Q by Mikaela: I have long (as in mid/lower back length), fine, VERY straight strawberry blonde hair. I love that it always looks smooth, sleek, and shiny, but I feel like I can’t do much with it. It doesn’t really stay curled or braided, and I feel like I’ve exhausted the option of headbands and such. Can you give me any advice about hair styles I can try, or maybe some products I could use that would help? I suppose I’m just getting tired of wearing my hair pretty much the same way all the time.

A by Reagan: My first thought after reading this question is that I’m wondering why you can’t braid your hair. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it is too slick and slicks it’s way right on out of that braid. The best advice I can give you, is to use product like crazy. Got it? Like crazy, Mikaela! I’m talkin’ root lifters, mousses, waxes and texturizing sprays. Your hair is too soft and silky (who would have thought that is a bad thing? It’s not, but we need change sometimes!) to hold styles, so you need it to be dirty and grippy.

I would start out with a root lifter and/or a mousse. This should be done on towel dried hair. Then spray a texturizing (like the Garnier wonder waves I talked about a few posts back) all over. If you are doing this on dirty hair, nix the mousse and just use a texturizing spray and root lifter then mush around with your fingers (make sure you are getting it in evenly and not over dosing on product. Once your hair is dry, rub a small amount of wax together in your hands and run through your hair. By now, your hair should have a good amount of grip. Braid away, my love!

And if a regular braid still isn’t holding, try what I call a “mermaid braid”. See below. I often do this braid in many variations. I’ll do identical to the picture, or I’ll do a center part and braid both sides. There is absolutely no reason your hair shouldn’t hold this. Especially if it’s secured at the bottom with some heavy duty criss-crossed bobby pins.

Next thing, when using a curling iron, use a much smaller barrel than what you’re going for. Maybe that is a 3/4 inch just to get loose waves! Try wrapping the hair around the iron instead of clamping it. I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember, and it creates a really beautiful curl/wave. Do this after you’ve used all the above products (minus the wax). Go get ‘em Mikaela!

Q by Nikki:
Here’s my hair question, Any ideas for an easy, casual up-do? A little more polished than my ponytail, but one that doesn’t look like I’ve flashed back to high school prom. I love my long-ish hair, but sometimes wearing it down in the summer won’t do.

Thanks for your help!
Nikki

A by Reagan: Yay a styling question! Ok, here is my lazy answer…lazy meaning, I didn’t do any tutorials like I had wanted to. No time! I really want to get some dang tutorials up!

Here is kind of a formal/structured, but still easy to achieve look. This requires mousse to start out with before drying the hair (to give it grip and texture), then lots of teasing! Teasing sounds like an UGGGGH thing, but it is the easiest way to manipulate the hair to do what you want. We can’t see the back of this image, so go crazy with doing whatever you want. A low pony tail at the nape, a side braid or a soft bun. Easy and simple to go with more severe make-up like Christina’s.

This one is my favorite. All you have to do is loosely put your hair in a pony, pull some random pieces out of that pony, and then tuck the actually pony randomly back in. You can use pins, or even just tuck sections going different directions back into the actual pony tail holder. This look is so pretty and it can be done on day 65 of dirty hair. I’m tellin’ yas, I know she is naked and all, but picture yourself in a little spring number with some dressy sandals, it’s going to look a lot less sloppy than you think.

For Chloe’s little topknot, you’ll again want to have dirty hair. You don’t HAVE to have dirty hair, but it just makes things easier for all of us. Gather all of your hair up like you are going to put it in a really high pony, only you’re not! Instead you are going to twist and tuck and pin in place. This is another very forgiving style. If it’s not all perfect, you can be like “so what? it’s on purpose!”. Go Chloe, another look I love…Also, this hairstyle seems to go nicely with a very broad range of accessories, make up and outfits.

For this one, you’ll want to curl it first with a 3/4 or 1 inch curling iron. I know that seems small, but it will loosen up a lot if you shake it out and finger through it. This would also look pretty as a very low side messy bun. Put hair into a pony tail after it’s curled and you’ve softened the curls. Then twist, roll and form small to medium section into desired place and pin them! That’s about it!

Here is an image of my own (photo taken by Jake). A lot of people have forgotten how beautiful fishtail braids are. They are beautiful. I am obsessed with them and am angry with myself for cutting my hair, because I used to do them all the time on myself! Fishtail braids are so easy, but very hard to explain. If you don’t know how to do one, I’ll put this on my “to tutorialize” list.

There you go! Hope this was helpful. I love you guys! (guys=readers)