#hairoftheweek: Mermaid Pull Through

I can't believe it's only the first week of April and we already have such summery weather. The first half of the week was still a bit chilly but Thursday, Friday, and the weekend were definitely sundress weather. As a whole, this week felt like a condensed representation of winter transitioning into spring. Very symbolic. I'm just excited to be able to slip on a flowy dress and twirl to my heart's desire.

The Process:

It was quite the journey to get this hairstyle. And by that I mean I was floundering to find a hairstyle all the way until Wednesday when I finally found one I thought I could practice once to master. Procrastination is not a friend. When I stumbled upon the Pull-Thru Mermaid Braid, I actually had another hairstyle in mind, but that was just a couple ideas cobbled together. Why not go for a hairstyle that's already been tested? Although this one was meant to be done on someone else, I decided to tackle this one on myself. Who knew my arms were so heavy?! My arms can't even hold themselves up... Pathetic. (But then again, it's not pathetic enough to spur me into doing anything about it.)

The Tutorial:

As I mentioned before, I found the Pull-Thru Mermaid Braid on Cute Girls Hairstyle. There's an announcement at the beginning so skip to around 0:53 for the actual tutorial. (1) You can't tell from the picture but you're going to have to get the top of your hair into that first elastic at the top of the back of your head. I chose to go with a French braid, but a Dutch braid or a twist or any other method of pulling that hair back will do. Braiding disguises dirty hair, gives it volume, and keeps bumps from forming. (2) Braid and secure at the top of the back of your head (the video can give you a better visual). Make sure you've taken enough hair to have a relatively thick (but not too thick!) ponytail. (3) Tie off the ponytail every 1-1.5" to make space for the actual "pulling through" portion. Be prepared for the elastics to shift down as you open up the links to get the sections of hair through. I used a total of ten elastics (one to tie off the entire hairstyle), making eight links. (4) Find your first link and split it in half from the sides. Put your fingers through and pick up some hair near your face with your other hand. Pass that section from your hand to your fingers and pull it through. (5) Repeat on the other side with fingers going into the opening from the other direction. (6) Do the same as Steps 4 and 5 on the next link but this time the hair you pull through will include the hair you pulled through the previous link, as well as the new hair. (7) Continue pulling through all the way down that ponytail of links. Since it's a mermaid hairstyle, hair can come loose very easily so be sure to tighten as you go. Don't worry about it not being loose enough at the end. That's the last thing you have to worry about. Another thing to be careful about is not to miss a link like I did as the more hair you pull through each link, the more the elastics will inch down. (8) By the time you finish the final link, all your hair should be pulled through. This hairstyle is especially mermaid because if you don't tie it off at the end, the ends of your hair stick out in opposite directions. It literally looks like a mermaid's tail. It's cool, but not very practical. Especially if you've got Asian hair that's looking for every excuse to straighten itself. Tie off the ends, brush it out so everything smooths together, and you're ready to be where the people are.

The Result:

4.7.16 mermaid pull through (x)

The dress strap adjustment plus the lyrics I chose for the caption makes this photo slightly suggestive but I didn't realize my blunder until an hour after it went up. Oh well, it adds to the aesthetic. Don't forget to give it a like on Instagram if you haven't already!

The Verdict:

I love this hairstyle so much. If the Instagram photo doesn't sell it, I don't know what to tell you. If I were to do it again, I might add even more hair to the top section so that the hair I pull back won't make my head look so boxy from the front. As you can see, I missed a link towards the bottom because as I was pulling hair through, the elastics kept getting pushed further and further down to make space until we were left with that tiny space that my fingers skimmed over before getting to the last link. I decided to keep it in for character and also because I'm way too lazy to go back and fix it. Plus, do you know how much arm power it takes to do on yourself?! This is a hairstyle meant to be done on someone else but if you think your arms need some endurance training, it's not impossible to make this a DIY. My arms' lack of stamina does not make this hairstyle any less gorgeous. I can totally see myself wearing this on a picnic or something. (As if I go on plenty of picnics...) I would advise you do the Mermaid Pull Through on dirty hair for the grip. It isn't a great one if you're going to be active because everything is pretty loose, but if you have a lowkey day and have some extra time when you're getting ready, I'd definitely reach for this one.


Did you like this hairstyle? If you can get somebody to do this hairstyle for you, I'd recommend that option but I did it myself so you totally can too! Just be sure to set aside some time for arm rest. Don't wanna wear those bad boys out. Please let me know if you try this out! It's such a beautiful hairstyle, it'd be a shame if I were the only one wearing it. As always, don't forget to follow me on Instagram to get the latest #hairoftheweek and remember that the person with the most first likes on my #hairoftheweek posts for the season will earn an extra vote for Fan Favorite so turn on my notifications if you want a chance at that!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette