Halo Braid

Another day, another plait! This time I decided to do a halo braid, which is basically meant to look like there's a plait going all around the head, like a halo! It's quite simple and looks really nice with waves or curls. 

You'll need a brush, little elastic bands, pins, and hairspray but that's optional. I think this works best if you have mid to long hair.

Start by taking a section from behind but on the right side of your head. Make sure you leave hair above this section to cover it later. I forgot to do that and you can see where the plaits start, but that's not a huge problem.

Divide your section in two and clip the one furthest from your face out of the way for now. Start plaiting the section nearest your face and then use an elastic band to tie it. You can pull it apart a bit so it looks fuller, or you can leave it small, it's up to you. 

Take down the section you clipped away and repeat the last step, plaiting it normally, securing it with an elastic band and pulling it apart. Now cross the back plait over the front so that it will go over the front of your head. Position it where you want it, as if it were a headband braid, and pin it in place. 

Take the second now back plait and go around the back of your head. If it feels loose, pin it in place. Once you reach the top, tuck the end under the first plait and pin it. Spray it with hairspray if you want to make sure it all stays in place. And you're done! 

Twisted "Plait"

I was having one of those days where I just wanted my hair out of my face so I decided to do something a little bit different and a bit trickier than the rest of my HOTDs. You'll need a lot of pins and a little elastic band. It's a bit hard to explain but I will do my best.

I started by dividing my hair into a reasonably deep side part on my left side, but it's really up to you. Then I parted my hair from the top of my head down to my right ear. I pulled all of the hair from the back to the right side, so it's ready for later.

I took two sections at the top and started twisting them, so folding one section over the other. After doing this twice, I started french braiding the twisted sections, meaning I continued to twist them around each other but I also picked up hair from either side of my head and added that to the twists.

Once I was done with that section, I started adding hair from the back of my head to whichever twisted section was at the back. Since these twists are no longer being french braided, make sure you twist the front twisted section towards the face before crossing it over the back twisted section. This will make sure that the twist doesn't come loose once you have finished it. 

When I got to the end, I secured it with the elastic band and then pinned any flyaways or any loose bits of hair. You can also hairspray it all in place if you want.

I hope that was somewhat comprehensible, although it's probably easier to watch a video on how to do it.

Big thanks to my sister Dani for taking these photos!

Milkmaid Braid

Confession time: I love the TV show Teen Wolf. It's right up there with my favourites and I am not ashamed. It started out as a funny, not so scary werewolf show and has slowly turned into a much more serious, a lot scarier werewolf show. And I love it. My favourite character, apart from Scott obviously, is Lydia. I love her style and I especially love all of her hairstyles, many of which involve plaits. I tried to recreate one of the easier ones, the milkmaid braid. It's quite a popular hairstyle and is really easy to do. 

I decided to keep my fringe out and kept that parting but then parted the rest of my hair down the middle. I did two quick plaits on either side of my head and secured them with little elastic bands. Then I pulled them out a bit to make them thicker. I pinned the smaller one up first and used hair pins to secure it to my head and then repeated this step with the thicker plait. I made sure to hide the end of the first plait and then tuck the end of the second plait behind the beginning of the first one and pinned it in place. Then I pinned them more wherever I felt everything needed to be more secure.

I especially love doing this hair style on second or third day hair, where I just want it all out of my face (apart from my fringe obviously). It's pretty but really easy and looks like you made more of an effort. I was in a hurry while doing it and the back did look a bit messy but I though I would just embrace the messy look. You can neaten it up if you want to though.

Accent Plait

I've decided to start doing Hair of the Day blogposts, since I've recently been experimenting with different hair styles, rather than just leaving my hair down. I really like doing plaits and would love to try more difficult hair styles using them. This first one is really easy and great if you just want to do a small change to your usual style.

I was a bit bored with my hair and did a simple plait on one side of my head, starting from the top. Then I secured it with a tiny, black elastic band and got two hair pins ready. I parted the hair on the opposite side of the plait and flipped a section over so I could pin the plait underneath. I flipped the hair back over and made sure it hid the pins and the end of the plait. I left my fringe out but you could incorporate it into the plait as well. I left the rest of my hair natural but curls would look great with this style too.

You could even do two plaits, one on each side, but I thought it would look nice like this as well.