As you may know, my oldest went back to school a few weeks ago.  YES, I said a FEW weeks ago. I know, it’s crazy right?  Anyway, we have the capsule outfit thing down pretty well.  See that post here.  There have been a day or two we have deviated from that plan, but such is the life of a six-going-on-sixteen-year-old-girl. SMH! However, NOW we (and by “we”, I mean “she”) have decided that we want to negotiate over hairdos.  I know, I know. Pick your battles.  And I do.  But I LOVE doing her hair, and there are only so many ways to style ponytails or pigtails, which is what she asks for. Every. Day.  Then I had a brilliant idea *LIGHT BULB*.  Variations of her favorite hairstyles!!  So now when she asks for pigtails, she gets what she wants and so do I!  Now, some of these do include braids of some type, so I will briefly describe a braid AND French braid to you before I begin since I know that was somewhat of a concern from my short hairstyle post here.  **Disclaimer** I have been braiding my own and her hair for MANY years now, so I’m not going to pretend that all of these styles will be easy.  BUT, with a little practice and patience, these can be pretty simple.

Braid tutorial (if you’re an expert on braiding, please feel free to skip this!)

These styles require your basic 3 strand braid.

1. Take a section of hair.
2. Separate that section into 3 equal sections.
3. Alternate taking the outside strands over the middle strand.  For example, left strand over middle, right strand over middle.
4. Repeat until you have reached the desired length of the braid (or you run out of hair)
5. Seal with a band.  I love Goody clear bands sold on Amazon here. They don’t stretch out or break with one use.  I have used one band several times.

French Braid Tutorial

1. Take a section of hair
2. Separate that section into 3 equal sections (sound familiar)
3. Alternate taking the outside strands over the middle strand.  Each time, add a little more hair from that side.  Try to add the same amount of hair each time for consistency.

Sound simple enough?  Ok now that that’s out of the way, Let’s get started.  I have put together 5 different pigtail styles, one for each day of the week.

 

Monday: French Braid Pigtails into a Low Ponytail

Here, she gets the best of both worlds.  For this look, part hair completely down the middle.  French braid one section of hair until you get to the nape of the neck, and tie it off.  Then, take the other section of hair and do the same until you meet where the first braid ended.  Tie off together and add a bow. Viola!

 

 

 

Tuesday: Cross French Braid Pigtails

Ok, this looks complicated, but it really isn’t that bad.  To get this look, part hair down the middle, then horizontally so you have four quadrants of hair.  You may want to clip them separately to make grabbing them easier when it’s time.  Take one of the top quadrants and French braid it until you get to the opposite lower quadrant of hair.  Then tie it off WITH the opposite lower quadrant of hair into a pigtail.  Repeat on the other side.  This is what it should look like: Cute huh?

 

 

 

Wednesday: Topsy Tail Pigtails

Yes, you read that right.  Remember the Topsy Tail hair tool from the early 90s?  Conair has one for sale on Amazon here, if you don’t still have yours from 25 years ago!  If you don’t, no worries!  You can get this look without the tool (although you may have a few more tears) as it really helps with snagging hair.  Part hair down the center.  Complete one side of hair before moving on to the other side.  Take a small section of hair at the top and tie it off.  Then use the tool or simply pull the section of hair up and back down through the section of hair (behind the tie).  Take that same section, add more hair, tie it off and do another loop with the hair.  Repeat the steps until all of the hair has been taken up.  Repeat on the other side.  My picture isn’t perfect, and my parts certainly aren’t either.  We were running quickly that morning, but even in the mess, it still is adorable!!  The sections could’ve been a little more symmetrical, but with recess and PE, I don’t worry about it! P.S. I’m pretty sure there is a way to flip the sections so the band doesn’t show.  You could experiment and let me know! 🙂

 

 

 

Thursday: Bubble Pigtails

This is SOOO cute and SOOO simple!  All you do is part the hair down the center and starting with one side, take small sections of hair and tie them off with the Goody elastic bands, adding more hair each time.  Once all the hair is gathered in a tie, pull out some hair (just a little bit) to “fluff” it up and create the bubble look.  Repeat on the other side.  Again, my parts weren’t exact and this still turned out adorable!!  Plus, how cute is that jean vest?

 

 

Friday: Dutch Braid Pigtails

Ok I probably saved the most difficult for last, but after a week of these styles, you can do ANYTHING!!  Plus, I LOVE these braids.  Once you have the hang of a French braid, the Dutch is VERY similar.  The only difference is instead of taking the side strand of hair over the middle strand, you take the side strand UNDER the middle strand.  You still gather hair on the side just like a French braid.  It creates SUCH a different look.  It’s kind of like turning the French braid inside-out.  Take a look!

 

 

And there you have it!  A school week’s worth of pigtails.  Truly, Eve’s favorite is the ponytail, so that’s a post for a different time!  In the meantime, perfect that braid because I’m SURE they will be involved!  As you can see from these pics, Eve has great hair for these hairstyles, but they will work on most medium to long hair.  If your subject has thinner hair, try spraying some texturizing spray that will allow you to grab it easily.  You can find it in most supermarkets or you can just get it from, you guessed it, Amazon here!  If hair is a bit thicker, you can just wet it to keep the strands together.

 

Happy Braiding!

 

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