Younger and older hairstyles

There are so many braid techniques and hairstyles that it's possible to do a fun, beautiful hairstyles for everyone. However, some hairstyles seem to fit younger girls better, while other hairstyles fit older girls or women better. The hairstyle on the photo below might better suit an older girl or a woman for example.

The twisted star ending in pigtails below, however, might better suit a younger girl.

Sometimes hairstyles can suit both, though. The braided headband below, for example, looks nicely for an older girl or a woman, but it would look cute on a younger girl as well.

And then there are hairstyles that - with a little change - can suit both younger and older girls. Take a look at the hairstyles below for example. Two line braids were done in both photos. The first photo has the line braids ending in pigtails. Great for a younger girl! In the second photo, the two line braids end in a single ponytail. Great for an older girl!

So you see: braids are great for both younger and older girls. Sometimes hairstyles can suit both, sometimes you can adjust the style a little. But that's the lovely thing about braiding, I think: it's great for everyone!

How to: feathered 5 strand braid with French braids and bun

How to: feathered 5 strand braid with French braids and bun

Helpful tutorials:
5 strand Dutch braid tutorial
French braid tutorial
3 strand braid tutorial

You'll need:
Elastics
Bobby pins
Flower pins if desired

How to do this hairstyle?

1. Divide the hair into three parts by parting the hair left off centre and right off centre.
2. Put an elastic around the left and right part to keep it out of the way. You can now start braiding the middle part.
3. Start a  5 strand Dutch braid with this and add hair once.
4. Before adding hair for the second time, slice off a small section of hair. Do this on both sides.
5. Repeat step 4 twice, so you have 3 loose strands. Of course you could do more, but make sure you have the same amount of loose strands on both sides. 
6. Finish off the 5 strand Dutch braid at the neck and add an elastic.
7. Now start a French braid on the left side. Use the loose strands from the left side of your 5 strand Dutch braid to add in. Finish off the braid near the neck with an elastic.
8. Repeat step 7 on the right side.
9. Now take all 3 braids together and put an elastic around them.
10. Use the hair from the ponytail to create a 3 strand braid. Finish off with an elastic.
11. Turn your braid into a bun and pin it into place with bobby pins. If you like, you can add some flower pins or other decorations.

Good luck!

Variation tips: instead of French braids you could also do Dutch braids and instead of a regular braid you could of course use another braiding technique for your bun.

5 strand Dutch braid

When you've mastered the Dutch braid, you can try to add two more strands for a 5 strand Dutch braid. It may take a little practice, but you'll end up with a beautiful braid!

The technique:
5 strand Dutch braid tutorial

Ideas:

Instead of 1 braid you can of course also do 2 braids!

If you'd like to do a variation with 2 braids, you can cross them by first Dutch braiding the right top part and the bottom left part and then the top left part and the bottom right part.

For a more fancy look you can easily fold up the bottom half of the braid and pin it into place with bobby pins.

Instead of using all of the hair, you could also do a 5 strand Dutch braid with only part of the hair.

A 5 strand Dutch braid on each side, brought together into a flower braid.

The 5 strand Dutch braid is also fun as headband braid. Here I've added a ponytail with a 4 strand braid.

Vacation hairstyles II

Below you can find some more hairstyle photos taken during my last vacation.underlined. Each photo has listed below where it was taken, this is underlined. The words in italic will explain how the style was done. It often includes a YouTube link to make it easier. If you'd like to know more about the hairstyle (or if you have another question), then feel free to leave a reaction!

Montezuma Castle

Take a small section of hair and divide this into 3 strands. Cross the left strand over the middle one and the right strand over the middle one. Now take a small strand on the left side and cross it under the entire braid. Then drop the strand. Then cross the left strand over the middle one. Add hair to the right strand and cross it over the middle strand. Keep repeating this until you've reached the other ear and then continue braiding till the end of the hair. Then take another small section of hair, divide it into 3 strands and do a lace braid with this. The strands you're adding in, are the strands you've brought under the first braid. Add the first braid last of all and then continue braiding until the end of the hair.

Grand Canyon

Part just off centre and start a 5 strand Dutch braid. Add hair until you've reached the ear and then continue braiding without adding in hair. Then take all of the hair and the braid and tie this into a ponytail. If you like, finish off with a bow or a flower.

Page

Part just off centre and do a Dutch fishtail waterfall braid.

Antelope Canyon

Again a Dutch fishtail waterfall braid.

Monument Valley

Start a French braid on the left side of the head. Leave out a strand of hair just above the right ear. Then finish off the French braid. Use the loose strand to create a Slide up flower braid.

Canyon de Chelly

Part down the middle and do a lace braid on both sides, crossing the strands under as a Dutch braid. Bring the two braids together with an elastic. Then do another braid on each side, doing three braid stitches without adding in hair and then adding in hair from the small ponytail. Try to add the same amount of strands on each side (about 6). Continue braiding a little further down and then put an elastic around the braids together.

Vlechten met meerdere plukken // Braiding with multiple strands

Vlechten met meerdere plukken

Wie begint met vlechten, zal al blij zijn als een gewone vlecht met 3 plukken lukt. Maar heb je eenmaal de slag te pakken, dan wil je waarschijnlijk ook graag met 4, 5 of zelfs 6 plukken gaan vlechten.

Hoe meer plukken je gebruikt, hoe breder je vlecht zal worden. Maar vlechten met 9, 11 of zelfs 15 plukken kunnen erg lastig - misschien bijna onmogelijk - zijn om te doen, omdat je handen niet alle verschillende plukken vast kunnen houden. Natuurlijk kun je dan clips of speldjes gebruiken om de plukken waarmee je niet vlecht aan de kant te houden, maar er is een makkelijkere manier: de weeftechniek.

