How to Do a Braid Headband

 

Finally a hairstyle we can all do!

How to Tease Your Hair or Other's Hair

This One's for My Shorties

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HOT CROSSED BUN (REMIX)

post/photos/design: Kristin Ess

Lately I’ve noticed lots of emails coming in with requests for shoulder-length hair tutorials. And while this tutorial is nothing different than the braided bun from last week, I wanted to show you just how do-able these tutorials are even if you don’t have long hair. We always want everyone to have a fair shot at looking gorgeous and just because it’s done on a girl with longer hair doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try! The best part about any hair tutorial is modifying it and making it your own, right? I love when people tweet us a picture of a tutorial they tried where they added their own twist. It may not come out exactly the same, but it could sprout inspiration for something really cute! So let me show you how to get the “Hot Crossed Bun” look on short hair…

1. Use a 1″ barrell curling iron to give the hair some wave when you’re trying to do an updo or chignon on short or fine hair. This will give it texture and bulk it up so you have more to work with.
2. Add a little water-based texturizing pomade to the root for even more visible texture and bulk. You can see that her fine hair looks full in this photo, right? Now you have something to work with!
3. Split the hair right behind your ears and push the front sections forward. Take the whole middle section/back and put it in a clear elastic.
4. Wrap that into a little mini or messy bun. Just see what your hair will do. Every short haircut will do something a little different. If you need to add some hairspray to help, go for it! We did.
5. Now do an inside-out french braid from the hair line back toward the bun. It’s okay if little pieces pop out. You can pin them at the end.
6. Tuck the ends of the braid into the bun and secure it using a bobbypin or two or three.
7. Repeat the previous braid on the other side and pin it into the bun as well.
8. Pull some soft pieces out around the hair line for a more romantic vibe. Then pin in and spray any little unwanted pieces that might pop out.

GIVE IT A TRY! xo-thebeautydepartment.com

I cannot wait to try this one out!

~Hannah~

Wind Blown Look!

Here is a video of how to give your hair that wind swept look!

The Often Overlooked Tools

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OFTEN OVERLOOKED: THE TOOTHBRUSH

Sometimes we focus so much on what’s new that we forget how many tools we have hiding in the drawers at home. A spare toothbrush comes in quite handy in the hair world and I always keep a couple in my kit. The two best uses I’ve found for this ol’ thing are:

Smoothing down annoying fly-aways + baby hairs around the hair line. Spray a little strong-holding hairspray directly on the bristles of the toothbrush and smooth those little buggers down. On fine hair, I spray it directly on the toothbrush. With thick/coarse hair I usually spray it straight on the little hairs and then smooth over with the toothbrush because with coarser hair you usually need a bit more spray that what you’ll get off the toothbrush.

Cleaning out the vent on your blow dryer is important! Okay, you know when the blow dryer starts getting hotter than normal or even shorts out? It’s probably caused by a build up of lint or dust in the back of your blow dryer. The fan and motor have to work insanely hard and they get really hot if the back isn’t clean + clear. Cleaning that vent out isn’t usually very easy, but with a toothbrush it is! Just run the bristles of the toothbrush back and forth across the metal mesh on back. I like to remove the vent on my ELCHIM dryer, blow the remaining dust particles through using the front end of the dryer, then re-attatch it. The more particles you keep out of the vent, the cleaner it will run and the longer it will last.

Cute Summer Hair for Long Hair

I should have out this up before the how to tricky tricky your hair.

hair

BEAT THE HEAT

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

Since it’s about 550 degrees here in sunny Los Angeles, I figured this would be the perfect day to show you a quick + pretty way to get your hair up and off your shoulders. Don’t let the 13 steps fool you– this tutorial is fairly simple, just wanted to make sure you saw every little step! Hope you’ve all been practicing your inside-out french braid lately. You can definitely do this with a regular french braid, but I like the volume that comes from loosening up an inside-out braid better. Here we go:

1. "Part your hair starting at the top of your crown and go down right behind your ears. Pull those pieces forward and save them for later.
2. Put all the hair in the back into a loose ponytail. This will allow the chignon shape to sit a little lower. Optional: you can make your ponytail higher/tighter if you want it up and off your neck.
3. Lightly tease the ponytail.
4. Wrap it into a low bun and pin using large bobby pins to make it really secure.
5. Do an inside-out french braid, starting at your hairline and continuing down behind your ear.
6. Braid the remaining hair all the way down and tie it off with a clear elastic.
7. Repeat the same steps on the other side.
8. Gently tug the braid apart. Start at the front hairline and lightly tug each individual loop/piece until you get down to the elastic. This will “fatten” up your braid and give it much more volume and texture. If layered pieces fall out, you can tuck them and spray them or just let them fall. Totally up to you.
9. Cross the two braids over each other just above the bun and secure them with some bobby pins.
10. Remove the clear elastics from the bottom of one braid and give a gentle but secure tease to the ends of the braid.
11. Wrap it under the bottom of the bun and secure it with a strong bobby pin.
12. Repeat on the other side.
13. Tuck the remaining hair under the bun and secure with another strong bobby pin.

Use a hand mirror to look at the back and sides. Check to make sure it’s balanced. Pull a couple loose pieces out around your face if you want a softer look. Hope you all give this a go this weekend! As always, let’s see it! –> @TBDofficial"  

-thebeautydepartment.com

Tricky Tricky Hairdressing

hair

NO PHOTOSHOP

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

"Obviously we love to use photoshop for hearts, stars, polka dots and handwriting on ALL of our posts, but we really do use it as little as possible for anything else. And while sometimes a stray hair or a hang nail’s gotta GO, it’s always better to deal with the issue before taking the picture. That being said, I thought I would let you guys in a little trick I used the other day when I shot this braid post. It’s so useful- whether you’re taking a photo or just going out with friends. Here’s the deal…

• Of course with a braid or updo you want to see the hair go in different directions, but you don’t necessarily want to see shiny scalp. It distracts from the over all look, right? If you finish a hair style and look in the mirror and you see a strong part/scalp where you just don’t want to but you don’t want to start over, then don’t!
• Spray the part lightly with a colored dry shampoo. I always have THESE ONES in my kit in every color. I don’t use them as a daily dry shampoo because I have another favoritefor that, but I do love this to cover an unsightly part. You can also find them in travel size sometimes.
• Lightly (don’t over do it because it will look chalky) spray the visible scalp line with a shot of the colored dry shampoo and the focus will be right back on the braid or updo where it belongs."-thebeautydepartment.com