Pony triple braid

This is an easy one that will really add a little umph to the ponytail....and if you haven't noticed, I am a little partial to braids!

With this ponytail, I did a side part and did the ponytail low. I really love the way that the side part looks for some reason.

-Separate the ponytail into three sections (as if you were going to braid it)
-Braid each section. I start with the center section, that way Piper can hold the other two. Secure with a rubber band.
-Attach all three sections at the bottom with a rubber band, you will notice that your braids are most likely different length, so then I clip the other rubber bands.
-Add a bow or flower at the top of the pony and curl the hair hanging out.
-I also add a clip in the front.

This took about 5 minutes.

Fishtail/bone

Ponytails

There are soooo many ways to add a little umph to a regular ponytail, and with it being summer time, it is nice to have all that hair off of her neck. I thought I would dedicate a few posts just to ponytails and how to add a little umph to them. Starting with.....Fishbone/tail. I am not exactly sure what the real name is, but we use both terms at our house.

This works best if the hair is damp.

-After you get the ponytail in, separate the hair into 2 sections.
-Take a small section of hair from the right side of the right section and cross it over to the left section.
-Take a small section of hair from the left side of the left section and cross it over to the right section.
-Keep going until you are at the end of the ponytail!

This will actually take awhile. This particular day, it took me about 10 minutes.

I will also do a tutorial on this do!

Loose French Braid

This is one of those hairdo's that is great for "one of those mornings." And, since she was playing 'Tessie' in "Annie" this same night, by the end of the hot un-air conditioned day, it was the perfect orphan hairdo.

As long as you know how to french braid (which I will be doing a tutorial on...soon) you are set.

Usually when I french braid, I start out with a little section on the top of her head and when I add more hair, I just add a little at a time, and I pull it tight. Sometimes I braid over and sometimes I braid under (making the braid sit on top of the head).

With this braid I start out with a big section of hair on the back of her head and when I add more hair, I add a lot and I keep it loose. I always braid over. Also, I don't braid it down to the end, I think it looks pretty with some hair left out (and curled...of course) and a pretty bow/ribbon.

Since I knew she was going to be an orphan that night, I didn't use as much product as usual.

It took about 3-4 minutes. Piper and I decided to start timing all of these lovely do's for you!

Answers to some questions

The Alphabet. I did leave a comment, but I will also post it here

Wow, the whole alphabet? K, let me work on that. I may have to do some recruiting here. I'll keep you posted.

Short hair.

Piper use to have short hair, I would just do things on top, and curl the bottom until it was long enough. But I will see if I can find a little girl with short hair to do some stuff on. And, it is amazing what just a little clip or headband can do!

Product.

Lots of hairspray, we use Sebastian Shaper and sometimes Paul Mitchell. I put mousse in her hair while it is still wet, Paul Mitchell extra-body sculpting foam. It is easier for me to work with wet hair, not sopping wet, but we always have a squirt bottle. And, Piper has very straight hair (like I use to have) so when we curl it, we use Paul Mitchell Heat Seal. One good thing about Paul Mitchell is that a little bit goes a long way.

I would say that for thin hair use water, mousse or gel and hairspray, but I am not positive on that.

Time.

Once you get the hang of the styles, they really don't take that long. And if you are doing two sides the same, the second side is always quicker. The longest for me is the basket weave, and depending on how many rows I do, it takes about 30-40 minutes, but I am a perfectionist. The french braided styles are about 10-20 minutes. All the others are about 5-10 and sometimes less depending on the time I have in the morning.

Please, if you have any other questions, just let me know.

Indian braids

Some hairstyles already have names and you just can't change them.

Like blackeyedsue says, Indian braids are perfect summer braids! It was pirate day today and these were perfect to go under the bandanna.
I just part her hair down the middle and braid each section of hair. I braid under, rather than over, because I like how it looks at the top of the braid. And of course I tie ribbons at the bottom of the braids, and curl the hair that's left out.




Sorry about the shadows on the pictures! oops.

We also do these when she wears her crocheted hats.

Giveaways.....

So, I have all these great ideas for giveaways here on my little blog. For example: hair bows/flowers, hair tools, organizers etc...However, no one is leaving comments, so I have no way of knowing if people are interested in some of the things that I use.

Comment today, so I know if this will be worth it or not.

I have decided to do "Giveaway Wednesday" so, starting next Wednesday, July 2 I will have a giveaway posted on the blog and I will randomly select a commenter to be the winner. This will most likely not take place every Wednesday, but when it does take place it will be on a Wednesday!

