Hair Tutorial- Side Dutch Braid for a Long Pixie or Bob

PC- Rachael Van Syckel-Pancic

Braids have been trending big time for months on Pinterest and all over blogs. For a while I counted myself out on that trend- because I have such short hair. But recently a friend pointed out to me that I still have plenty of hair in the front (thanks to my LONG pixie) so I tried and she was right. 

Today I have a braid tutorial for your long pixie or bob. Adding a braid that frames your face to a long pixie or bob is a really easy and cute way to keep your hair out of your face, work with 4 day old hair, and just mix up your hair styling. 

Start with slightly dirty hair- actually sometimes the dirtier your hair is, the better the braids look. This is day two or three day old hair- which I combed through and applied dry shampoo to the roots. 

Supplies needed:

Dry Shampoo (I also like this one.)

Volumizing Hair Spray

Pomade or Wax

Bobby pins

Tiny clear elastics

First you will tease the roots of the front section of hair you are braiding. You can braid the dominant side of your part (like you'll see today) or you could braid the non-dominant side. Teasing the roots here will help the braid have some dimension and not stick flat to your head.

Next section off the area you want to include in the braid. For this tutorial we left a little bit of hair loose in the front- but you could braid it all as well. Stick close to the face and section off about a 3"x 2" area. 

Divide that area in three sections to begin your braid. 

Most braids you see on Pinterest are Dutch braids. They are the most striking kind because they sit on top of your hair rather than inside it. Start your Dutch braid by putting one side section under the middle one and then the other side section under the middle one. Dutch braiding is just the opposite of a typical braid- rather than braiding over, braid under. 

Next you'll add a little bit of hair to that middle section and braid it under and then add more hair to the other side and braid it under. Continue adding small sections of hair and braiding under towards your ear. This will keep you on track and keep the braid near your face. 

Once you get a few inches down, stop adding new hair and continue the braid down as far as you can go. 

Next you'll begin to 'pancake' your braid. I don't have very thick hair, or much of it with this style, so to fake volume in my braid I pancake it. Pancaking means to slightly tug the outside of each section of hair to add volume to each piece. You don't want to pull hair out of the braid- just loosen pieces of hair to look like there is double the hair in the braid. 

Pancake the braid all of the way down the braid. This is really just trial and error to figure out how you like your braid to look.

Use 2-3 bobby pins to secure the braid just behind your ear. Try to push the bobby pins up from the bottom of your braid into your braid so that they hide and still secure the hair.

If you left out any hair in front of the braid, you might want to tease it a little to add volume. Tease the crown of your hair and the other side at the roots as well. Now that your braid is done, you want the rest of your dirty hair to look finished.

You can put a little wax on your fingers or use spray wax to give the rest of your hair some body and smoothness. Use a round brush or comb to lightly smooth your hair to give it a finished look. You could also grab your flat iron and add some curls or waves to the rest of your hair. There are so many variations you could do with this style. 

And that's it. A face framing side Dutch braid for a long pixie or bob. If you have any more questions about Dutch braids, Abby has this great video tutorial. Let me know if you have questions for me in the comments. And happy braiding!