How to Create Half-Up Half-Down Braids

This elegant wedding hairstyle offers the best of both worlds.

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Photo: Bryan Gardner

Whether for you, your flower girl, or your bridesmaids, this half-up, half-down braided hairstyle offers the elegance of billowing curls with the convenience of an updo. For this wedding look, Cozy Friedman of Cozy's Cuts for Kids in New York City plaited two sections of hair to form a beautiful braided crown.

What You'll Need

Materials

  • Shampoo
  • Detangler or leave-in conditioner
  • Styling mousse
  • Styling gel
  • Bobby pins
  • Curling iron

Instructions

  1. Wash hair:

    Wash hair, adding detangler or leave-in conditioner to eliminate any snarls.

  2. Apply styling mousse:

    Using your fingers, run styling mousse through wet strands. This product is good for curly hair, but it is also good for fine hair, lending it volume, making it more pliable for braiding, and increasing its ability to hold the style over a longer span of time.

  3. Part hair:

    Part the hair on the side and pull it back, adding a bit of styling gel to control the baby hairs around the face.

  4. French braid hair:

    flower-girl-hair-how-to-braid-crown-step-1-0515.jpg
    Mike Krautter Photography

    First working on the left and then the right, French braid the hair. The two braids should eventually meet in the middle at the back of the head.

  5. Pin the braids together:

    flower-girl-hair-how-to-braid-crown-step-4-0515.jpg
    Mike Krautter Photography

    Bring the two braids together and crisscross them, pinning them in the middle so that it looks like one seamless braid.

  6. Curl the hair:

    flower-girl-hair-how-to-braid-crown-step-2-0515.jpg
    Mike Krautter Photography

    When the braids are complete, curl the ends of the hair. If desired, add an accessory on one or both sides of the look.

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