Double Knot, Half-up Do

I had a vision one day of how I wanted my hair to look, but could not achieve it. Out of frustration I tried something else and TADA! (don't you just love when things accidentally turn out great?)

Please ignore the weird squiggly-ness going on about the first knot, I fixed that before I left the house!

This is really a no-brainer so you can probably figure it out just looking, but if not...

This works well with damp hair. Start by sectioning off a bit of hair on either side of your part (notice I don't use all the hair in the top half of the head, I find when I do I cannot get the knot to lay flat)

Use a comb or brush to smooth down the rest of the hair (this will avoid the unfortunate squiggly loose-ness seen in the first picture)
Now take the section of hair from each side of the head to the back and tie it in a simple knot, just like when you start tying your shoes

I don't really know what is going on here, but hopefully you get the basic idea...

Now add a thin section of hair, from under the original sections, to each strand of the knot

Make a second simple knot. If you crossed right over left the first time do it the same way this time, or vice-verse (cross the same side over top again).
Use a small rubber band to tie off the two sections of hair, underneath your second knot, like so:

Separate the hair in the ponytail in half and pull (like when you tighten a normal ponytail) to force the elastic up, under the knot. And you are done.

Later when my hair was dry I added a few curls to the remaining hair.

I don't know what was up with my hair the day I took these photos, but it was abnormally thick, so the second knot looks way weird...The first knot is also sitting a lot lower on my head than normal... I don't know what was going on. I promise this normally looks better. Try it and see!

I got the basic idea of this from Shaunell's Hair (or Pretty Hair is Fun, I don't know what you would like to be called anymore... :) ). Check out her video for the Daisy Chain Braid to see the process I used here.

I hope you like this quick and easy style to produce a unique look! Thanks for stopping by.

The 5 (hair related) Items I Can't Live Without

Ok, the title might be a bit of an exaggeration, BUT I do have issues about hair and without these things my life would not be complete.

#1: My combs:

This wide tooth comb has been with me longer than my driver's license. I lost it for about 8 months and it was horrible. If she ever broke I would likely cry. On a less insane note, wide tooth combs are a must for everybody, its the safest way to detangle wet hair. Brushes cause hair to stretch (which wet hair is vulnerable to do anyway) and break easily, and rat tail type combs' teeth are to close together causing too much pulling and stress for wet hair. You could probably get away with a normal tooth comb, but I don't own one.
As for my rat tail comb, that's much newer to the collection and let me tell you, I will not go back to parting without it! I do not use the tail like a lot of people, I use the teeth. I find that the super close together teeth make a really crisp line. Delicious!

#2: Goody brand Ouchless Ponytail Holders

These elastics are a cut above. I am cheap, I'm sure I mentioned that before, so I have definitely tried different brands, dabbled with the dollar store knock-offs, yada yada. These bad boys are worth every penny. Once in a blue moon I have one loose its elasticity or snap in half. But it is NOTHING compared to every other brand I have used. Last year for Christmas my mom bought me a pack of bands from the Dollar store, 11 out of 12 elastics snapped before I could get them in my hair. The twelfth broke mid day (whilst my hair was in a ponytail I might add....). Don't even bother.

#3 Bobby Pins:

Love them! My mom hates them. She is of the old school belief that bobby pins are not meant to be seen, and while that might be nice in some classy looks, one a day to day scale bobby pins have become sort of trendy. Plus they are so useful!! How else would we keep our pesky half grown out bangs out of our faces? Or tuck in the those silly hairs that poke out of french braids? And what would a bun be with out a few bobby pins? NECESSARY! (I will add I didn't always have the fancy bobby pins from Sally's, I usually just get the cheapest Goody ones available, and while the expensive ones do work a little better, its not necessary IMHO.)

#4 My Hairspray:

Love it, need it, cant live without it. No day is complete if it hasn't been used. I'm not picky about any particular brand here either. They all work and as long as it doesn't leave white flakes in my styles I'm sold.

