#hairoftheweek: Four Strand Crown

You would not believe the creative rut I was in this week. Usually when this happens I can just look at hair accounts on Instagram to find some inspiration but even that wasn't doing the trick. No matter how many tutorials I tried, my hair did not want to cooperate. I even tried coming up with some things myself but none of them worked out. My hair was being a problem child this week for sure.

The Process:

I spent so much time and effort planning and executing last week's hairstyle that I completely neglected this week. In previous weeks where I had a highly anticipated hairstyle one week, I will have preplanned the next week's in order to save myself some stress. I know now that that's a necessary step. When I have no idea what to do, my mind immediately goes to one of two things: side braids or halos. This week I tried to come up with a side braid but my hair is still not long enough to do what I want to do with it so off to the halo drawing board I went. One of my nixed hairstyles for this week was a five strand braid and since I have yet to master that, I thought I would go back to the tried and true four strand braid. Of course, I gravitated towards a halo because it accomplishes my most important goal (keeping my hair out of my face) while looking cute as heck.

The Tutorial:

Every time I've done the four strand braid in the past, I've changed it up in some way so I thought I'd go back to basics this time around and keep it simple. (1) Part your hair where you'd like it. (2) Pick the side you want to start with and section off a two inch chunk from the front. I opted to take a smaller chunk (when I held it in my hand I wondered if it would be enough but that means I had just enough) but if you want a thicker, bigger halo, take a heftier section. (3) Divide your section into four pieces. It's okay if your third piece is smaller than the rest. That's the one that stands out in the braid so making it a little smaller can make the hairstyle a little more interesting by doing less. (4) Now we get to braiding. This can be hard to explain in text so I'll link a tutorial here. Once you get the hang of it it feels like you're weaving so I consider this the underwater basket weaving portion of my college experience. When you're braiding, especially at the beginning, you want to angle the braid the way you want it to lay when you're finished. This is important if you don't want weird bumps popping up when you go to tie back both sides. (5) Braid until it's getting difficult to hold on to your strands and tie it off. (6) Repeat with the other side. (7) Take both braids and decide where you want them to lay on your head. I decided to go a little lower with this one but it would look just as good if you tied it straight back. I just figured I four strand braided this much, I may as well make good use of it. (8) When it's where you want it, tie the two braids together, release the individual tails of each braid, and wow the people with your awesome halo/crown.

The Result:

2.4.16 four strand crown (x)

I decided to call this hairstyle a crown instead of a halo at Amy's suggestion because she thought I looked regal. Who am I to argue? Don't forget to give it a like on Instagram if you haven't already!

The Verdict:

Despite having such a rough hair week, the #hairoftheweek turned out nicely, if I do say so myself. It probably helped that I was having a good hair day. My favorite part of this hairstyle is how simple it is. If you weren't paying attention, you'd miss out on the secrets my hair holds. That's why it's so big, you know. This halo is so sleek and wearable, I can't imagine why anybody would have an excuse not to wear it. I'm very pleased with my decision to wear it lower on my head because I got to show off more of the braid. I was also really happy that not too many of my baby hairs at the top managed to escape from the rest of the pack. Those little guys love to break free. It's such an easy one that I already know I'll be revisiting the Four Strand Crown fairly often.


That was a lengthy one! Hopefully you made it through alright. I had a lot to say about this week's hairstyle. I think this would be so cute in spring with some flowers woven in or something like that. It's technically a basic hairstyle so it can be the foundation for many, more complicated, hairstyles! Let me know what you think of this hairstyle in the comments and definitely give me a heads up if you work this into any of your own hairstyles! As always, if you want to stay up-to-date with #hairoftheweek, you can follow me on Instagram and if you're interested in the opportunity to win an extra vote for the Fan Favorite at the end of the season, be sure to turn on my notifications!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette