7. French twist
Date: Friday, August 10th 2007 @ 13:42 - Subscribe
Time needed: 5 minutes
A classic style of hairdo, the French twist. It looks very difficult to do but is in fact quite easy. It is just a matter of getting the hang of it.
Make a low ponytail but don't tie it off. Then start twisting the hair. When you want the vertical "opening" of the roll to be on the right hand side you will have to twist the hair counter clockwise. This is how I did mine.
As you are twisting, lift up the hair and twist all the way till the very tips. You will feel the hair on the left side making the smooth side of the roll. Feel where the top of the roll is and just above that point hold a finger to it and bring the section above it down and to the left, tucking the ends under the twisted section you just made.
Now you can secure the roll with a French twist comb, but I chose for three claw clips instead. Make sure not to claw them on too tightly as you want to have the smooth hair section on the left remain smooth. Here is what it looks like on me with wet hair:
I apply a bit of water using a mister in order to give the updo something to make it firmer. Instead of hairspray, so to speak.
For those needing a video to make things clearer, you can find that here.
Good luck!
Observances
The irritating part of this is to get the roll to sit AND stay in the center of your head. For me the thing wishes to slide to the right all the time. I have corrected the flaw a little bit by grabbing the finished roll, after the ends are tucked under, and giving it a twist over the whole length to tighten it. Unfortunately this does not always work.
Comments (moderated):
6. Two-braid bun
Date: Friday, August 3rd 2007 @ 13:50 - Subscribe
Time needed: 10-15 minutes
This style is a very nice one, classy and yet at the same time casual. It also makes it look like you have more hair than you actually have.
Things needed are a few hair ties, maybe a few pins and a scrunchie or something like it. First you put your hair up in a pony tail where you want the bun to end up. Make sure to comb the hair out so it is smooth.
Part the pony tail in two, horizontally, so you end up with two sections right above each other, so not side by side. I will explain why in a bit. Make them as much the same thickness as you can. Put a tie around the top half so it will stay together and you can put it out of the way.
Now simply braid the lower tail part in a basic three strand braid and tie it off. This tie is only there temporarily. Now do the same with the upper hair. You might like it better braiding the lower part first, that is all up to you. If you don't know how to braid, that technique has been explained in a previous updo.
You now have a pony tail with two braids coming out of it. Take the shorter of the two (usually that is the lower braid) and wind it tightly around the base of the pony tail. Start downward and then turn in either direction. Put your other hand on top of the now forming bun so the braid doesn't fly away from your head. When you get to the end you can slide the tie out and tuck the ends under the bun.
Now make sure to not let go, take the other braid and wind that (starting upward) in the opposite direction around the already present bun. This downward upward opposite will ensure you have a nice round bun instead of a small section on top and big on the bottom, or other variations. When you have shorter hair this is more important than when the hair is longer.
When you are done winding that, tuck that end under as well and then grab the scrunchie and put that around the entire bun. When you are lucky you are now done and it will stay put that way.
In my case I needed an extra tie first around the bun to make sure it stays tight, and then put the scrunchie around.
You should end up with something looking roughly like this:
Now to explain the split horizontally, there is a reason for it: as you pull your hair up in a pony tail it isn't the same length anymore all over. The bottom hairs will end up shorter than the top ones and in order to make the braid go as far down the hair length as possible it has to be pretty much the same length all over in the strand. Shorter hairs will peep out and make things look messy. Unless of course you want messy, that is entirely up to you again.
Good luck!
Observances
I have noticed that the bun will keep moving the entire time, and will seem to grow as well as the inner strands are trying to work their way out. It CAN sit fine all day, for me it does, but if you want you can, before tying it off after bunning, insert a hairpin or two through the bun to ensure it won't pop.
Comments (moderated):
5. Mrs. El Knot (aka hairstick knot)
Date: Tuesday, July 24th 2007 @ 18:04 - Subscribe
Time needed: 1-2 minutes
This is a very easy style that you can do even when your hair isn't that long. All you need is one hair stick.
