Hair braiding day 16

I keep thinking that this is going to get harder, but so far I seem to be going well. I just wonder at what point will it seem like I'm making minor changes to a previous hairstyle and calling it something new! Nothing too complicated to do today...

Style 16: braid in a braid in a braid

I started out by dividing my hair into three. I put bands around two of the three sections to hold them and the worked on the left side, which I was going to have my braid coming towards. I took the remaining third of hair and split it into three pieces as well. The section closest to the face I braided in a single braid, mainly to keep some of my fly-aways contained. With a clip on the end to hold that section, I then braided another braid, where the previous braid was one strand, starting just behind my ear and continuing until I couldn't hold it anymore. This got tied tight with a rubber band. I then took the section of my hair that started from the right, pulled it toward the left and braided it until I had to tie it off. I now had three sections, two which were braided and one that wasn't. I combined these three into a single braid and tied if off. Done.

Hair braiding day 15

I thought today deserved something simple, but not too simple. After all it would hardly be worth looking at if it was a run of the mill hair style. Although I do have to wonder if a "normal" French braid can still count as one of my 30 hair styles....

Style 15: French braid with ribbon

I was trying to decide if I could actually do this without putting in a rubber band at the top of my hair to hold the ribbon up. I decided it wasn't worth having to redo the whole thing if it didn't work so I started by collecting a small section of hair at the top of my head, wrapping a rubber band around it and then slipping a ribbon through it. My ribbon was long enough that when I doubled it over it went past the end of my hair, so I pulled it through even. I then separated my hair for a normal French braid, making sure that one piece of the ribbon was in two different strands. French braid away and attach it all at the end with another rubber band. I had enough ribbon left over that I was able to tie it over the rubber band and add a small bow. Simple, with a touch of the unexpected.

Hair braiding day 14

I was going for something simple today, with just a few accents. Looking at it once I was done I think it might have been better if I had done less. Just add the rope around the ponytail and it would have looked more sleek and elegant...

Style 14: Ponytail with rope accents

I started out by securing my hair in a loose ponytail. I then pulled four sections out of my ponytail, two on each side, and twirled them into a thin rope one at a time. I just put a clip at the end of each because I knew I only wanted the ropes to reach to the ponytail, and not extend into it. Once I had those four done, I regathered all of my hair into a tighter ponytail. I then selected a small amount of my ponytail from the top (mostly because that was the longest piece of hair I could find), slip my topsy tail from the top of my ponytail down through the rubber band, twirled that piece of hair into a rope, attached it with a small rubber band at the end, wrapped it around my ponytail twice, then pulled it through with the topsy tail effectively hiding the end. I was actually quite pleased with how the ponytail wrap worked, and how well it stayed in all day, not so sure about the other accents.

Hair braiding day 13

After chatting with my sister last night, she was encouraging me to try out a few more styles that including the sock bun. So I decided to give it a whirl this morning. Although I have to say, sometimes I think the sock bun is a little too big for my hair/head. It almost felt as if it was going to fall off today (I know, I know, impossible...but still).

Style 13: Double braids to a sock bun

So this is a fairly decent side view of what I did. I braided about 2/3 of my hair into french braids, half on either side, trying to lead to the center of my head a bit lower down then where I usually wear a bun (the last time I put the sock bun in my bun hit the ceiling of the taxi on the way to school so I thought maybe I shouldn't go quite so high this time). Collected it all in a ponytail, slid the sock bun doughnut thingy over the ponytail then covered it up. I had a much harder time getting the doughnut covered this time, perhaps I used up too much hair in my braid? Reserving judgement on this one until I try it a few more times. It may just need some fine tuning.

Hair braiding day 12

Today was definitely a loose style. A different look from what I usually attempt, mainly because if I don't pull tight my hair tends to fall out of whatever I do to it. I did end up putting a few clips in my hair 10 minutes after I put it up because I was not at all sure that it would last the day without them.

Style 12: French fish bone

Merge the idea of a french braid and fish bone and you have my style today. As with a french braid  you pick up hair on each side as you bring it in. I also joined the new piece with a small section from what was already in my hand in the hopes that it would last the day (which it did). The basic idea of fish bone is that you have two strands, take a small piece of hair from the outside of one strand and bring it to the inside of the other strand pulling over, repeat on the other side and so on. In some ways it is easier then a french braid because you don't have to keep track of as many pieces of hair. If I was to do this again I might consider collecting my starting pieces of hair with a barrette or rubber band so that it would not fall out as much, although in some ways the loose style was nice.

Hair braiding day 11

Today was a bit of an experimental day. I'm not sure I really like how my hairstyle turned out, which is not to say it didn't turn out how I expected. I think I came pretty close to what I was picturing, I'm just not sure I would repeat it as a hairstyle. What do you think?

Style 11: Half head double dutch braid to ponytail

The key today, again, was to get a good part in my hair and tie the rest of it tightly away. I pulled about 3/4 of my hair over to one side, then cut a part that curved slightly and ended approximately where I wanted my ponytail to hang. A french braid on the hair that was loose, tied at the end. The second braid was a bit harder. I was trying to pull approximately the same amount of hair over again, with the hope that total I would have less than half my hair braided. I don't think that bit worked. This probably would be easier if you had someone else who could part your hair while they could actually see the whole thing. Again tie of the hair you don't want to use tightly and french braid the piece that is down. This was a bit more difficult as I couldn't pick up hair my normal way otherwise I got caught in the other braid. Then collect all of your hair off center and make a low ponytail. After one try I decided this looked much better if I made sure the braids were laying on top when I tied up my ponytail. Whether I like it or not it was definitely a new hairstyle for me!

Hair braiding day 10

I thought I'd go back to a hairstyle that I used a ton when my hair was just around chin length. I have to admit I'm not sure it turned out quite as well, but that is partly because when it was short I was forced to pay more attention to where my braid was actually laying. Now that my hair is longer it is not quite so important to getting it to stay up.

Style 10: (fake) half crown to bun

I feel as if this picture isn't a great representation of what this actually looked like...sigh. For those of you who have a hard time trying to figure out how to get your hands to form a crown braid this works almost as well for me although it does not have the braid across the front of your head. This is really just two braids which meant and then twist together to form a bun(ish). When doing these braids I only add hair in from the bottom. If I do a tight braid this causes me braid to almost roll, and it will look like you braided under without you having to figure out how to get your hands to braid a different way. Divide your hair into two parts. Complete a "normal" french braid keeping your braid along the hair line, only adding hair in to your braid when you pull over from the bottom. Braid all the way out and attach with small band. Do the same thing on the other side. Twist the braids around each other and form a bun which your will attach with bobby pins. All I was really trying to do here was make sure the tails of my braids didn't stick out.