Dutch-Braid Headband Ponytail

Hey there my lovely people,

Todays post with be another hairstyle, however set out a little different. I started hairstyling a while ago and had never thought I'd end up writing a blog. So I took some pictures of the finished hair style but not of the procedure, but i do have the final result and its not the complicated. I will also add a youtube link to help with demonstrating how part of the hair styles is done.

What you'll need;

• Hair Brush
• Rat tail comb
• Gel/Hair spray
• Elastic band
• Hair band
• Bobby pins

The hair styles is a dutch-braid headband pulled back into a ponytail. It is a very simple and easy hairstyle to do on others aswell as on yourself. With practise everyone gets there. :)

You'll first need to start off with brushing the hair through making sure there are no knots or tangles. Then using a rat tail comb part the hair either from ear to ear or as I've done I started the part roughly 2inches from one ear all the way to the other side. Secondly, pull the hair you won't be using of the braid into a low pony tail for now to keep it out of the way. Once that's done you can begin your dutch braid. While braiding I added in gel every so often to help hold back the fly aways. I have found this youtube link that demonstrates a full head dutch braid but the techniques the same just with a smaller section of hair. 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCPaH3ORDfs

Once you've completed the braid, you'll want to continue it all the way until the end and tie it off with an elastic band. 

You'll then put the braid to one side and work with the remaining hair you held back at the beginning. Brush out that hair again making it smooth and pulling it up into a ponytail. Once you're happy with where the ponytail is situated hold it in place with a hair band. Also use gel/hair spray to smooth the hair if you'd like. 

Finally with the braid you had aside, wrap it around the hair band to hide it and using bobby pins secure it in place. And TAADAAAAA you're finished, an easy and simple hairstyle!

You can also opt by not putting the hair up in a ponytail instead you can leaving the hair out, especially for short hair that's too short for a ponytail. 

I hope you enjoyed this post as much I dad writing for you all to read.

Don't forget to check out my etsy store; https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HomeMadeHairstyles

and Facebook page for regular updates; https://www.facebook.com/homemadehairstyles

Also follow me on instagram @HomeMadeHairstyles and if you recreate this hairstyles use #HMHDUTCHBRAIDHEADBAND so i can see your wonderful recreations and share them on my page. 

See ya next time

Love ya

xxx

Bobby Pins...

Bobby pins...
Lots and lots of bobby pins.
What would we do without bobby pins?

Hey there,
Right so today we are looking at, guess what?
You guessed it, bobby pin or hair grips whatever you feel comfortable calling them.

Why a post on bobby pins you may ask, well surprisingly not many people know the variety of bobby pins out there available to them, nor do they know how to use them or in what circumstances to use them in.

The essence of bobby pins that many people know of are that they will simply hold back hair or help hold down fly aways. That is correct however there are a few other things to bobby pins that maybe some won't know.
For example did you know when placing a bobby pin in your hair you place it straight part up and not with the bumpy side up which is what most people do.

This image does not belong to me

When I first found this out I was extremely surprised by the amount of people that also did not know this. After changing the way I placed my bobby pins I noticed that they stayed in place for longer and were a lot more secure. 

There are many lengths, widths and colours of bobby pins. Some to just accessorising the hair, others to hold down fly aways, and what (I personally think) they are used for the most is to help secure a hairstyle. 

As well as bobby pin there are also hair pins which in word explanation is a open version of a bobby pin. Here is an image showing what the difference between a bobby pin and a hair pin is.

           

Hairstyles that will include both types of pins are usually updos majority of the time, or a more complex half hair updo (an example of half hair updo, is a previous post on a hairstyle where the inspiration images uses pins to create flower petals). An updo I recently created and done on myself and used both pin types was an elegant low chignon (or low bun in other words).

A bobby pin will hold down the hair more securely especially if they a crossed over each other, what a hair pin does is it keeps the hair in place 'softly', what I mean by that is they help keep the hair in a certain place which does not need to be held down securely. Its harder to explain in words what I am trying to say, but if you try it out for yourself you will understand the concept. For example, in the image above I used hair pins on the sides to tuck in the hair and hide the bun maker that's helping make the round shape of the look.

And that is it for now. I hope you enjoyed the post and that it was a little helpful. 

If you'd like to see a pic-by-pic on the hairstyle I have shown in this post please let me know and I will try and get that done for yours soon as possible. 

Thank-you for views this post, don't forget to follow and stay upto date with any up coming posts. Also follow me on Facebook and stay upto date over there too.

Love you all xxx

Opening my own Etsy store!

Hey there my wonderful reader,

Great news is coming your way!
From the information I have already posted in both the 'About Me' section and my first ever post I mentioned that as well as hairstyling I love crafting. So my new hobby currently together with hairstyling is DIY hair bows of all shapes and sizes.
This all began (obviously) when I first discovered my passion for styling hair, something was always missing, a small accessory just to give the final look a little WOW factor.

In order to be able to share my crafting with you all I have opened an Etsy store where I will be selling a variety of hair bow accessories.

My Etsy store is now up and running for you. Just head over to www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HomeMadeHairstyles and you will find just a few of the hair accessories I am selling currently. In the next week or so I will be adding more to my store so that you have a larger selection of accessories to choose from. 

Since starting my blog a very long time ago I have finally began to get the drift of it and hopefully you won't need to wait months for a new post. 

Thank-you for all your support and views

Don't forget to comment and like, also check out my other social media network space and follow and like over there too to keep up to date with everything. 

Love you all 

xxx

Half updo accentuated with rope twists

Hey my fellow readers,

So here comes the first of many hairstyle posts. This hairstyle was done on short and fine hair, however it can be done on any hair length and different hair types too.

This idea was an inspiration from a hairstyle i found on pinterest by BabesInHairLand.
The tools that you will need are:

• Hair brush
• Rat tail comb
• Rubber bands
• Hair band
• Alligator clips
• Booby pins
• Gel spray

Lets get start on how to do this hairstyle...

You'll want to have the hair damp and brushed out smoothly, to help maintain the fly aways under control and to keep the hair smooth and bump free.

To start off, as the pictures show, you'll section off the hair that you'll be working with first with a rat tailed comb, from the top of one ear to ear to the other, and pulled the remaining hair into a ponytail with a hair band. Then split the hair that was sectioned off at the front into approximately four equal parts using the same tool (the rat tailed comb), and using alligator clips secure each section with one. Alternatively if you don't have alligator clips, bobby pins will also do a good job at keeping each section separate.

Secondly, you'll take each section and smooth it out with the comb and add some gel spray and rubber band it securely in place, I have used white rubber bands but its up to you what colours you'd like to use.

Once those are secure and you're happy with the way they look then you'll want to bring them to the front of the face and hold them with alligator clips if it helps keep them away from what you're about to do next. Now you'll want to release the ponytail you had previously done to hold back the hair you were not using and divide it in half and secure the top half with a clip and once again crate a ponytail with the remaining hair. You'll next want to release the hair you just divided and secure it with a clip and tie it back with a rubber band, keeping the four small sections of hair you done at the beginning still out of the way.

 

Next you'll want to go back to the sections you first made, the two centre ones you'll want to split them in half (the pictures will help you understand what I'm trying to say). Then you'll want to create the twists, although they seem complex they are quite easy once you get the hang of it. So in each hand you'll hand one strand and twist them clockwise separately and then join them by combining them anti-clockwise, this prevents the twist from unravelling itself (CuteGirlsHairstyles are a youtube channel where i learnt how to do these twists, if you need extra help on understand the step go over and check out their channel). 

Once you've finished that first twist you'll want to secure it with a rubber band temporarily. With the remaining strand you have left you'll create another two more twist and secure them with a rubber band, i have secured them together however if you find it easier you can rubber band them separately.

Finally, grab another rubber band, the same colour as the one you had previously used to secure the top half and combine the twists together with it, you'll then want to remove the rubber band/s you had used temporarily to hold the twists and the hairband holding the remaining hair. And thats your finished hairstyle.

I have gone ahead and grabbed a small section of hair and wrapped it around the rubber band to cover it and used a bobby pin to secure it in place. This step is optional, you might instead want to tie a ribbon, or a bow or any hair accessory you'd like to use.

Thanks so much for popping over to have a look at my new post, don't forget to follow if you'd like to learn more about creating unique hairstyles and techniques. Please leave a comment and any hairstyles you have seen and wish to know how to do them. 

Head over to Facebook and like my page, also follow me on instagram, and if you re-create this hairstyles don't forget to #HMHHALFROPETWISTS so i can have a look at all your wonderful re-creations.

How I will set out my 'Hairstyle' Blog posts

This post will be short but sweet.
I will just be explaining how I will be setting out my future blog posts for hairstyles that I do.

There will always be pictures hehe
1-The tools I used to create the hairstyle
2-The hairstyles progress throughout

In the post I will explain each step as clearly as possible and hopefully the pictures will help explain each step by step process.

Some hairstyles I will do will be inspired by other hairstylists, either I will have kept it as the original hairstyle I've seen or I will add my own little twist to it. If it sounds slightly confusing now hopefully when I start posting these posts you will have a better understanding of what I am trying to say.

I will not take credit for the hairstyles I have only recreated, I will certainly put up their original picture and try to provide a link to some social network where their work is published. I will only take credit for what I have done that is different from the original or a hairstyle I have come up with.

And finally, I love you all. Thank-you for coming by and taking your time to look at my blog.
New posts will be up soon.
Once again if you have an questions you would like to ask, please don't hesitate in contacting me. You can do so my visiting my contact page on my blog and using which ever method suites you best.
See you all soon!

Hair Essentials

So it has been well over a month nearly two since my last post, being a university student doesn't help with trying to run blog at the same time, in addition to that starting work full time, makes me procrastinate even more. I am very sorry for those waiting for a new post but no need to wait any longer  because I am back. WooHoo!!! As promised I would post as soon as my student life was out of the way (for now). So here it goes...

As the title already says, this post will be all about those key hair essentials that nobody can live without!

That first key hair essential is the hair brush. We cannot go a day without brushing our hair, it is essential that your hair is brushed at least twice a day, in the morning whilst getting ready and at night before bed. Keeping the hair de-tangled not only makes the hair look smooth and soft, but it also helps the hair stay healthy as no horrible knots are created that could cause the hair to break. One of my favourite hair brushes is the Tangle Teezer, it works with any type of hair and de-tangles the hair very easily.

Secondly we all need hair band/elastic band (well majority of us that have hair long enough to pull back). It is a quick and easy way to get your hair out of the way of your face. I personally recommend having a large supply of them as there's always that friend that asks to borrow one and ends up never giving it back and the unfortunate event of the hair band/elastic band snagging.

And last but not least hair pins/bobby pins. These small little things help out a lot, be it for pinning up a fringe/bangs or holding down fly aways or used in a hairstyle. There are a variety of hair pins/bobby pins, the closed ones in different lengths and opened pins also in different lengths. The closed ones are the most commonly used and known of, in further posts I will be explaining the different ways in which these pins are used.

And it has now come to the end of this post, hope you have enjoyed the short explanation of what I think are the hair essentials anyone should have. Sorry it took so long for this post to come but it is finally here!!!

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in contact with me, I will do my best to answer all your questions and queries as best as I can.

My Introduction...

Bring on my first post...

Hey all!!!

If you've already read the section 'About Me' then what you'e about to read is similar just a little expanded in some parts.

I'm Joana, I am a 19 year old university student studying International Business at  Richmond The American University in London. I was born and have lived in London my whole life, and I am the only child to my wonderful Portuguese parents. 

So you're probably thinking, "Yhyh, now get to the point where you talk about why you're writing a blog and what for."

Well, being an only child it didn't give me much do to as I had no company, so I'd find alternative things to do and that's when my huge passion for hairstyling began,  as well as nail art and crafting, but mostly hairstyling  the rest came later on hehe :)

I'd practise my passion on my barbie doll's hair, plaiting and doing all kinds of other styles and occasionally my mum's hair when she was bothered to let me touch it.
When the internet world was introduced to me, it was like paradise. It was like entering a new world! From then on I have been inspired by many google images, various youtubers that still today I watch and am inspired by them. Trying to find people to practise my hobby on was and continues to be a hassle, but I manage to find a head of hair that I can illustrate on what I love and do best.

You may ask, "But why are you starting a blog?"
Here's the answer for that question. For a very long time I've been told by many that I should become a professional hairstylist. But my higher education stands in the way, not that I see it as something negative that stops me, but I just can't do it as a full time thing, that's it really.
So as a 'part-time' thing I have decided to start a blog, as well as a facebook page, pinterest, instagram and a website for those who prefer other social network sites.

By starting this blog I aim to show you a bit of what I can do and hope to inspire you, if this is what you like. :)
I also hope to gain more experience and start some freelance work with clients that wish to use my talents for whatever occasion they may need. 

Due to University work occupying majority of my time I'm not yet sure of a schedule for when I will be posting, however I will inform you as soon as I know. 

Thank- you for coming by and looking at my blog, hope you enjoy it as much as I am with starting it.

Please share with your friends and family that you think would appreciate and like this sort of thing.