Talk to you soon.

Band Braids

Blackeyedsue calls these puffy braids on her blog. I was actually going to do them on an angle and do something pretty with the back, but we were running really short on time this morning. In fact, you may even notice that her hair is still a little wet.

First, I part her hair down the middle to the center of her head, then I part it into two sections from the middle part down to each ear.

To do the first ponytail I make another part going from the middle part to the side and put it into a ponytail with a rubber band. Then I part the next section and make sure to comb it so it is smooth, I put the first ponytail into it and make the second ponytail with another rubber band. and keep going until I am finished. Then do the same thing on the other side.








I know, she needs her hair cut! (look at those ends.) She has an appointment.

Low side bun #2

This one is pretty much the same as this one, but it isn't braided. And since it isn't braided, I use a different hair pin. But I only use one (the initial pin down) since the bun is so low, and the hair pin is so big, I don't want to hurt her head. But, I use two more little ones to make sure it stays.

note: I also use these hairpins when we do a regular bun on the back of her head for ballet, weather it is braided or not. They really do make the perfect bun. I got them at a dance wear shop.
These are hairpins:

These are bobby pins. I've had some people ask the difference:


I twist the ponytail while I am wrapping it around the ponytail holder, when I get it wrapped all the way around I use the one big hair pin in the area where the most hair is (this will probably hold it, but...) then I make sure it is completely secure with two little ones.
Today Piper wore her Mexican dress (our last name is Salazar!) and she said that she had seen Mexican dancers wear their hair in a low bun with a flower, so that is what we did.

Waterfall

Piper says that she named this one "waterfall" because it looks like two little waterfalls meeting and turning into one.
This is basically the same as a french braid, only with two pieces of hair instead of three.
I start with a side part and her hair combed straight down a grab a section of hair on the right side and separate it into two pieces then proceed to twist, with each twist I grab a new section of hair (just like a french braid) and twist it into the twist.
Am I saying twist a lot?
Anyway I keep doing that until you get to the bottom. I secure the right side in a ponytail holder, then I do the whole twist thing again on the left side. I take the ponytail holder off of the right side and combine both sides into one with the ponytail holder, and I add a clip.

Now, I do realize that I am not the best at explaining these things, so I am going to be posting tutorials on french braiding and this "waterfall," however, I only have two hands, so I have to recruit my husband. His semester is over next week (he's working on his MBA), so if you can be patient for a couple of more days.....

The X

For obvious reasons this hairdo is called "The X." I must admit here that I totally forgot to put product in her hair before I got started so she has fly aways all over the place. ARGH.

To get started I parted her hair into four sections. Down the middle then across the back. After I parted her hair, I put the bottom right section in a ponytail holder and the top left section in a ponytail holder to make sure that they stay out of the way.

I french braided diagonally starting with the top right section to the center. When I got to the center, and had used all of the hair in this section I did a regular braid (about 2-3 crosses) until I got to the top of the bottom left section. Then I started french braiding diagonally again. Then I did the same thing on the opposite side.

Figure 8

We've been doing this hairdo for awhile. there are a variety of different ways to do this, including this way from Hair Today. Piper's hair is a little too long to leave some hanging out, but she will be getting a hair cut (trim) soon, so we will be able to do it like that then.

Basically I part her hair down the middle and do two high ponytails in the back, then I braid them. When they are braided I start with the left one and wrap it around the right one, then back around the left one and form a "figure 8" and tuck the ends under and hold it down with a bobby pin. Then I do the same thing with the right one. I use 4 bobby pins 2 to pin down the bottom of the braids and 2 to pin down the top of the braids just so they will stay down. Then I add cute bows or flowers or whatever.

Two, then one

This is one of those busy day hairdo's we have always called it "two, then one," because one day Piper ask me how I was going to do her hair since we were in such a hurry and I just said, "Two, then one." It stuck. Sometimes I will use the topsytail on this one for the two. Sometimes I Jazz up the pony tail with some sort of special braid or fishbone. I usually use hair elastics and a ponytail holder. Today, we used knot heads. We got them in the mail on Monday.

They were pretty easy to use. I will let you know how much I really like them after the day is over.

You can definitely tell that we were in a hurry, I didn't even braid the ponytail and it has "kinks" in it. Usually I will either braid or get wet and blow dry her hair when there are "kinks" in it. O'well.