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The start of the school year brings new books, classes, and of course, a new fashion season. This seasons hot new trends were on display this week at New York’s Fashion Week. Not only were these models clad in couture designer clothing; they were also sporting the latest hair and makeup trends. One hairstyle found on multiple runways: braids. This classic hairstyle was found on some of the top designers runways, including Alice & Olivia, Bagley Mischka, and Naeem Khan.
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Braids from Alice & Olivia
Braids from Bagley Mischka
Braids from Naeem Khan
Although these hairstyles are extremely glamorous, they’re a little extreme for everyday wear. I’ve found five different picture hair tutorials on Pinterest, all incorporating braids somehow that are all a little more user friendly. My friend Casey agreed to be my model as I tried out these different tutorials. We copied the looks to the best of our ability, and hope that you will try out these fun hairstyles too! Make sure you click through all 6 pages of braids!
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Casey
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1. The Headband Braid
Now the original idea for this is to take a section of your hair, split it into two pieces, twist those pieces, and then wrap it around the top of your head, creating a headband. This can be really cute if you have long enough hair to both twist and reach all the way around, and you’re not using this headband to actually keep your hair our of your face. Thankfully, if your hair is too short to make it all the way across, or you actually are trying to securely keep your hair out of your face: I’ve come up with a modification to accommodate both of these things. With the modified version, you start a French braid at the ear moving horizontally across the head. Instead of taking hair from both sides and braiding it in, only pull from the side closer to your forehead. To make the braid “pop” even more, consider doing a reverse French braid, meaning that when you braid you tuck the hair under instead of over. Bonus: this hairstyle can be worn down or in a ponytail.
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2. The Single Braid
This braid is easy and quick, a great hairstyle to throw into your rotation. You start by taking a small section of hair near your part. You French braid, but once again, only pulling from one side. Once you reach the back of your head, you continue braiding down, no longer pulling in new pieces of hair. This hairstyle would look cute with sleek straight hair, or wild curls!
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3. The Braided Side Bun
This hairstyle is fairly easy to execute. You start with a French braid on one side of your head and slowly braid it around to the other side. Then, you wrap the tail of the braid into a bun. The only downside to this hairstyle is the bun sticks out a fair amount, looking almost like a doorknob. To modify it, you may want to try ending your braid in just a side ponytail.
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4. The Ponytail Braid
Of the five hairstyles that I tried, this was probably the hardest to do. And it didn’t turn out a whole lot like the picture, either. To start, you take a small section of hair from your ponytail and begin to fishtail it, once again only pulling from the top side of the ponytail. You slowly move across the ponytail then wrap around and repeat. This hairstyle, in theory, is a great way to spice up your standard ponytail, but it’s pretty hard to execute and can end up looking sloppy. Hopefully, this is a hairstyle that gets better as you practice it more, but no guarantees.
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5. The Top Knot Braid
Top Knots have been incredibly popular this past year. They are constantly seen on A-list celebrities or the pages of top fashion magazines. This hairstyle provides a twist to the popular style. It starts out pretty simple: you make the top knot as you normally would, but leaving out a small section of hair. You then braid that section and wrap it around the bun, securing it with bobby pins.
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These five hairstyles are an awesome way to incorporate this season’s hottest hair trend into your everyday beauty routine. They are time-efficient and easy to do (for the most part, that is) as well as really cute. So next time you’re throwing your hair into a ponytail, consider adding one of these braids!
Photos from fashion shows via Teen Vogue
Photo demonstrations via pinterest.com
Photos of Casey by Lindsey Brown