Make your hair into a pony tail, and hold the hair with your left hand, keeping the hand some distance away from the head. Now with your right hand stick the hair stick in horizontally, about one third of the hair below and two thirds above the stick.
Hold the hair stick steady and with your left hand move back a little, then up and forward and then down again, winding your hair around the hair stick. You can do this as many times as you like, experiment a little as to what will look best on you. My hair takes three turns, and at the time of writing this it is about arm pit length.
When you are done winding, don't let go of the hair! Start rotating the stick counter clockwise until the tapered end points up. Don't let the hair go just yet, you can loosen it a bit as you go now though. Slowly flip the stick over, keeping the tapered end in touch with the center top of your head, and making it point down. Now gently slide the stick down through your hair.
If it is too tight, you will have to keep a little bit more distance between your hand and your head. Here is a picture of this style on me.
The stick and clip-on can be purchased at Many Horses. There is no video that I could find of this style, but there is a source where I learned this from that has pictures of how to do it.
Good luck!
Comments (moderated):
4. Cinnamon bun with hairfork
Date: Tuesday, July 17th 2007 @ 18:05 - Subscribe
Time needed: 2 minutes
The next style is up again. I had to wait until I managed to get it up really nice without any stray hairs sticking out all over. Today was that day.
All you need for this style is a hair fork. Of course you can also use hairsticks, but this was my method of choice. I used a three prong bloodwood fork for this updo, and for those curious or wanting one, I purchased mine at 60th Street Productions.
Take the hair and put it in a ponytail where you want the bun to be, and then twist the length clockwise to make one long string of twisted hair. Make sure the start of the twist is tight. Then turn the string clockwise around and around, making a cinnamon bun, as it were, until you have no hair left, and then tuck the ends under.
Take the fork and stick the prongs through the first full roll in an upward direction. Now turn slowly, making the prongs grab hair at the scalp and then making them face downward. Slowly push the fork through the bun and let the prongs come out through the outer roll at the bottom.
Here is a picture of this updo on myself. Do take note that the result will vary with the length of your hair, the thickness of it, and of course your own skill to make it work.
If you need more instructions there are pictures on this page, and she also has a video available at the bottom.
Good luck!
Observances
1) This do is very hard to get right with freshly washed hair. After one day I can get it to stay with a few Amish pins.
Comments (moderated):
3. Double low braid
Date: Tuesday, July 10th 2007 @ 17:55 - Subscribe
Time needed: 10 minutes including ties
One gets tired of that ponytail rather quickly, so I moved on ahead with the styles and leave the ponytail to use when nothing wishes to work.
For this technique you need two braids. One braid is easy enough. You take three strands of hair and then move the left side over the middle one so the left side becomes the new middle one. And then you take the right side and move it over the middle one. Now the right side has become the middle one. Move the left side over the middle one, and so on and on until you reach the end of the hair and tie off.
To make two braids it is easiest to divide the hair in two, and then tie one in a low ponytail. Braid the other one and tie it off. Now take the ponytail out and braid that one too and tie it.
The basic updo is now done, but you can of course vary a wee bit. In my case I used two leather strips and made a tie of that. Start by placing the center of the leather strip right above the tie you made with the elastic, and put a single knot in it around the tail. Both leather ends that are hanging loose should be the same length, roughly. Now simply start wrapping the two ends downward around the hair and when you get to the end wrap one more time upward. Again put a single knot in it and leave the ends hanging loose. Nice and simple, and very secure. I found it more secure in fact than the usual bands. Here is a picture of my hair done this way. I put the braids on my back for the picture, but in fact they were worn on the front the whole time.
If you need a video on how to braid since that may be easier than my explanation in text, here is one that tells you how to braid on someone else and then tells you how to braid your own hair.
Good luck!
Comments (moderated):
Click below for the