#5 Flat Iron:

While I do not use this bad sally very often anymore (I've gotten lazy in my old age, haha!) I wouldn't trade this guy in. Well actually I would, I want a smaller on so I can use it to curl as well but yeah... Anyway I used to use like Revlon or Conair straighteners and they worked pretty good, but never lasted more than a year. Then I got rich or something, and splurged on this BaByliss (actually my friends aunt runs a salon so I got it at cost, but still WAY more than my normal heat tools). Let me tell you I will never go back to the Walmart brand straighteners again. This thing is a cut above! She will get rid of any kink or curl in no time flat (pun intended!). I saw at Winners a few months back that they had the 1" Chi straighteners for like 40$ so I will be keeping my eye out for that next time I'm there.

So what hair tools/products/accessories can you not live without? Please share because it makes us all feel better when others are also hair obsessed!

Simple, Elegent Updo

Oh man I am so excited to be back up and running! Hopefully someone will still stop by and read this blog every once and a while. 

This hairdo is SUPER easy. It literally takes 10 minutes, start to finish. I think it has a simple elegance to it that makes it perfect for a special occasion, but honestly, its so quick and easy that I wear it to run errands!

Usually I don't like to style my hair when its wet, but this one really only works for me with wet, or at least very damp hair. So to start, wet or dampen hair (my preferred method? take a shower!) then add your favorite gel or mouse all over the hair.

Make sure your hair is detangled throughout.

I like to start with a side part, and because this is a pretty slicked back 'do make sure the part is nice and crisp

Okay, then section off the top half of you hair, like you are making a half ponytail:

Using a fine tooth, or rat tail comb, smooth this all out.

Give this hair a half twist. Make sure the twist is nice and tight to your head. Think of this like a French twist, only going downward instead of up.

Now you are going to bobby pin this twist to your head.I usually use about 5 pins to do this. To give the twist its shape I like to put the first pin in at the bottom of the twist like so:

I know its hard to see, but the arrow gives you an idea of the direction I push the pin

I couldn't really take pictures of this process while I did it because it takes two hands. One to hold the twist and the other to manoeuvre bobby pins. To pin your twist, slightly open the prongs of your bobby pin (gross I know, but I use my teeth to help me do this), gently stick those prongs into the twist, not to far, then drag the pin over to the open side of the twist, trying to grab some of your anchor hair (hair on your head) then shove that bad boy right into your twist.  I know that sounds really confusing, but your basically just drawing a quarter of a circle with the folded end of your bobby pin and shoving it into the twist. Clear as mud right?
But, here is what you have now:

If you pin well, this is a beautiful style all on its own!

Okay, hard part over, it is all easy from hear on out.

Make a ponytail about two finger spaces down from your twist (this is going to depend on the thickness of your hair, if its thinner go closer, thicker leaver more space)

Now make a rope braid in your ponytail, tie it off with a small elastic that will be easy to hide in your bun. The twisty braid will give a cool dimension to the bun.

Then simply wrap that braid around to shape a bun. Don't do this to tightly, you want this kind of flat on the head.
Tuck the elastic you used under one of the loops that forms in your bun from the rope braid :

the arrow shows where I am shoving the elastic, I use a couple bobby pins to secure it hidden away

Use bobby pins to secure your bun where needed. Be careful not to cover your pretty twist, but try to get your bun to hit right up against it.

Accessorize if you want (I chose no) and you are done!

Side view

Top view (kind of)

from the back

and the front

That's my simple elegant do. What do you think?

Almost Back!

Hi all! It's been a while, I know! And I also know, its a little passed my target return of December.
Life's been crazy.
I finished my program in mid December, then spent two week with my family for the holidays. When I got back we spent a week searching for a new place to live, and finally found something. I was job hunting (not exactly the ideal time to look for a teaching job, but that is life). Just this morning I was hired in my district as an On-Call Teacher, so hopefully the work starts rolling in soon! I am so excited.
Anyway, I am back now! and so excited! I am looking forward to having some sense of a normalcy in my life, blogging included.

Check back on Saturday for a new hair-do!