Whether you want to add a little bit of pizazz to your actors for your fantasy film, or are just looking for inspiration for the next dress-up party, have a look at this how-to guide for these three fancy fantasy hairdos!
The basis of creating fancy braid hairstyles is:
- The classic braid
- The French braid
- The Dutch/Russian braid
If you have a good grip and can master these three simple braid styles, the options are already limitless! If you know how to do a fishtail braid, even better!
So, let me quickly explain how to create these basic braids before I move on to the actual fantasy hairstyles.
To make the process easier, brush your hair to untangle it, have hair ties, some kind of clips and a rattail comb within reach.
The classic Braid
- Divide your hair into three equal sections
- Place the right-hand strand over the middle section and hold in place.
- Take the strand on the left and place it over the strand that’s now in the middle.
- Repeat until you get to the desired length of the braid.
- Fasten with a hair tie.
- To make the braid look thicker, gently tug on the sides of the braid. This applies to the French and Dutch braid as well.
The French Braid
- With the rattail comb, neatly section off the first layer of your hair.
- Divide it into three sections and begin to braid.
- Every time you place the strand from the side over the middle strand, add a section of hair from the side.
- Repeat until you get to the desired length of the braid.
- The braid will get thicker as you go along and add hair to the sides.
- Experiment with different thickness of the strands you’re adding.
The Dutch Braid
The only difference between the Dutch braid and the French braid is that the strands from the side are placed under the middle section.
- With the rattail comb, neatly section off the first layer of your hair.
- Divide into 3 sections and instead of placing the strands from the side over the middle strand, place the side-strands under the middle strand.
- Add hair from the respective side to the strand that is placed under the middle strand.
- Repeat.
- Tie off with an elastic.
- Tug on the sides to make it look fuller.
The Legolas look
1. With the rattail comb, neatly section off the first layer of your hair.2. Make sure to leave a small but thick section of hair above your ears out.
3. Braid the hair of the top section while tugging at the hair on the sides as you go along.
4. Tie off with an elastic that is either see-through or close to the color of your hair.
–An alternative to the normal braid would be a fishtail braid.
5. Use the ‘left-over’ section above each ear to create a Dutch Braid.
–It is exactly the same process as the Dutch braid, just a bit trickier because it is a smaller section of hair and you’d want to make it quite tight.
6. Stop adding hair from the sides as soon as you get past the ear. Continue then to simply finish braiding the hair without adding any hair from the sides.
7. Tie off with an elastic band, and repeat on the other side.
The Daenerys Look
1. With the rattail comb, neatly section off the first layer of your hair and divide that into two equal sections on either side of the parting.2. To prevent the rest of the hair from getting in the way, tie it off or pin it away with bobby pins.
3. Use one section to create a dutch braid, but the trick is to add hair only from the side that’s closest to your hair parting, not the other side.
4. Continue until the braid reaches the back of your head. You can either pin it down or tie it off before you move on to the left/right side and continue the same process.
5. Tie the braids together with a see-through hair tie.
6. Repeat the process by braiding the sections underneath the first sections in the same way, only adding hair from the side that’s closest to your middle parting. Don’t add all the rest of the hair to the second section as you will still want to leave a big chunk of hair down.
7. Tie the two braids together with the joint strand of the upper two braids.
8. If you curled the rest of the hair, that would be an extra bonus, but that depends on what you like.9. This is optional, but if you want to hide the hair ties, take a small strand of hair from the respective ponytail, wrap it around the elastic and fasten the last bit with a bobby pin underneath the ponytail. Do this around both elastics.
The Fancy Elf thingamabob – looks harder than it is!
1. Section off a larger section of hair on one side of your head.2. Tie away any hair from the bottom that could get in the way.
3. Start Braiding a loose French Braid, but:— Only add hair from the side closest to your parting, and:
— Pull whole strands out of the braid before you place the outer strand over the middle.
4. Stop braiding when you have 5 strands hanging out of the braid and pin the braid down.
5. Braid the individual strands that are left out.
6. Continue the big braid, taking in hair from the side closest to your parting, and:— on the other side, add the small braids in as you go along, starting with the one closest to your face.
7. Tug on the small braids to slightly pull them out as you continue to braid.8. Once you have added in all the smaller braids, stop taking in more hair from the side and finish off braiding the hair normally.
9. Tie it off with an elastic band, and – Voila! Your Fancy Elf Thingamabob!
Don’t worry if it doesn’t turn out perfectly the first time. You’ll get the hang of it. And with this fellow film school students, actors and creatives, have fun with creating your films (or parties) and wow your audience and friends with these simple hairstyles that look really fancy!
