Braided Hairstyles That Seem Unachievable

How many times have you scrolled through Pinterest or Google images and found yourself swooning over photos of braided hairstyles that you have dreams of being able to achieve?  Well, you are not alone.  These braids we all love, are certainly achievable, but it will take some practice.  Even some professionals have a hard time recreating these more technical braids.  That doesn't change the fact that they are still super fun to look at and dream about wearing.  It also doesn't mean you can't wear these styles.

In today's journal we are sharing some of the most inspiring braided hairstyles we have come across, and if you are inspired to wear any of them, then pin them to your Pinterest page and share them with your hairstylist at your next hair appointment.  Perhaps they can help make your dream of wearing one of these styles come true.  If you do attempt to create one of these braids on yourself, we like to suggest using Iles Formula Finishing Serum on the hair before braiding.  We have found it to be a perfect tool for braiding because it leaves the hair silky and very pliable, without going greasy.

Braided Hairstyles Glossary

When you are looking through Braided Hairstyles you will quickly see that there are many different types of braids.  Most of which you may be looking at thinking , "How did they even do that?"  You may even notice that sometimes there are more than one type of braid in a single hairstyle.  To even begin attempting any of these braids, it's important to be able to identify the different types.  In this journal, we will be sharing a Braid Glossary.  If you have a bit of braiding savvy from your childhood, you may be able to turn to YouTube for a tutorial for how to create these specific braids, and give them a try.  Lets start with the basic braiding techniques and build up to more advanced braiding.

Three Strand Braid

The Three Strand Braid may be the braid that is the most familiar to you.  It is the braid that many of you already know how to do.  Perhaps you're already doing this braid on yourself or your daughters.  If so, then you are off to a great start.  This braid is the building block of all braids.  If you have mastered this braid then you can likely master the others with some patience and practice.  Here is what a simple three strand braid looks like.  The three strand braid is definitely the most simple, but still one you will see worn by many fashionistas.

Photo Source:  Pinterest

 

The French Braid

If you have mastered the three strand braid, then at some point you have probably also mastered the French Braid.  The french braid follows the same technique as the three strand braid, except that it incorporates grabbing hair from each side, weaving it into the braid as you move down the head from top to bottom.  Below are some hairstyles we love that incorporate the French Braid.  The first image you may recognize as a braid you can accomplish.

Photo Source:  Stylecaster.com

In the next image, a braiding method is used that is similar to the french braid method because as it moves down the head you keep taking hair from each side and feeding it into the braid.  The effect is slightly different.  We love how Hairstylist Renya Axydis of Valonz Haircutters Sydney created this braid that works as a headband.

This image below looks a bit more unachievable wouldn't you think?  You are definitely right about that.  Before you determine that there is no way you could do this, lets break it down first.  Really there are only 2 braiding techniques used here, and if you are able to do a three strand braid and a french braid then you can at least make an attempt at this one.  By dividing the hair into sections, and utilizing both braiding techniques, you are able to give this one a shot.  Can you recognize which braid is used where? Try to figure it out and then let's see what else we have.

Photo Source:  Pinterest via Totalbeauty.com

 

The Fish Tail Braid

The Fish Tail Braid is where it starts to get a bit more complicated.  Overall, it is a pretty easy braid to do, with a bit of practice of course.  A quick youtube search will lead you to many tutorials to choose from and before you know it you will have this braid mastered.  Below are a few fish tail braids that will leave you inspired to give it a try.

 

Photo Source:  Pinterest

Photo Source:  Pinterest

Photo Source:  Pinterest via n-itroglycerin.tumblr.com

 

The Rope Braid

The Rope Braid is a very cool braiding technique that looks more complicated than it really is.  In fact, you can learn how to do a rope braid right here in our journal by checking out our post called "On Trend Twisted Rope Braids", where we share step by step how to create the braid.  In the image below you can see that there is a bit more happening here. The pigtails are multiple rope braids then rope braided together, and two sectioned out rope braids on top that are used as a headband.

 

Photo Source:  Pinterest (Vogue Magazine)

Boxer Braids

The next braid is the ever so popular Boxer or Dutch Braid.  The go to braid for many celebs, the Boxer braid is similar to the French braid in that as it moves down the head, hair is woven into the sections, however the weaving and hand positioning  is a bit different resulting in a different style of braid.

Hairstylist Renya Axydis of Valonz Haircutters Sydney

Hairstylist Renya Axydis of Valonz Haircutters Sydney

Photo Source:  Pinterest

 

Photo Source:  fashiongonerogue.com

We love the image above.  It follows the same method of braiding, with a different result just by changing the direction that you place the braid.  In this image the braids are started in the back and move diagonally to the front.  Ok so yes, this one may be a bit difficult to create on yourself.  Let's see some more.

Woven Braids

Woven Braids are exactly how they sound.  They are Braided Hairstyles where the hair is woven together to create an ever inspiring piece of art.  Almost like a crochet if you will.  These can be some of the most difficult braids to achieve as they sometimes require a second set of hands and a whole lot of patience. In addition, they are often multiple types of braids combined together to create a beautiful juxtaposition of texture.   Check out some of these Woven Braids that we are loving right now.

 Photo Source:  Pinterest

Photo Source:  Pinterest

 

Photo Source:  Pinterest

Olivia Palermo:  Cage Braid Winter 2016

You may have noticed that yes, there are some very unachievable Braided Hairstyles out there, but some actually are achievable just by understanding what type of braid is actually used.  There are many other types of braids out there, such as the 4 strand braid, the 8 strand braid, the crown braid and the waterfall braid, that we did not even mention.  A quick google search will show you an abundance of these types of braids if you would like to check them out.  Listed in this journal are some of our faves that we wanted to share.  Can you create any of these Braided Hairstyles?  Let us know which ones in the comments below.

Want to get your braiding Selfie noticed?   Tag us in your selfie on Instagram @ilesformula_hair and we may feature your braid on our instagram page.  Be sure to use our hashtag #IlesFormula.

What would you love to see from us?  Let us know in the comments.