It’s wedding season in India! Though I don’t wear makeup I do enjoy getting dressed up and feeling ~fancy~ sometimes. My hair is waist-length, making it a major pain in the butt most of the time. My hair refuses to stay in a bun for more than twenty minutes and I don’t want to spend half the day rearranging it. Thus, I’ve endeavored to learn the easiest and most stable braided updos for the sake of my sanity.
Whether you’re going to a fancy wedding party or just want your hair out of your face, these hairstyles will last all day without fail. I promise!
Sweaty HIIT, jump roping, car trips, sangeets (big wedding dance parties), or whatever adventure you have planned—these updos are built to last. You can even sleep in them and they’ll be wearable the next day, providing you pin up whatever bits decided to escape during your slumber.
Twisted Boxer Braids
This is probably the easiest “fancy” updo ever, provided you can do a Dutch braid.
- First, start by parting your hair in the middle. It won’t matter much if the back isn’t perfect, which is an added bonus of this style 😉 .
- Clip half your hair up.
- With the remaining loose hair, start by grabbing a small section in front.
- Divide your section into three equal parts.
- Now, take the front-most section and move it under the middle section. Keep your hands very close to your scalp, in order for the braid to look neat. You can adjust the height of the braid by hand placement. Try to be as consistent as possible.
- Take the middle section and place it over the back-most section of hair. Pull tightly.
- Next, you’ll take a small portion of loose hair from the front and move it under the middle part.
- Again, take a small section of hair from the area behind the third section and move it under the middle section.
- Keep going, making sure your hands are close to your scalp and the hairs are pulled tightly together.
- Continue braiding like this until you reach near the nape of your neck and gather all remaining hair into the first and third sections of hair.
- Braid until you get to the end of your hair and tie with an elastic.
- After that, take the pinned hair and let it loose. Repeat steps 3-11.
- If you’d like your hair to look thicker, pancake the braids by holding the inside of the braid and pulling on the outer section of hair on both sides of the braid.
- Once your hair is braided poke a hole with your finger through the underside of one braid. This hole should be near the nape of your neck.
- Take the bottom of the braid from the opposite side of your neck and thread it through the hole. Pull tightly.
- Go a bit further up in the braid and stick your finger through the underside.
- Now, thread the same braid through the top hole. Make sure you pull tightly.
- Now do the same thing with the opposite braid.
- All that’s left to do is wrap the ends of the braid around each other, leaving the ends of the braid in the middle, like a rosette. It’s easiest to pin as you go.
- Tuck the ends away and pin in place. Pin any fly-aways and funky bits. If you want, you can pull out some baby hairs/face framing bits for a softer look.
Rose Crown Braid
This braid is slightly more difficult, but it is probably the prettiest crown braid ever! I promise it’s not as hard as it looks.
- Start by parting your hair in a side part. Make a semi circle, angling the down towards your opposite ear. Pin the top half of the part away from the bottom.
- Begin making a dutch braid by splitting your hair in three parts.
- First, place the front-most section under the middle section.
- Next, take the new middle section and put it over the back section.
- Now, take only a piece from the front of your hair and add it to the first section.
- Continue braiding as a dutch braid, but do not take a section from the back. Only take sections from the front and keep your hands close as possible to your scalp to ensure a tight braid.
- As you braid, angle your hands around your head to form the braid into a semi-circle. You may need to switch hand positions several times in order to do this.
- Continue braiding until you reach the nape of your neck. Now add all the remaining hair in the front section.
- Braid until the end of your hair. Secure with an elastic.
- Let the pinned hair down and begin by making another dutch braid, taking only the front section into the braid each time.
- When you reach your ear, begin angling your hands so the braid curves upwards and over your head. If it looks a tad wonky, don’t fret. A lot of mistakes can be easily “hidden” within the braids once they are coiled together.
- Once you run out of hair to add, continue braiding until you need to secure it with an elastic.
- Now, take the top braid and coil it into itself until it resembles a rose. Pin in place. Be sure to hide the end of the braid!
- Now, coil the remaining braid up and around the top braid. Hide the end of the braid. If there are any gaps, pin the braids together where the gap is.
- Finally, pin any fly-aways or bumps. You’re finished!
Get more like this—Sign up for our daily inspirational newsletter for exclusive content!
__
Photo: Jessi Ferguson
