Side Braids, Who knew?

In the past I have dabbled in various forms of braiding and understand what works for me and what doesn't. To start, french braids just look stupid on me. No question about it. Pigtail braids work better for me and are my go to look if I have a sporting event to attend or physical labor to complete. The problem the pigtails is that they never look the same, they just don't match, and I find this irritating. In college, I sported cornrows here and there. These were my favorite, but just take a good hour to get down, given the amount of hair I have.

Now, none of these styles were something I would ever consider to be fashionable, and assumed they were simply never going to be considered glamorous, which was fine by me.

Well, clearly, I was wrong. This past spring magazines and blogs have been pumping up the new side braid. At first I was skeptical. This was a style for swimsuit advertisements, not the runway or the red carpet, yep wrong again. These side braids give the appearance of loose effortless tresses getting pulled into bulky braids. Ugh, there was no way my fine hair was going to stay put put in such an unstructured style. Boooo.

Now flash forward to a early June, I was invited to a beach theme party. I wanted to give my hair a beach feel and bought Surf Hair, a Garnier Fructis Style product, at the local Rite Aid for less than $5. The label says that it is a textured paste that would give my locks the appearance that I spent the afternoon swimming in the ocean. As I was working the product through, I realized that with this texture, the side braid could be feasible, so why not try.

It worked! The added texture allowed for my hair to keep some volume rather than hang along like a limp sad braid. The secret is to braid the side braid as you would normally do, but then tighten the braid down towards the base so that the upper portion can look loose and free. I now have every intention to cruise the streets of Boston with this do the rest of the summer. The only down side is all the weight of my hair pulls my head to one side. now, I guess it is time to work on my neck muscles? Oh what one endures in the name of fashion....