Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Meet in the Middle

I just came across these pictures and I think this hairstyle was done sometime in January.  It's fairly straight forward but there are some helpful tips for you. 
Start by parting the hair down the middle.  (I've pulled some of her bangs into one side in the front as well.)  Now that you have your vertical halves, divide each into half horizontally so that you now have 4 sections.
  Tie off 3 of the section with elastic and begin to french braid the 4th section.  Braid all the way to the end of the hair and tie it off with an elastic.  French braid all the sections and tie them off.  (Tip:  for the bottom French Braids, have your princess lay on her tummy on her bed so that her head is upside down over the edge of the bed.  This will make doing the upside down braids MUCH easier.) 
(Okay - this part could've definitely been straighter! ha ha) Now that you have your 4 French Braids completed you'll want to combine the top and the bottom on each side by twisting the two braids around each other and forming a bun.  Secure the bun with a tight elastic.  Do the on the other side as well.  Now just choose your favorite ribbons and wrap them around the bun, creating a bow,  to finish off. 

Monday, August 30, 2010

Rock Star

My daughter decided that she wanted to have a "Rock Star" party for her birthday this year.
  I instantly knew what she was going to wear and how her hair was going to be done.  She has a bunch of fun faux hair clips that we picked up at Sally's a few months back.  (I didn't know if we'd use them much but she LOVES them!) 
We started by parting the hair and then clipping the fake hair to the front of the head .  I then twisted a small bit of hair around each of them to hide the clips. 
I continued twisting the hair until it met right over the part and I connected the two sides with an elastic, then covered the elastic with a small claw clip. 
 No she doesn't really have a tattoo and three earrings.  :)
Then I pulled each side into an Indian Braid - making sure to include the faux hair. 
I tried to get a little bit of faux hair in each of the strands of the braid.  Both braids looked a bit different but still similar. 
We finished it off with some glitter spray and some Rock Star bows.

PARTicularly PARTial to These PARTS

It's a PARTS  PARTy.  :) 
I use different parts in a lot of my hairstyles so I thought I'd kill some time while we were in our hotel and get pictures of my favorites. 
 This is the "Butt Crack"  (Thanks to my sis-in-law for the great name.)  :) 
This is the "Zig Zag".  (My princess thinks they look like "greater" and "less than" signs.)
  You can make your angle at whatever degree you like and they can be as tight or as wide as you like.  
 Here's the "Swirlie". 
Just make the "S" shape down the scalp.  
We call this one "Blocks" because it's kind of like blocks stacked on top of each other.  
 Just  create 90 degree angles down the head - making sure to keep the lines parallel. 
 This last one is the "Heartbeat". 
Notice how it's only on the top half of the head and the bottom is the "Butt Crack" part.  You can mix all different parts together for a different look. 
This is the best comb to use for making parts.  It's a rat-tailed comb that I picked up at Sally's Beauty Supply for a couple bucks but I'm sure you can find it other places as well.  I use this comb for everything and would suggest picking one up if you don't already have one.
Remember that parts can be made anywhere on the head and do not need to always be centered.  They also don't need to cover the whole head.  Be creative and you can come up with all sorts of fun stuff. 

Friday, August 20, 2010

Round Trip From California to Florida

Imagine that one piggie is Disneyland and the other piggie is across the country (or head) in Disney World.  :)  Now do you understand the name of this hairstyle?  Love this one!
  Start by parting the hair and making two ponies on each side of the head.  Now separate each pony into two halves and make each half a braid. 
Each ponytail should now have 2 braids. 
Take the inside braid on each side and cross it over to the opposite side. 
 I had to wrap the braid around the opposite pony because my daughter's hair is so long but this isn't necessary.  Now attach the braids to the ponies with elastics.  Take the braid that is still hanging and attach the bottom up to the top with an elastic.  Do this for both sides. 
Wet the ends that are sticking up and curl them down with your fingers - using product if needed.  Add some little flowers underneath the curled ends to finish it off. 

