Braid cheat tutorial – Fake it till you make it

Struggling to braid? Fake it till you make it with this faux braid tutorial.

If you can do a ponytail, then you can do this hairstyle tutorial.

It's even more secure than a regular braid so it's perfect if you're running around all day or if you have layers in your hair.

There's a few steps to explain this technique but stay with me as it's really easy. You're creating a series of stacked ponytails that loop around each other to create the look of a braid.

You've seen this hairstyle all over instagram and here's how to do it in your own hair.

Faux braid tutorial – The pull-through braid tutorial

What you need:

• Small hair elastics – you'll need at least 5
• Hair clip – to hold sections of hair as you go

Step-by-step tutorial:

1. Begin by brushing your hair to remove any knots. (Curly girls – skip this step!)
2. Create your first ponytail. Take a section of hair at the top of your head and secure it with a small elastic.
3. Create a second ponytail under the first, picking up hair from around your temples. Secure it with a clear elastic.
4. Divide the first ponytail in half, and clip the second ponytail up on top of your head.
5. Create your third ponytail including the two halves of the first ponytail. This is your first "braid" section. As you can see in picture 6, the second ponytail is now tied between ponytail 1 to ponytail 3. You'll repeat these steps over again to continue the style.
6. Unclip ponytail 2, divide it in half and clip ponytail 3 up on top of your head. Pick up hair from around your ears and combine it with the ends of ponytail 2 to create ponytail 4.
7. Repeat these steps until all of your hair is combined in the braid and you reach the nape of your neck.
8. Finish either with a regular braid or continue the pull-through braid. This hairstyle needs a lot of small elastics so you can either finish with a normal 3-strand braid (as I have) or keep looping the ponytails together to make a pull through braid. The pull-through is neater but the regular braid is quicker.
9. Stretch out your braid. My fave step! Go back and tighten up the ponytails and stretch out the sides of each loop to make your braid look thicker.

Styling tips

• Add in texture – if your hair is clean, you may find it slips out of this hairstyle, and pretty much any style or braid you try. You can add in texture with dry shampoo or a sea salt spray to give your hair more grip.
• Use clear elastics – or match them to your hair colour – you don't want the elastics to stand out in the finished style so choose small hair bands that are easily disguised in your hair. You can tighten the braid so that the elastics are hidden but I've kept it a bit looser.
• Cover the top elastic – for a more polished look, you can wrap a section of hair around the top elastic as that's the hardest one to cover in this style. Simply wrap a piece of hair around the top ponytail and secure it with a bobby pin underneath before moving on to the next ponytail.

Let me know if you like this faux braid tutorial in the comments. If you try it, I'd love to see a photo and you can tag me #hairromance on Instagram.

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