#hairoftheweek: Braided Pull Through

Aaaaand, we're back! It feels like a while since I've sincerely sat down and blogged what with my summer being all over the place but it feels good to be typing. There are a few blog posts in the pipeline that need some work but you can expect to see those in the coming weeks. For now, we'll carry on with our regularly scheduled programming.

The Process:

To be frank, I hardly thought about hair all summer. I was so busy and I made a few attempts on my cruise, but even by the end of that week I was just wearing my hair down or in a ponytail. School kind of snuck up on me so after I had settled in at my apartment, I began my hunt for a cool last minute hairstyle to kick off the season. Before school let out last year, I discovered Lainey Marie on Instagram and through that, subscribed to her YouTube channel. I saw she had posted this tutorial for an easy braided pull through and I thought it looked promising so I tested it out and it was a win for sure.

The Tutorial: 

Because I know how my hair is, I made some adjustments accordingly. I don't know if these changes would be helpful to you but I found it was much easier when I did this hairstyle with the alterations than without. (1) Brush your hair, part it, and gather all of it in a low side pony. I chose to accessorize with a headband, not pictured. (2) Divide your side pony into a top and a bottom half. Make one pull through stitch without any braids by splitting the section evenly in two and bringing them around to the back and tying them off. I have one layer in my hair that's slightly shorter than the bottom layer. Doing this allows the braids that use the top (shorter layered) hair to have a little extra mileage. That first stitch is always hidden behind your neck anyway. (3) Before you create your second stitch, take a chunk from exactly the middle and divide that in two, braiding each half regularly as far down as you can go. Make sure these braids are as close to the center and each other as possible so you minimize the amount of hair trying to sneak its way between the braid and the pull through. It makes more sense once you put it into practice, I promise. (4) Make the pull through stitch, careful to keep those braids as close to the center as possible. (5) Repeat Step 3 with the original top half of your hair. (6) Continue pulling through until you run out of hair. (7) Carefully pancake your stitches to give them some volume and to soften the look a bit. It can be a little tight with all those elastics in there so be conscientious of the hair at the bottom. (8) At this point you can tie the ends together if you so choose but I decided not to do that to make it look like the hair was keeping itself in place. Alternatively, this is the time to take out the elastics on the tiny braids if they're showing.

The Result:

9.28.16 braided pull through (x)

It actually takes longer than you'd think... But it's so worth it. Don't forget to give it a like on Instagram if you haven't already!

The Verdict:

Honestly I haven't had much luck with pull throughs in the past but I had a good feeling about this one and I was right to trust my gut. Since I have that previously mentioned layer in my hair, it pull throughs usually get real wonky at the bottom and I end up with this awkwardly long tail. Not a good look. The first time I practiced this I started my braids right from the first stitch and I did not have enough to carry through to the end. Like, there were three stitches with no braids at all... I'm very happy with the solution I came up with. My biggest tip for this hairstyle would be to make sure your braids are as close to the center as possible. I cannot stress that enough. The hairstyle relies on that element to look cool.


What did you think of this hairstyle? Is there anything in particular you'd like to see from me this season? I really have nothing planned yet so any and all suggestions are welcome. My hair is long enough to do proper side braids now! It's been a hot minute but you can definitely expect to see some more of my ~signature hairstyle~. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram to stay up-to-date on #hairoftheweek and remember that the person with the most first likes at the end of the season gets an extra vote for Fan Favorite!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette