Do Different Braids

Braiding hair is a neat and popular way to keep your hair out of your face while also looking pretty. There are endless choices of braids available and yet they are all based on the same principle of weaving the hair together in several strands, with the differences related mostly to positioning. Apart from the standard braid, there are different braids that can create fun, youthful, whimsical, edgy, or classy looks. Some braids are somewhat advanced, so before you try them out, you'll want to master a standard, classic braid.

Steps

Rope Braid Updo

1. Comb hair and part. This braid updo is perfect for short hair, which is often difficult to braid. Before you begin braiding you'll want to comb your hair out and part on the usual side.
2. Create a side french braid. If your part is on the right side, take a small portion of hair on the right side of your part and begin doing a french braid (do the opposite if your part is on the left side).
   • To french braid, begin by braiding your hair as usual, separating it into three equal parts, but as you go along, add strands to your previous three strands. Once you have started your traditional braid, pull a strand of hair from the right of the outside of the braid and add it to the right strand in the braid, and continue to do this with the left and right strands of hair around the braid to create a french braid.
3. Braid all the way down. You'll continue to french braid the hair on the side of your part until you get to the bottom of your hair. You should have a french braid that is about half of your hair. Tie this with an elastic.
4. Repeat this process on the other side. You'll create the same type of side french braid again, but this time on the opposite side of your part. After you have braided down to the end of your hair, secure with an elastic. You should have two, relatively equal side french braids, creating two pigtails.
5. Fold french braid under. Take the end of one french braid and fold it underneath your braid on the back of your head, so that you can't see the elastic. Use a bobby pin or two to secure it to your head. Then, repeat on the other side.
   • This look would be difficult to do with long hair, as there will be too much leftover braid to pin under the french braids along your head.
6. Secure any loose pieces. After you have pinned your hair up, you'll want to bobby pin any parts of your braid that are sticking up or are loose on your head. This helps create a clean look. If you are going for a messier look you can loosen the braids or leave any stray pieces unattended.

Waterfall Braid

1. Comb hair and separate front sections. The waterfall braid is a whimsical braid that creates a waterfall look along your hair. To begin creating this braid, comb and part your hair as usual and then separate a front section of hair on each side of your part and pin it away from the rest of your hair. This hair will not be part of the waterfall braid.
   • If you want all of your hair around your face to be part of your braid, disregard the previous step. Leaving hair out of the braid is helpful if you have bangs or if you want some pieces of your hair to fall around your face.
2. Gather a section of hair and begin braiding. Take a good portion of hair on the side of your part with the most hair and separate it into three sections. Then, begin braiding hair as you would in a traditional braid, making one or two stitches.
3. French braid as you continue to gather more hair. Once you have begun a traditional braid, you'll then turn the braid into a french braid by adding strands of hair to the right section of your braid and braiding it as such, moving in a horizontal direction across your head.
4. Divide the top left strand in half as you go. This is where the french braid becomes a little different than normal. Usually in a french braid you will gather extra hair from the left side of your braid and combine it with the left section of the hair going into your braid as you do with the right side. With this braid, though, as you braid the left strand of hair into the braid, you will split it in half and only braid half of it into your hair.
   • So basically, begin french braiding your hair, and as you go, gather extra hair on the right side of the braid to add to the braid. As you are about to braid the left section of hair into your braid, split it in half and leave one half of the hair down, and then braid the other half into the braid. As you go along, your hair will have long strands that stand out from the rest of your hair, which is what creates the waterfall look.
   • Be careful when doing this step that you don't forget to split the left strand. It can be easy to methodically french braid your hair, so make sure you remember to leave half of the left strand out as this is key to the waterfall look.
5. Continue to braid along your hair. You'll continue to braid your hair this way, angling your braid in a down diagonal (it should naturally angle this way) until you reach the opposite side of your head. Once you get to this point, braid your hair as a traditional braid, leaving some strands out to create a messier look. Then, secure with an elastic at the end of your hair.
6. Unpin front hair. After you have finished braiding your hair, you will unpin the front of your hair to create a finished look. This type of braid looks good if it is somewhat messy, so you might consider pulling some hair out from your braid to create a looser look.

Spiral Braid

1. Brush your hair forward. Before you begin braiding your hair, you'll want to brush the hair at the front of your face over your face so that it can be picked up in the braid as you braid around the front of your head.
2. Gather the hair at the crown of your head. This spiral braid essentially creates a braid that spirals around your head, depending on how long your hair is. After you have brushed your hair forward, gather a portion of your hair at the crown of your head and start a french braid, braiding towards the right side of your head.
   • Make sure you gather hair just on top of your head. You don't want to gather hair at the front of your face, or too much hair at the back of your head, as you'll need this hair as you begin to spiral the braid.
3. French braid counter clockwise. Take the portion of hair you have begun braiding and continue braiding towards the front of your hairline, gathering the hair at the front of your head and pulling it into your braid. This creates a halo look at the front of your face.
4. Braid down the left side of your head. As you braid across your head, you should end up on the left side of your head. From there you will continue to french braid around your head, gathering the rest of your hair that is down into the braid. Continue to do this until you have braided all of your hair and secure with a clear elastic.
5. Secure your hair with bobby pins. As you finished braiding, you should have ended up with a loose braid on the right side of your head. Take this braid and loop it up towards the top of your head, combining it with the halo at the front of your face. Pin with a few bobby pins to secure it to your other braid.
6. Tuck in the end of your braid. Your final step in creating a spiral braid is to tuck the end of your loose braid into the braid along your hairline. Try to hide the elastic and the ends of your hair in the existing braid, and secure with a bobby pin. Then, admire your look!

Halo Braid

1. Part your hair down the center. A halo braid is essentially a braid that creates a loop from the bottom of your head, around your front hairline, to the other side of your head. To begin this fun look, you'll want to part your hair from your hairline down the center to the nape of your neck. Then, separate the two sides of the part.
2. Begin an inverted french braid. Start at the nape of your neck on the left side, and french braid upwards (which is an inverted braid), around your hairline, next to your ear, using all of your hair on the left side of your head.
3. French braid around your head. You'll continue to french braid along your hair line, reaching the hairline at the front of your head, and then french braiding along the right side of your head until you have reached the nape of your neck. Then, braid the rest of your hair into a regular braid and secure with an elastic.
4. Pin your hair to create a halo. Taking the braid you just finished, loop it around your head and secure a few parts of the braid to the halo braid on your head. Then, tuck the end of your braid into the halo braid, making sure the ends and elastic aren't showing, and secure with a bobby pin, creating a full halo.

French Upknot

1. Flip your hair over. This braid is different, because the braid is along the back of your head and ends in a fun bun. To start this braid off you'll need to flip your hair over, and brush out your hair.
2. French braid from the nape of your neck. Next, start with a small, middle section of hair at the nape of your neck and begin to french braid up your hair, creating a somewhat thin french braid along the back of your head until you reach the crown of your head.
   • You want this french braid to be somewhat small, because you want it to blend in somewhat with the rest of your hair. A very thick french braid will stick out from the rest of your head and could look weird from the side.
3. Secure your braid with an elastic. Once you have reached the crown of your head, stop braiding, and secure the end of your braid with an elastic. You'll then have a large portion of hair left that is not braided.
4. Wrap the leftover hair into a bun. Taking the hair leftover from your braid and the rest of your hair on your head, pull it to the top of your head and wrap around the elastic you previously used, creating a bun. Secure with bobby pins or another elastic.
5. Admire your finished look. After you've secured your hair, flip your head back over and you should have a nice french braid on the back of your head with a neat bun to top it off. If you find your hair bun is too tight, you can always loosen it up by pulling hair loosely on the sides of your head.

Bow Braid

1. Part your hair. This braid is a fun, youthful hairstyle that is somewhat advanced and so it may require more time to create a nice look. First, begin by creating a specific part in your hair. Starting at the end of your right eyebrow, draw a line up to your hairline, and begin parting hair along a diagonal across the top of your head. Then, when you are about an inch away from your other ear, draw a straight line above your ear to the end of your other eyebrow.
2. Gather the hair from the part created. After you've created this part, you will gather the hair that was sectioned off from the part into a bun at the top of your head to separate it from the rest of your hair. This will be the part of your braid that creates the bows.
3. French braid your hair. Starting at the top of your right ear, french braid hair from the right side of your head, along the back of your head, until you reach your left ear. You'll french braid all of your hair, so once you are done you should end with a regular french braid that is just sloped at a diagonal. Secure the end of your braid with an elastic.
4. Let your hair out from the bun. Next, you'll take the hair you previously secured from your part and remove the elastic from it, letting it fall down. Then, spritz hair with water to dampen it, or you can use a little bit of hair gel so that it is easily workable. Brush hair out afterwards to smooth it out.
5. Pull a hair pin through the first stitch. Take a loose bobby pin (one that is not completely closed together but creates more of a V shape) and stick it under the first stitch that you made in your french braid. Make sure the loop of the bobby pin is on the left side of the stitch, and the open ends are on the right side.
6. Take a strand of hair and create a loop. With the loose hair on the left side of your head, take a small strand and create a loop. Then, slide it through the top of the hair pin and grab the loop on the other side of the pin with your fingers.
7. Pull the hair pin through the braid. Gently pull the bobby pin you used through the stitch in your braid, holding the loop in your hair loosely in your fingers. As you slide the bobby pin out of the stitch, the loop in your hair should pull through the stitch, creating another loop on the other side. This should create the bow look.
   • Once you have created the bow, you will have a loose end of the strand of hair sticking out of the braid, and that is okay. This loose end will be covered up by the next bow that you create.
8. Continue the same process in the next stitches. Using the same bobby pin, you'll once again pull it through the first stitch, and then loop a strand of hair through the bobby pin. Then, you'll again pull the bobby pin out creating a bow with each side of the bow on each side of the stitch.
   • Make sure as you go along that you are taking the right amount of hair to use as a bow. You want to have as much hair as you need to create bows all along your hair, so as you go along, just make sure you are using an adequate amount of hair.
   • You may want to spritz hair as you go so that it is smooth and easy to work with.
9. Finish the last bow. Your last bow should slide into the last stitch of your braid that actually rests on your head. You won't have any bows going down the part of your braid that is the traditional braid (the "tail" of the french braid). After you have finished, applaud yourself for doing an advanced hairstyle!

Things You'll Need

• Hair elastics
• Comb/brush
• Spray bottle or gel
• Bobby pins

Related Articles

• Braid African American Hair
• French Braid
• Do Tree Braids
• Make a Rope Braid
• Braid Your Hair Around Your Head

Sources and Citations

See also

• Eight Strand Braid
• Samurai Braid
• Do Curly Half‐Braided Pigtails
• Do a Braided Flower Crown Hairstyle
• Upside Down Braid
• Do a Topsy Fishtail Braid
• Do a Jedi Braid
• Jumbo Braid
• Braid Beads Into Your Hair
• Crinkle Dreads

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What links here

• French Braid
• Make a Rope Braid
• Avoid Hat Hair
• Braid African American Hair
• Do Tree Braids