If you’ve ever woken up late figuring you’ll throw your hair into a quick, stylish braid—only to realize you don’t know how to do anything other than a simple three-strand one, we feel you. Nowadays, braids are everywhere we look—so it makes sense that you’d want to get in on the plaited trend. But certain braids do require quite a bit of skill to master. That being said, a girls’ night could be the perfect time to experiment with the season’s hottest braiding styles, so that the next time you wake up late, it will be no sweat off your back—or your style. To get you started, we’re sharing three of our favorite braids.
- Try a Dutch braid. These inverted braids are actually a lot easier than they look. It won’t require a bunch of steps or intricate weaving. Whereas traditional three-strand French braids are created with an underhand braiding technique, to achieve this look, you’ll want to weave overhand, incorporating new sections of hair with every weave. It’s really that simple.
- Try a skeleton braid. This braid is definitely trickier than your typical braid, but it’s totally doable. All you have to do is create a braid at the crown of your head by dividing a small section of hair in the middle of your head and weaving it all the way to the ends before securing it with a mini elastic. Once your braid is secured, fluff it up to give it a bit more volume. Next, starting at the front of your face, pull small sections of hair back and tuck them into each loosened loop of your braid. As you entwine these new sections of hair with your braid, make sure you pull them all the way through so that they become part of the other side of hair. When you reach the end of your braid, take out the clear elastic and weave that small section down toward the ends. Since you’re continually adding more hair into each stitch of your braid, it will get longer, so you’ll need to re-braid the ends to be able to incorporate the loose hair. Once you finish braiding, re-secure your braid with the clear elastic, and you’re done.
OK, so the skeleton braid may take some practice, but that’s what friends are for. And if you want to spend a little more time mastering this particular plait, you can also read our step-by-step tutorial.
- Try a boho, layered braid.Get ready for some serious bohemian vibes, y’all. To get the look, grab a small section of hair on one side of your head, an inch or two down from your part. Twist this section of hair back toward the crown of your head and pin it in place on the opposite side of your head. Next, switch to the other side of your head and create an identical twist, only this time pinning on the side where your first twist was created. Repeat these back and forth twists two more times.
Once you’re finished twisting, split your remaining hair into two equal sections, a top and a bottom. Then, split the bottom section into two equal side-by-side sections so that you have three sections altogether. Split each bottom section into three strands and weave a traditional braid with each. Secure them each with a mini elastic before fluffing them up. Next, split the remaining top section into two sections to create a fishtail braid. Once you reach the ends of your fishtail braid, secure it with a clear elastic before gently tugging at each weave to create a more voluminous braid. Now that all of your braids are woven, it’s time to combine them into one gorgeous, boho look. All you have to do is pin the fishtail braid on top of the two traditional braids and secure them at the ends with a clear mini elastic.
