Braided Up Do

Tools:

• Texture Spray
• Hair Spray
• Ponytail Holder (matches hair color)
• 2 Clear Elastics
• bobby pins large and small (match hair color)
• Sectioning Clips
• Teasing Comb

Instructions
1. Spray hair with texture spray to give it grip.
2. Separate hair from temple to ear on each side. Clip this hair out of the way.
3. Tease hair at the crown of your head. Use extra texture spray if needed. You want a lot of volume!
4. Take all of your hair (except the hair clipped back in step 2) and pull into a ponytail at the nape of your neck. Use a ponytail holder that matches your hair color. At this point you want to check the amount of volume at the crown. Loosen the hair at the crown to get more volume.
5. Next you are going to create a topsy turvy ponytail. Slide your ponytail holder down a few inches and split it down the center. Flip the ponytail up and feed it thru the split. Grab it from underneath and pull it thru. Tug the ponytail to tighten it up.
6. Now tease all of the hair in your ponytail. This volume is what you’ll use to make the chignon fuller. If you have a lot of hair you may not need to tease much, use your discretion. 
7. Gather all the teased hair and starting from the bottom roll your hair up. Keep rolling until you get to the ponytail holder. Once you get there start pinning in place. Large bobby pins work best to secure the chignon to your head. Once it is secure you can use smaller bobby pins to secure any stray pieces.
8. Take the hair from step 2 and braid each side. If you want any pieces left out this is the time to do it. Add texture spray if needed. To get a fuller braid, pancake* it after you tied it off with a clear elastic.
9. Take one braid and pull it back to the chignon. Secure it with bobby pins to the top of the chignon (see the above picture). Then take the other braid and place it on top. Tuck the ends of the braid under the braid and pin. Spray with hair spray.


*pancaking- gently pulling and spreading the strands of a brand to make it thicker. Start at the beginning and slowly pull on each outside strand. Work your way slowly to the bottom of the braid. You can go back and forth thru the braid until you get the desired look.