#hairoftheweek: Merged Braids

The start of the week was nonstop homework, then come Wednesday I just quit. Who cares if finals are next week? I've got a dream wedding to plan. Now that the weekend has arrived and all my classes are officially over, it's time to hit the books and brace myself for these exams.

Seeing as this is the last #hairoftheweek for Winter 2015, you can all head over to my Instagram and choose your favorite hairstyle for next week's people's choice! Don't be shy! Anybody is welcome to vote and after Tuesday (March 17, 2015), voting will close so don't delay!

The Process:

When I was going through Hair & Makeup by Steph's hair tutorials to find the link for the Boho Rose Braid, which I wore in Spring 2014, I discovered this Merged Braid and I was intrigued. When I first pictured it in my mind, I visualized two braids just connected at the center. I'm usually hesitant when it comes to hairstyles that are meant to look messy but I couldn't pass this one up. When I practiced this hairstyle, it felt like I didn't have enough hair because I was only able to use half for each element. The first couple times I tried this braid, it kind of folded in on itself and the regular braid was completely covering the fishtail. It took a couple of tries to get right but I really like how the end product looked so seamless.

The Tutorial:

This braid is pretty technically easy. The tricky part is merging the two braids in the right places. As mentioned earlier, I found the Merged Braids tutorial on Hair & Makeup by Steph's blog. You start by bringing all your hair to one side, then dividing it in two. The front section will be your regular braid and the second half will be your fishtail. When you start your fishtail, you have to keep an eye on your progress because while you don't want to join your braids too early, you also don't want to wait too long. You want to make sure the pieces you pull through the regular braid are in a position to be flush with the regular braid in order to achieve that uninterrupted look.

The Result:

3.13.15 merged braids (x)

This photo was actually one of the practice runs because the Merged Braids I wore on Friday did not turn out the way I liked. I blame Friday the Thirteenth. If you haven't given this hairstyle a like on Instagram, now would be the time!

The Verdict:

I'm not usually a fan of messy looks because as I wear a hairstyle, it will muss itself up throughout the day. This look however, would not have looked cohesive if you didn't tousle it up a bit. This hairstyle isn't one to wear if you're going to be very active but it's definitely nice for a day out on the town. After a week of practicing, I am nowhere near mastering this hairstyle. I would like for it to be fuller but the ends of my hair end up escaping. It's also a challenge getting the braid to merge in all the right places. The attempt shown in the Instagram post was the only one with successfully joined braids out of the many times I tried this hairstyle. Despite my troubles, it's a lovely braid to wear once you get it down.

Don't forget to vote for your favorite #hairoftheweek! Any way you can get in contact with me is fine whether it's by commenting on this blog post, commenting on the Instagram post of your favorite hairstyle, tweeting me, or sending me a message on Tumblr, it'll all count (but keep in mind you can only vote once)!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette