The Heidi Braid

October 9th, 2012

Milkmaid

You may or may not have seen via my Twitter page that I’m now a full-time employee at ASOS Marketplace (something that we’ll chat about very soon!), leaving me with the weekend to photograph posts for my first love, my blog. But of course, there will inevitably be the odd Sunday where staying in bed seems more attractive than carting the camera across London in pursuit of a good location – especially at this time of year! So, I hope you can welcome with open arms posts that don’t require me to get too dressed up – including a series of tutorials or how-tos! Let’s start with the hair.

The heidi/milkmaid braids are my go-to hairstyle when I just can’t be bothered – which people are always rather impressed by, expressing how difficult it looks or asking how I achieve the look. It couldn’t be simpler, which is why I was a little surprised when so many of you mentioned you’d like to see a post on the process. Well, here you have it! A great updo for lazy mornings when your hair isn’t behaving.

You’ll need…

I’m no hair expert, and don’t have a huge range of tools, but everybody has a hair brush, a comb and a pile of bobby pins lying around. I’d also add some mini hair elastics to the mix, but I didn’t have any to hand – if your hair is thicker, they’ll be a necessity! My weapons of choice include a sensitive Mason Pearson brush and an Anna Sui comb.

Before

This is how my hair looks without any extensions in – it’s a little dry on the ends, and not particularly thick, but it’s the length that we’ll concentrate on. The heidi braids will still work if your hair is shoulder length – if you can plait it, you’re in luck! This may be difficult to manage if your hair is particularly long, but we’ll address that further down. You may also have problems if you have layered hair. Give it a good brush before we get started…

The dreaded centre parting

Part your hair down the middle using your comb (I’m terrible at this and always ask Miguel to help!). As my hair was feeling a little fluffy thanks to my hairstyle the previous day, I used a little styling serum and ran it through the ends of my hair to make it easier to plait.

Time to plait…

Take the first side and using your brush, brush it all up to around the height of your ear, and then begin plaiting. When you’re done, fasten your plait with an elastic and then very gently massage your plait to make it appear a bit larger – don’t overdo it as it may come undone. Then it’s time to place it over your head and pin. I place my pins inside the plait, as shown above, so they are invisible.

The other side…

Then it’s time to do the same on the other side. When you’re done plaiting, place it over your head and tuck the end in underneath the other plait and pin it in place so the end isn’t visible. If you have longer hair, this may be  the difficult bit, as you may have to wrap the plait around your head like a halo, rather than just over the top. Unfortunately I don’t have any experience doing that, but with a bit of practice I’m sure it’s easy to master – if anybody has any tips – do share in the comments!

Neat

Then it’s time to neaten everything up. Use a bit of hairspray and a few pins to secure any unruly bits that are sticking out. This will vary based on your hairstyle, but you ladies with a fringe, pull out your straighteners (I just got these pink ghds after my old ones conked out, and £10 of each sale goes towards Breakthrough Breast Cancer, a charity that is unfortunately close to my heart at the moment) and shape run them over your fringe. I also use them to curl my little “side bits”.

 Job Done!

And then it’s all done. Despite this very long post, it takes a matter of minutes to complete this hairstyle, which I wear without fail when my hair is feeling a little greasy or unloved.

If you have any questions, please do ask in the comments! Happy plaiting! x

 

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