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Count the Corkscrews

I love doing Corkscrews in my daughter's hair because their really fast and look pretty. A Corkscrew is a basic twist but you must make sure tht you twist the two pieces one direction and then wrap them together the opposite direction.  This helps the Corkscrew hold better than a regular twist.
Start by parting the top of the hair about 3 inches back. 
Take each side of the part and create a Corkscrew, making sure to start it without an elastic.
 When both Corkscrews are long enough to reach the back of the head, tie them together with an elastic. Make another Corkscrew out of the hair from that last elastic.
When you get to the nape of the neck, combine all of the hair into an elastic. From here you are going to make a Hawser Braid, which is essentially two Corkscrews twisted together. The hairstyle is as simple as that!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Puffy Princess

This is a Puffy Braid with a bit of flair to it. Start by sectioning out half of the hair on top of the head. Now Part that section into two pieces. (Part it a bit off-centered for a better look.) Not tie one half off with an elastic to make working with the other side easier.
Always start your parts from the name point, creating a "star" effect. On the larger half you should end up with 4 sections and the smaller half should have 3 sections. Tie each section off with an elastic (close to the front of the head) and make sure that you add the previous hair into the new elastic-section. Hopefully that makes sense and if it doesn't than hopefully the picture will help. When you get your last elastic in on each side, pull the two ponytails together around the back of the head and secure it. You can let the rest of the hair fall however you like. My princess has naturally wavy hair so we've straightened it with a flat iron here. Tie a ribbon around the back elastic and you're finished!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Feeling Groovy

I wasn't around for the 60's but I love the hairstyles. My daughter was "feeling groovy" on this particular morning so we decided to go a little hippie. Grab a small section of hair from one side of the head, just above the eyebrow line. (Make sure you don't grab your section from the front of the hair because you don't want to show. Gather it from about and inch behind the hairline.) You'll want to braid that small section as far down as you can. We chose to do a 5-Strand Braid because it is a little wider than your normal braid. Once you've finished braiding, pull it across the forehead and tuck it under the hair on the opposite side of the head. Attach the braid to the hair with bobby pins - making sure to make and "X" with the bobby pins for the best hold. Now separate the rest of the hair into two halves and pull them down into Indian Braids. Secure the ends with elastics and add hair accessories as you like. I've just glued some little white ribbon flowers to hair pins and tucked them into the braids. I thought it gave it more of a "Flower Power" look. :)

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Half Knot Bun

It doesn't get much easier than this. Make sure the hair is wet and then pull it all back into a ponytail. Once it's all in the elastic, wrap the hair around itself as if you're making a knot. (Just like you would tie a knot in the bottom of your thread before you begin sewing.) Bobby pin the ends of the hair to the head and you're finished. If your princess's hair is not long enough for a full ponytail knot, try using only half the hair.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Backside

My daughter thinks it's hilarious that we're calling this "The Backside" because that usually means something else at our house. All the design to this hairstyle will be on the backside so we decided the name was fitting. :) Start by sectioning out a portion of hair at the bottom of the head. Tie all the rest of the hair out of the way. Now divide that section into two equal parts and tie each part off with an elastic. Make another part parallel to the original part but about 2 inches above it. Now separate that section into three equal parts and tie them off with elastics. Go back down to the two bottom elastics and separate the small ponytails into two pieces. Take one piece each to the outside elastics on the upper section and add those in with another elastic. (Do not add any hair into the upper-middle elastic.)
Take the rest of the hair on top of the head and part it down the middle. Pull each side into a ponytail, making sure to include the elastic from the same side below. Also, separate the middle elastic into two sections and pull those to each side. You should now have two large piggies on each side. You can finish them off however you like but we've done Messy Buns here. Add some fun hair accessories and you're finished.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Basket Case

My princess had lots of left over waves from her braids yesterday so we decided to make use of them today. We pulled her hair half-up because there weren't as many waves at the top of her hair. Before I pulled the hair back, I parted it down the middle and held out a 1/2 in section of hair along both sides of the part. Wet the hair down really well on top and then pull in back into the Half-Up Ponytail. Here's the tricky part: Grab a plastic yarn needle for the threading. (They're usually light blue and can be bought at Wal-Mart in the yarn section.) Take a piece of dental floss and fold it in half. Thread the folded section through the eye of the needle and this will help thread the hair through the needle. Take one of the 1/2 inch sections you held out and grab a small piece of it close to the hairline on the forehead. Now feel that small section through the dental floss and then pull the dental floss out of the eye of the needle. This will automatically thread the hair through the eye of the needle for you. (Much easier than trying to thread the hair through the needle without the floss!) Now take the needle in an in and out pattern down through the hair that has been pulled back. Let the hair out of the needle and thread the next little bit of hair back into it. Use the in and out weaving pattern again but make sure that you are opposite of what you did on the previous weaving. Continue this process until you run out of hair in the 1/2 inch section and then go to the second 1/2 inch section and do the same pattern. When you are done it will look as though you've weaved a basket. It has a really cool look to it and would also be a very fun Easter hair do because it would look like an Easter Basket!