How to Do a Basic Braid

Girls best friends: Shoes, makeup, clothes, accessories, and hair. It is everything that makes us who we are. We can express ourselves in whatever way we feel just by a simple change of item.

Today I am going to teach all you young girls out there (and possibly older women...hopefully no men) how to style your hair with the classic-basic braid. I will be with you every step of the way and guiding you to braid perfection.

Here we go...

You will need the following:

Brush

Rattail Comb

Hairspray and/or mousse

Ponytail holders

Tangle spray (optional)

Berets (optional)

Step 1:

Brush all your hair backwards starting from your forehead. Now would be the time to use your tangle spray if needed. Do not drench your hair in the spray, but just lightly add the spray as needed. Continue to brush your hair backwards for about a minute to make sure there are no tangles or knots whatsoever.

Step 2:

While your hair is still pulled back in the brushing direction that you just completed in step 1, take your rattail comb and part your hair down the middle (this will show you exactly where you will need to start your hair grips.)

Step 3:

Start at the top of your head, where the part is, and gather a little hair from each side of the part and pull it together forming one grip of hair. You can use a hairclip or hand to hold this grip of hair while you grip two more hair pulls. You will now grip a hair pull (handful of hair) along each side of your head toward your ears. You can use hairclips to hold these hair pulls while you get ready with everything else and prepare for step 4. By this time you should have a hair pull on the top of your head, on the right side of your head toward your ear, and the same on the left. There should be no hair hanging down loose on your face at this point.

Step 4:

Now remove the hairclips (if you used any) and hold each of the hair pulls separately. Make sure to keep a tight pull on each hair group so that nothing will fall out of place or sag down. Start to cross the hair pulls over one another. Go right group over the middle group (this will make your right group your middle group and your middle group your right group) and then do the same with the left hair pull. Cross the left group over the middle, and then go back to crossing the right over the middle. Alternate right and left hair pulls over the middle hair pull. The middle section of hair should never be crossed over any hair pull. It is the base of your masterpiece.

Step 5:

Continue step 4 (crossing the braids) until there is no more hair to braid. Apply a hair band (ponytail) at the end tip of your braid to hold it together. This will stop the braid from fraying apart.

Step 6:

Hold any loose hairs in place with your hairspray or mousse (or both) and let sit for couple minutes before you touch your hair. This way your hair is not sticky when you touch it, hence causing you to have various hairs sticking up.

That's all for the basic braid. Good luck!