Fishtail Braids for Wedding Days

When I see a new braid on Pinterest (which is a lot) I generally decide I'm going to learn, there and then, how to do it. And last week it was dutch fishtail braids. 

These pretty little things sit against the head but give the look of a separate braid, They're neater and more secure than their french sisters, and the finish look is gorgeous! 

It means that even if your hair doesn't reach past your bum, you can get that "Milkmaid Braid" look.

Which is pretty much what my beautiful friend Naomi wanted, to a tee! 

I went to college with this lovely lady and whilst I branched my creativity into my hair, she put hers into being incredible at interior design - her house (and garden) are so lovely, I get envy every time I go!

I digress, these lovely lady is a "Lob" lover, so her hair isn't that long, but she's currently planning an elegant autumnal wedding for her and her musician fiance Darren, and said she would love to have braids if her hair was long enough...

On Saturday she was attending a friends wedding so we decided to have our first trial, and then she could see how it felt to have her hair up all day and see if she liked it and it lasted - which is such a good idea for brides-to-be! It gave her the chance to test-drive her style and then we can tweak it on the big day.

Here's what we tried out for trial #1...

As Naomi's hair has a natural curl and texture, we decided to keep that element and pull strands out and keep it fly-away and flattering. 

A halo of fly-away hairs is such a pretty, soft, ethereal look. The braid looked incredible and we have some ideas on how to maximise it's impactm but overall it was a roaring success!

Gorgeous couple and the best co-ordinating outfits!

Thank you so much Naomi, it was such a pleasure! xoxo

Pastels and Plaits

When Tegan asked me if I could do her hair for her brother's wedding, I jumped at the chance. The last time I'd seen Tegan was at the Glastonbury Festival, and she had her hair the most beautiful array of colours! 

I love nothing more than some vibrant hair, and it always looks the best in elegant hair ups.

She wasn't fussed on what she wanted, but as a bridesmaid she was under strict instructions that it had a plait, and that it was swept to the side, so that's exactly what we did. 

She had a pretty, pastel pink rose to sit in the curls too, which added the most beautiful finishing touch.

I added a dutch braid which I then pulled out to add a little texture and then pinned up some lovely loose curls. We gave it a little height at the crown and twisted it back from the face for a soft, flattering, long-lasting finish.

Thank you Tegan, it was such a pleasure and I hope you had the best day! xoxo

Pretty Braids and Structured Waves

A couple of weeks ago, Alice asked me to do her hair up for a wedding.
Simple! Lovely! What better way to spend my Saturday morning, I thought. A few curls and pinned up.
And it was lovely, and it would've been simple, and then Alice told me the wedding was going to be up at the beautiful Beacon Crag, a gorgeous clifftop location overlooking Porthleven harbour with spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean.

In fact, the Cornish birds amongst you may have been here for the Porthleven Masked Ball - and if you have, you'll know the whilst beautiful, it's a bit blowy up there!
And unfortunately, on this particular day, it happened to not only be blowing a hoolie, but it was a bit damp out there too.

We decided we would be best to proceed with a hair up - curls down would fall flat in an instant - and of course, a lot of hairspray!

Alice wanted something soft and feminine but with a good structure and a polished edge, so we came up with this little look.

We gave it a little bit of height for a glamorous edge, and then swept it all to one side with a Dutch Braid - I loved how her highlights looked in this! Gave it such a pretty texture.

We then clustered the curls up at one side and then loosely pinned the front section back, which was soft and feminine around Alice's face without falling in her eyes! This also meant that should any sneaky pieces fall out in the wind, they'll look delicately dishevelled rather than like it's been messed up in the wind!

It was such a pleasure to help you get ready Alice, thank you so much! xoxo

Metallic Blonde and Dutch Braids

So, I know this beautiful girl who has terrible hair-mares every few months.

It's fairly seasonal, and also tends to vary depending on her mood. In the winter I get messages saying "Hannah, I can't keep up with this blonde, I need something darker!" and come springtime I get messages saying "This dark is making me feel mumsy, I need something edgy!"

Of course, I naturally almost always oblige. Partly, because that's my job, partly, because Lolly's my nail tech, but also because she is one of my best friends and I love experimenting with her hair.

Over the last couple of months, we've been lightening it in foils to get it nice and light, so this week we started with a little bit of root and some grown out highlights...

We then decided that, as Lolly is heavily pregnant, we were gonna skip highlights and go the whole hog and take her mega blonde, so that when her roots grow through, we can pop a lightener and toner on in half the time it takes to do a load of foils.

Lolly is also one of those lovely clients who always sees yellow. Always. So we put on a beautiful, silvery, metallic toner, focusing particularly on the freshly lightened hair nearest her scalp, and then finished it with a couple of dutch braids to keep her cool in the hot Cornish sunshine...

How gorgeous is this colour? It's a funky silver at the moment, but it'll fade to a perfect platinum, meaning she won't get tempted to reach for any home toning kits (naughty) and it'll stay much healthier!

She also sent me this picture of her hair the next day, her braids had stayed in and she'd clipped them up for this boho, milkmaid-inspired look!
Beautiful, edgy, and low maintenance!

Thank you Lolly, it was a pleasure!!