Een voorbeeld van de weeftechniek is al even te zien in mijn filmpje 8 plukken vlecht met 2 linten. Deze weeftechniek kun je ook gebruiken om een vlecht met 9 plukken te maken. Verdeel daarvoor het haar in drie delen: een middengedeelte en een gedeelte links en rechts van het midden. Maak nu eerst in het midden gedeelte een opvlecht. Doe dat ook met het haar van het linker- en rechtergedeelte, maar haal elke keer de pluk het dichtst bij de middelste vlecht erdoor voor je verder vlecht.

Op dezelfde manier kun je een vlecht met 11 plukken maken - doe een 5 plukken opvlecht in het midden en twee gewone opvlechten ernaast - en zelfs met 15 plukken: maak in alle drie de delen van het haar gewoon een 5 plukken opvlecht en weef de pluk het dichst bij het midden elke keer door de middelste vlecht.

Succes!

9 plukken opvlecht

9 strand Dutch braid

11 plukken opvlecht

11 strand Dutch braid

Braiding with multiple strands

Those starting to braid, will be happy when they can do a normal 3 strand braid. But once you've got the hang of it, you'll probably want to braid with 4, 5 or even 6 strands.

The more strands you use, the bigger your braid will be. But braiding with 9, 11 or even 15 strands can be very tricky, nearly impossible even, because you won't be able to hold all of the strands. Of course you could use clips to hold the strands you're not braiding with out of the way, but there's an easier way: the weave technique.

You can see an example of the weave techniek in my tutorial 8 strand braid with 2 ribbons. This weave techniek can also be used to do a 9 strand braid. Divide the hair into three parts: a middle part and a part on the left and right of this. Start by doing a Dutch braid in the middle. Do a Dutch braid on the left and right side as well, but weave the strand closest to the middle braid through before braiding on.

You can use the same technique to do an 11 strand braid - do a 5 strand Dutch braid in the middle and two regular Dutch braids on the side - or even 15 strands: just do a 5 strand Dutch braid in all three parts and weave the strand closest to the middle braid through every time.

Good luck!

Diadeemvlechten // Headband braids

Diadeemvlechten

Vroeger was ik altijd dol op diadeems: van die heel dikke haarbanden waar je de hele dag lekker mee kon spelen onder schooltijd. Even je diadeem uitdoen, je haar naar achter schudden en dan de diadeem weer opnieuw in je haar schuiven. Voor een paar minuten natuurlijk maar, daarna deed je het weer opnieuw!

Inmiddels geef ik natuurlijk de voorkeur aan diadeemvlechten: vlechten die dichtbij het voorhoofd gedaan worden, zodat ze lijken op een diadeem. Het leuke - vind ik - aan diadeemvlechten is dat je allerlei verschillende vlechttechnieken ervoor kunt gebruiken. De bekendste diadeemvlecht is de opvlecht (Nederlandse invlecht), maar wat dacht je van een vissengraat als diadeemvlecht? Of een ronde 3D vlecht, waar ik een tijdje geleden over schreef?

Op mijn YouTube kanaal kun je ook de uitleg terugvinden voor de diadeemvlecht met 5 plukken, zoals je die op de foto ziet. Net even anders dan de gewone opvlecht en heel mooi breed!

Headband braids

When I was younger, I used to love headbands: those really big ones that you could play with all day long during school hours. Take out the headband, shake your hair back and then put the headband back in. For a few minutes only, of course, then you'd do it all again!

By now I of course prefer headband braids: braids done close to the forehead, so they look like a headband. The fun thing - I think - about headband braids is that you can use all kinds of different braiding techniques for it. The best known headband braid is the Dutch braid, but how about a fishtail as headband braid? Or a round 3D braid, like I wrote about a while ago?

On my YouTube channel you can also find a tutorial on the 5 strand headband braid, like you can see in the photo. Different from a regular Dutch braid and lovely big!

Basic techniques - level 4 and further

The 4 strand waterfall braid

Basic techniques - level 4 and further

Those who have mastered the level 1, 2 and 3 basic techniques, will be able to create loads of different hairstyles already. If you wish to challenge yourself even further, then try to master these last basic techniques:

• Dutch / French braiding with 5 strands: the 5 strand Dutch braid is one of my favorite braids. A beautiful big braid that's actually quite easy as you can hold your two left strands and your two right strands together every time.
• 4 strand waterfall braid: again one of my favorite braids. Again not very difficult, as you only need to master a 4 strand braid for this. For the best result I advise to start with under-over, so crossing the strand closest to the part under first of all.
• 4 strand Dutch braid: a regular 4 strand braid turns into a French/Dutch braid when you're adding in hair. By adding in hair a little different, you'll have a completely Dutch braid. This is how it works: start with a regular braid stitch - under-over; over-under. Now add hair to the left strand and cross it under-over. Now take your right strand and cross it over the strand next to it (for now I'll call this strand X). Now add hair to the right strand, but cross this hair under strand X first before adding it to the right strand. Now cross the right strand with the hair added to it under the strand next to it. Keep repeating this until you have no more hair to add.
• French (Dutch) 3D braid: the 3D round braid is very beautiful too when you're adding in hair. This is the same as for a regular French / Dutch braid: add in hair and then cross the strand under the two strands next to it and twist it around the second strand.

When you've mastered all of these techniques, there's of course even more difficult braids to try. These more difficult braids often have more strands (6, 7, 8 or even 9) or one or more ribbons. For the advanced braiders, I'll share the link to my tutorial on the 6 strand braid and the 6 strand slide up braid with ribbon, but if you've mastered all the techniques I've explained, you can call yourself a real braiding champion!