into an elastic. 

 Now take a small section from that ponytail and bend it up in a horseshoe shape above the elastic.  Bobby pin it into place over the elastic. 

 Continue doing this with section of hair from the ponytail until all of your ponytail has been "horseshoed" and bobby pinned. 

 

You will end up with the ends from your ponytail hanging down over the remaining hair and a fan effect above the elastic. 

 Grab a hair clip to place over the bobby pins and hide them.  We've used some decorative hair pins here.  (Quite a few of them because my princess wanted them ALL in - you don't need this many to get the job done.)  :) 

 

This only took about 5 minutes to complete and we were ready to head out the door.  

Puffy Pull-Throughs

Here's a 5 minute style that is simple and fun. 

 

I call these "Puffy Pull-Throughs" but my daughter refers to them as "Hamster Ears". Section out the hair from ear to ear and then divide it into two sides.  We've created an off-centered part on ours so our sides are not even but you can do it however you like. 

 Pull each side up into an elastic.  Now grab your Topsy Tail and create a Pull-Through.  At this point you can either use a rat-tailed comb or your fingers but I find that the comb makes it a bit easier. 

 Hold onto the elastic in the Pull-Through and simply grab bits of hair to pull toward the forehead - loosening them from the elastic.  You can make your puffs as large or as small as you like and you can pull out as much or as little hair as you like. 

 These were so easy and fun that I will be using them on hairstyles in the future!

  We just let the rest of the hair fall down in waves but you can finish off the back in any way. 

Friday's Film: Bottom Braids & Bun

We had a bunch of requests for this video so we got right to work on making it.  Hopefully it is helpful for you.  This is the original hairstyle: Bottom Braids & Bun.  I apologize that the video is a bit dark.  I will make sure that I don't stand between the window and my princess again. :)  

This give you a nice view of the French Braids on the bottom.

Like I said in the video, the hairstyle will never look exactly the same way twice. 

Jumping the Track

This hairstyle is a combination of bits and pieces of several other hairstyles.  It's easiest to do when the hair is completely wet.

   

Start by dividing the hair into 4 equal sections by creating a horizontal part right in the middle of the head and then another vertical part from ear to ear.  Tie off the bottom right section and the top left section in temporary elastics to get them out of the way.

 

Start up on the top right sections and comb the whole section toward the bottom left section.  Make sure it is nice and smooth and then separate it into three equal sections and begin braiding.  (Be sure to begin your braid down in the corner where the two parts meet.)  Plate it a couple of times until it is in the bottom left section and then begin adding hair from that section into the plates.  Finish the French Braid and secure it with an elastic. 

Now move up to the top left section and take out the elastic.  Part out a section along the bang-line that is about 2 inches thick. 

Separate that section into three equal new sections and create a 3-Strand Braid out of each.  You only need to plate your braid long enough to reach the middle corner where the parts cross over.  

Comb the remaining hair from that section toward the bottom right section and then divide it into 3 equal sections.  Plate a braid with each section and plate it a couple of times until it is in the bottom right section.  (Go ahead and take out the temporary elastic from the bottom right section.) Begin adding hair from that section into the plates.  Finish the French Braid and secure it with an elastic. 

Spray it with hairspray for a nice hold and then add some hair clips over the two elastics.

Braid Overlay

This is one of those "accidental" hairstyles that turned out really cute.  She started the day with the small braids meeting in the back and the rest of the hair down but we still have temperatures over 100 down here so we pulled the rest of the hair into a braid and this is what it made!  I love it!

Start by creating a small off-centered part at the front of the head. 

 Create a section on each side of the part that goes down to the ear. 

 Make a 3-Strand Braid out of each section and then combine the two braids at the back of the head with an elastic. 

 You will want the braid to be combined a bit lower on the back of the head. 

 Now gather the remaining hair and divide it into 3 sections for your braid.  Add the combined braids from above into the middle section.  Now just braid the rest of the hair as usual.  I love how it absorbs the upper braids and totally conceals the elastic. 

We also tried it another day with Squish Braids and that turned out really well. 

Kind of pretty don't you think!  (An EASY!)