Long Hair Fix: Complex Look with Simple Braids

 I always tell people that in order to be a prepared female it is NECESSARY to have adequate hairstyles for the zombie apocalypse.  Consider this:
-Tomb Raider/Angelina Jolie: Braided Hair, awesome female in action
-Hunger Games/Jennifer Lawrence: Braided Hair, awesome in action
-Most of the females in Mortal Kombat: Braided hair, ridiculously awesome

My point is that all the great kick butt females have braids.  Or at least all the ones I mentioned.

To do this braid all you have to do is the one sided French braid technique.  You will only pull hair from the outside of the braid.

Here is my sketchily created diagram of what I did.  I started at the side of my head with a small section of hair.  I crossed from both sides a few times before I started pulling hair into it.

After those few times, I start pulling hair only when I crossed from the one on the outside (toward my face).

When I got down to my ear level I decided to lateral back around my head.  I only pulled very small sections this whole time.

This allowed me to secure the braid in with pulled hair while still having hair below, as seen in the second picture.

Basically, I only pulled sections to incorporate with the braid that were right where I wanted the braid to lay.

I continued that pattern all the way around and up, still only pulling hair and incorporating with the one coming from the outside. 

When I got all the way around and back near my braid, I stopped pulling hair and braided it regularly to make it easier to poke through.  I then poked it through a section of the braid, unbraided the excess, and went back to the method I had been using of incorporating hair with the sections pulled from the outside.

I continued to do this in a series of loops, braiding out the end and securing it with bobby pins under another section. 

It looks difficult, and may even sound difficult, but it was actually really easy since it is the same technique the whole way through.  If you can French braid, you can EASILY do a braid like this. 

I have a couple of other styles I am going to try with this soon.  When it is 90+ degrees outside, I LOVE having my hair all up without it looking like I just tossed it in a ponytail. 

Happy crafting!