Little Girl's Hairstyles - LOOK what we did!! Triple Twist Braids 5-7 min

Well, just look what we did:

 If it's not immediately obvious, we cut off about 10 inches off my oldest daughter's hair! This actually did happen a while ago.....since this picture of her was taken in her Halloween costume (ha ha), and I've just been slow at getting it up here. It has been FUN having a gal with a head of short hair (and FASTER thank goodness). We've had a good time coming up with different ideas to do with her now short bob. So here's one of first samplings:

Hanging Triple Twist Braids:

I initially parted off her hair on one side (first a side part), and then back to her ears. I then sectioned that part into three sections, as you can see here, diagonal partings. I then did small (much smaller than I'm used to!) twist braids in the middle of each section.

 I then did some corkscrew curls in the back with my 1/2 inch curling iron, and finger combed them after.

 I think she's darling! It's given us a whole new sense of fun when it comes to hairdoing time! It's been interesting to experiment with hair this length--and find out that yes, ponytails are still possible! I'd love your greatest ideas on this length of hair!

Hurray for short hair!

Little Girl's Hairstyles- How to do a Twist Braid Updo Video Tutorial

One of you fantastic ladies asked if I could do a video on an updo, and one that could be used at a wedding. Well, I hope this passes wedding muster! I've always been partial to hair piled up top with curls cascading down. Add in a ribbon and some baby's breath, and I think this will be fancy enough to throw out some rose petals!

I want to say a big THANK YOU to my sweet 7 year old too, she filmed this video for me! It was lengthy too (the filming), and she did pretty darn good I think (this will explain some of the bouncy bounce)! Thanks punkin!

AND, I apologize that the video is broken in two parts. You Tube did not like the length of my original, so I had to divide it.

                           

                            

One thing I wished I'd tried for video is this: Hot glue some little silk flowers on bobby pins and pin them around the ponytail up top. Match it to her dress! You can also use wide ribbon or even do 2 ribbons encircling her head.

Happy wedding day! Send us some pics!

Little Girl's Hairstyles - How to use a curling iron / corkscrew curls Video Tutorial

We just had a little too much fun with this one.....but what can I say? My gal sits for me through these things and is so patient and wonderful. She was all giddy at actually getting to make a peep for once!

Little Girl's Hairstyles -Puffy Braids with Headband and Corkscrew Curls 15-20 Min

Here's a "Half and Half" hair do. I have seen versions of this idea at various times, and have always had mixed thoughts on them. "Is her hair supposed to be curly? Should only parts of that be crimped/curly?" I just decided to try it out for myself, and I think it's a keeper!

This is what we started with: Mostly straight, but with some pesky waves underneath.

So I lightly misted her hair with water and round brushed it all straight.

Next I parted off the headband section, and clipped the back away. I parted off the first of 5 ponys, each about 2 inches wide.

I pulled the first 3 ponys into the next, like here.

After the 3rd, I parted off the next 2 sections.

I put in an elastic in the last pony first, since I wanted to join both the bottom pony and the top into this last pony.

Here's what it looked like after I put in both sides.

Next (and I'm not sure why I don't have pictures of this ....) I did corkscrew curls, using my 1/2 inch curling iron, around the back of her head. I took pieces only from the top, right next to the parted off headband, only going about an inch down from the headband, and I did a corkscrew curl. I then did the same inch tall section next to it, and so on until I'd done all the way around her head. Let the curls cool, and then comb through them lightly, from underneath, with your fingers, to separate the hair and spread them out a bit.

This shows better what pieces I curled going around the back of her head.

This big flower bow came from KayteBug Boutique. Excuse the goofiness. She'd had enough hair for the day.

Little Girl's Hairstyles -Growing out bangs part two 7-10 min

Here is another quick option using the same two starter ponys I used in the previous 'bangs' post. Just add one more on each side in the front. You could leave it as is and go, when you need to get out the door quickly. This works great when those bangs are just too long to leave down, but haven't been trained to stay out of her face yet.

Or, you can dress it up a bit, like we decided to do here, and curl the rest of her hair. I used my trusty 1/2 inch curling iron, since her hair is very straight, and short, and we wanted maximum curl. I sprayed each section with hairspray first, and pulled her hair out straight, as pictured. When I got as close to the ends as I could, I just rolled the iron up, tucking the ends in as I rolled. See the label 'how to use a curling iron' for more instruction.

Always let the curls cool, and comb out with fingers. Tie some cute skinny ribbon around each pony if you need a little more flair.

And she's got gorgeous shiny waves!

Little Girl's Hairstyles -Pull Thru Ponys with Corkscrew Curls 15-20 min

If you do this hairstyle today.......

You'll have this hair tomorrow. (Enlarge this one to see it better!)

Since you'll be curling the hair, don't get it all wet. I only sprayed the front, where it's parted on an angle.

I parted down to the ear, and then gathered one side in a pony. To do a pull through pony, stick the end of a rattail comb through, and wiggle it back and forth to make a large hole in the pony.

Bring hair through, wrapping it over, going towards her face. Bring it to this point, and then to tighten it down close to the head, I split the pony and pull down and apart.

Do two pull through ponys.

Comb back the rest of the hair, and pull into a high pony.

You are going to do another pull through pony with the large one, this time pulling it in the opposite direction.

Use your rattail comb to make another gap, and pull the hair up through the gap, and over.

It gives it that nice poof on top. Tighten it up the same way.

To begin the corkscrew curl, I used sections about this size. I used the 1/2 inch curling iron, since her hair is pretty straight, and I wanted maximum curl. I sprayed the section of hair first with hairspray, and smoothed it down with my hand.

Start by wrapping the hair around the barrel, all the way to the ends, and hold with your hand. When I get to the last 4 or 5 inches of hair, I start twisting the hair as I go around. You can see the difference in how it's laying on the barrel. You can do that to the whole section, especially if it's shorter. I hold it here with my fingers for about 30 seconds. *If you see steam coming off the curl, it's most likely the hairspray burning, and not to worry. On the other hand, if you smell something not right, it's time to lose the iron.

This is what it should look like when you are done. See the difference on this than from the 'not so perfect curls' post? This will end up leaving the ends more straight, and you'll achieve that soft tousled wave look.

This shows where I start twisting the hair at the end on the barrel.

All corkscrew curls finished. Give it a good coating of the 'spray.

See all those nice creases? Here's what I do to fix that so the ribbon doesn't look so hammered.

Just run your curling iron up and down it until it's smooth. You can also curl your ribbon just like you curled her hair, if you so choose. I chose not today.

All nice and tidy.

She's not in the corner because she's in trouble. It seemed to help her keep still today for pictures for some reason.

Front

Whenever I do this style on my girls, I always try to have them sleep in it, ponys and all. The next day I take it all out and it will look (usually) like the soft tousled waves that are so popular today. I love love love it the next day. See the post labeled Double twist braid with soft tousled waves to see what I did the next day. Also, I don't finger comb out the curls until the next day, and then, just very lightly.

Little Girl's Hairstyles -The not so perfect curls with 1/2 inch curling iron--7-10 min

OK--Who else out there has been using the curling iron since their youth? I would have two or three plugged in when I was getting ready for school--Aqua Net at the ready. I had to get those satellite dish bangs just right... Luckily those days are gone gone gone, and we can just make lovely curls with them instead.

Here's what I normally use on my girls. I also have a big barrel curling iron (2 inch), that is great for straightening and rounding off the ends. This is a 1 inch and a 1/2 inch. I used the 1/2 inch today, since her hair doesn't have a lot of natural curl.

Here's what we started with. Some people might want to round brush the hair and make it all straight prior....but I am not one of those people. Since her hair is fairly thick, I clipped up half to start.

                                                                                             

This was rather tricky...holding the hair, iron, and camera, all without singeing her hair off....so use your imagination a tad here. The idea is to start wrapping the hair around the barrel, with the clip open, starting near the head. I started about 3 or 4 inches away from her head and wrapped, pushing the hair down the barrel as I went.  The hair closest to the head is the healthiest, therefore needing the most heat to bend. The ends are the most brittle, and need the least heat to bend. This protects the hair, while giving a more even curl to the whole length of hair.

This shows how I've wrapped it to the ends.

If you can wrap the ends in and close the clip tight enough to keep them in, do so. Her hair was too fat to keep them in, so I have to alternate opening and closing the clip a small bit, and letting the hair rotate through the iron, until I can pull the ends in. After I do this a little bit, I roll the hair back up to where I started from. Please tell me if this does not make sense!

End poking out, as I rotate it through.

I hold the iron in place, each time I adjust it, about a count of 10. The straighter the hair, the more time it will need. Since you don't have the ends in, closest to the iron, you don't have to worry so much about burning the hair. To release the curl, I open and shut the clip a little at a time, just like when you are rotating the hair through, and pull down.

Mine end up looking like this. Let it cool before adjusting it.

Another shot of wrapping the hair, beginning near the clip.

And another of ends poking out, after initial wrap. I was really trying to illustrate how to do this....so hopefully having more is more helpful??

If you decide to be one of 'those people', and want the hair more straight before you curl it, here's a trick. Here's a little wave in her hair.

Just run your iron down the hair quickly, repeating until straight.

Showing how I position the curls on the side of her head. It's the same as when you roll curlers, you lay them the same way.  This is blurry due to my hurried-ness with the camera, and my near panic at leaving the iron in her hair too long.

                                     

See that end, and how it's not completely curled? I didn't get it rotated through quite enough. Now, you can attempt to re-curl that portion if you want. Me? I just figured it will blend in when the curls are separated, and it adds to that more 'natural' look. Thankfully that's the 'thing' now, and my laziness works to my advantage.

See? I am all done, and all the curls are NOT exactly the same.

I also like to curl all her baby flyaway hairs around her face., instead of just leaving them hanging straight. These I just roll around my iron for a few seconds. Consistency is the key!

I let her cools curl while she watched some Max and Ruby, and I decided to start on my huge pile o'laundry.  After I'd had enough of that, I finger combed through her curls, separating each one, and trying to make them look more even. This picture shows me she could have used a bit more of that. Letting the curls cool will help them stay in longer! Mucho importante!

I sprayed with hairspray, and we stuck a big fat headband in. I like to leave some hair covering the ears when I put in a headband. It's cute, and it helps cushion their little ears against a non-soft headband. All beautiful and bouncy!