#hairoftheweek: Feathered Fishtail

I just endured four full weeks of grueling academics. There was always something coming up in less than a week that I had to prepare for so I haven't had a real day off in a month. I don't have any more major things coming up until finals week so fingers crossed I can find some time between now and then to relax and work the stiffness from my neck and shoulders.

The Process: 

As I mentioned last week, I've been working on a couple hairstyles but they include some elements that I've never really tried before so I'm practicing and learning how my hair likes them. To tide me over, I did a braid that harkens back to my freshman year of college. It's one of those that I'm surprised I had to see someone else do before I thought of it. It's just that easy.

The Tutorial:

This week's #hairoftheweek was inspired by Lainey Marie, as a lot of this season's hairstyles were. (1) Brush all your hair and sweep it all over one shoulder. (2) Divide your hair into two sections as if you were going to regularly fishtail braid. (3) Take a fishtail strand from both sides and set them aside. I put mine over my shoulder so they wouldn't get mixed up with the rest of the hair. (4) Start your regular fishtail. Braid four stitches on each side. I counted out loud in order to keep my place. 1-1-2-2 works as well as 1-2-3-4 as long as you remember to stop at 4 for the doubles and 8 for the singles. (5) Set aside strands 5 (or 9-10) and bring back the first strand you left out. Braid it back into the fishtail UNDER the new feather strand you just set aside. (6) Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until you reach the bottom of your hair. (7) I was kind of confused as to how I should end the braid because I had two feathers that didn't have strands to swap with. In the end I just put them behind the ends of the braid, lax enough to show up as feathers. (8) I tied it off then went back up and loosened the feathers a little. In order to keep themas individual strands, I stuck a finger in between the feather and the fishtail and gently tapped the feather outwards. (9) Once your feathers are as far out as you like, you can go back to the bottom and retie it or otherwise clean it up if it got messed up in the process.

The Result: 

11.16.16 feathered fishtail (x)

I've stared at this photo for so long trying to come up with a caption but all that accomplished was putting me in a trance. This braid is hypnotizing. Don't forget to give it a like on Instagram if you haven't already!

The Verdict:

I had some trouble figuring out where in each section I should take the first feather pieces from. It took some trial and error to get it right. Too far to the back and the feather would hide behind the braid and if you take hair too much to the front, it'll be too loose around your face. That's not a good look either. I ended using hair closer to the front but still solidly on the side of the section. I also made sure to go deep rather than wide when taking out hair. You want that top layer to look #flawless. I also want to note how well the braid held up. I thought it'd have a lot of loose hairs coming from the feathers but that was kept to a minimum. My hair stayed gorgeous the whole day. 💁 (I'm still waiting on that hair flip emoji...)


While I was braiding, I realized it was really similar not only to the feathered braids I did freshman year, but also the Twisted Edged Fishtail but those "feathers" were a lot closer together and that braid was meant to be as tight as possible. No tugging on anything for a fuller look here! Let me know what you thought of this braid in the comments below! I'm kinda in love with it. As always, don't forget to follow me on Instagram to stay up-to-date on #hairoftheweek and there are only two more #hairoftheweeks until it's time to vote for Fan Favorite! That means only two more chances to get that extra vote!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette