#hairoftheweek: Double Bubble Fishtail

I didn't know it at the time, but the day I wore this hairstyle was the day Odin Reign Carter was born. My favorite Backstreet Boy has a little Backstreet Boy of his own! I fancy it fate that I wore one of my favorite hairstyles on the Backstreet Baby's literal birthday. Not only that, but the next day, April 20th, was the Backstreet Boys' anniversary! The group is 23 this year. Isn't that crazy?! All that Backstreet news and gorgeous weather plus the three midterms I had this week put me on a stressful roller coaster but the worst of it is behind us for now. Let's get on to the hairstyle!

The Process:

This hairstyle was actually going to be last week's #hairoftheweek, but a quick glance at the forecast was enough to convince me to push it to a week with warmer weather. There is no point in wasting such a beautiful braid on a hoodie and a t-shirt. It begs to be worn with a sundress. Of course I had to oblige, so here we are, a week later, with the Double Bubble Fishtail. I actually knew the dress I was going to pair with this hairstyle the second I saw it and already having the caption to go along with the dress only sealed the deal. I found this particular hairstyle on n.starck's Instagram while perusing hair Instagram accounts for inspiration. I was immediately drawn to it. It's one of those hairstyles that's super easy to recreate but still gets people asking you how you did it.

The Tutorial:

There wasn't a tutorial to go with the photo I found on Instagram, but one of the things that attracted me to this hairstyle was how easy it would be to recreate. It's easy to disassemble just by looking at it but I'm going to break it down for you anyway. (1) Part your hair how you like it and comb through it. Tangles are not a fishtail's friend. (2) Split your hair in two and start a regular fishtail. Do this for 6-8 stitches on each side (12-16 stitches total) depending on how much you want your first "bubble" to show. (3) Once you've braided your first bubble, hold the side that has the last piece you brought over and tie off the other side. I have a couple tips here that will make your life easier and the braid look nicer. When I practiced this hairstyle, I did it over my left shoulder and I found that it was easier to hold on to the chunk away from my neck with my middle, ring, and pinkie fingers while grabbing onto the side closer to my neck with my index and thumb and tying that off with a small elastic. This gives you more control over that loose strand. As an add-on to that that tip, you can push the elastic up and the curve of that last stitch should cover up the elastic. Third and final tip for now would be to take bigger strands of hair for each stitch. I thought it'd look more intricate with smaller strands but that turned out to be a complete disaster. It was hard to control with how you have to start a new fishtail with each bubble on top of my uncooperative hair texture. In the end, the bigger pieces turned out to be the look I was going for. (4) Now that you've tied off both sides, repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you've reached the bottom. I used 6 stitches per side for the middle two bubbles and braided 'til the end for the final bubble. (5) On your last bubble, tie off the braid as you would a normal fishtail, as opposed to the two separate elastics you've been doing up until this point. (6) Gently adjust the fishtail as needed and you can try to cover up the showing elastics if you'd like. (7) Learn how to take a compliment because that's a skill you're going to need wearing this hairstyle.

The Result:

4.19.16 double bubble fishtail (x)

You'd think with "bubble" and "fish" in the name, this hairstyle would remind me of Ariel, but wearing it made me feel more like Jasmine more than anything. Don't forget to give it a like on Instagram if you haven't already!

The Verdict:

I think I should clarify one of the tips in the tutorial section. When I say bigger pieces, I don't mean huge chunks, I just mean bigger than you'd think you should be using. Of course, with a different hair texture small pieces might work just as well so it's all up to how you can successfully fishtail. As you can see towards the bottom I started to have a lot of ends sticking out and there were a couple times when I was braiding that I thought I would lose my hold on the last bubble and have to restart it. That's one of the problems of this hairstyle (you end up taking the same pieces of hair to fishtail and those pieces get shorter sooner, leaving you with pokey ends) but it's very minor and if you're gentle for a little while after finishing the hairstyle, the hair will get used to the position it's in and won't budge any further. I'd imagine having fine hair would work well with this hairstyle because you could fluff it out, much like you would be able to with a regular fishtail, but this one has the added oomph of the really cool bubbles. I could go on and on about this hairstyle but I highly encourage you to try it yourself and get back to me. Now's a good a time as ever seeing as this is such a fun, spring hairstyle!


I feel like I've lived an entire life in this one week and I'm proud to say that my hair looked on point for the whole of it. We are now one week closer to my birthday. Can you believe I'll be twenty in one month?! I'd love to hear what you think I should do for my hair this year. I have something in mind, but I'm open to all suggestions! While that's a little ways away, something a bit more pressing is what you thought of this hairstyle! Did you like it as much as I love it? Leave your thoughts in the comments below! As always, don't forget to follow me on Instagram to stay up-to-date on #hairoftheweek! The person with the most first likes at the end of the season will win an extra vote for Fan Favorite!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette