Fake crown braid (pics)

[heidihug]

I have tried the crown braid many times, and it's really hard for me to do - perhaps my hair is too long, because it takes forever, and when I am done I have a really, really long tail that I have to wrap around and tuck in somewhere. Plus I get the oddest looking hair cleavage on the back of my head no matter how I try to distribute the hair evenly within the braid. Ssooo....

I fake crown braid. Ponytail at the nape of the neck, split in two, and braid each strand. Then wrap each braid around the sides, top and back around and fasten with a few pins behind each ear. Here are pics.

The back (I sometimes hide the ponytail elastic with a small barrette):

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=611&pictureid=16127

The top (my hair is not this red - the vagaries of a cell phone camera):

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=611&pictureid=16132

The side (I like this view the best):

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=611&pictureid=16133

Several people have commented on my hair when I wear it like this. Of course, sometimes it's because my name is Heidi, and they like to point out that my hair matches my name. Yeah, like I've never thought of that before.

[Gumball]

That's very pretty, heidihug. Smart idea to occasionally hide the tie with a barrette, you hair ninja you. :) Too bad you get those "har har" remarks about your hair/name combo. It's always amusing when you can tell the person is almost in an "I'm the first to say it!" kind of mode.

[lora410]

Oh what a GREAT idea and it makes me wish my hair was long enough to do this.

[Siava]

That is super cute!

[harpgal]

What a great idea! I will have to try this!

[CurlyNinja]

That's really cute, and looks a lot easier than actually crown-braiding! Although it does make me pine for hair long enough to do it neatly!

[katiana]

That's a clever idea..I wish my hair was long enough to do that! Looks super

[FrannyG]

This is beautiful, and provides me with even more inspiration to keep on growing. :flowers:

[heidihug]

Thanks for the compliments! I like it as it's easy and a great "dirty" hair day up-do - there's not much underside of the hair showing, if you know what I mean. Very comfy, too, since it distributes the hair evenly around the head.

[julya]

Very pretty! Where did you tuck the ends of the braids in? And what do you use for pinning the braid? This is a style that I want to master, but I haven't yet been able to do it nicely.

[heidihug]

julya, I tuck the braid ends in underneath the big braid as they come up under and behind my ears. When my hair was a bit shorter, the braids ended nearer the back of my head, so that's where I tucked and pinned them. Today I used bobby pins to hold them in place - just inserted them in the braid end first, then slid them into and under the big braid. And another bobby pin underneath the braid on top of my head just to secure it and keep it from slipping backwards.

I dream of having hair long enough to coil a braid spirally around and around, all over the top and back of my head. I'm odd that way.

[eresh]

What a good idea!
It looks lovely

[Chromis]

Very nice! That's my favourite hairstyle, but I can never get two braids to look neat. I always have to do mine with one :)

[heidihug]

Chromis, I have done this with one braid, too, but I have too much taper to feel really comfortable with it. Another few inches, maybe!

[julya]

I think I might just be incompetent with bobby pins. I can never seem to insert them into my hair comfortably. They are always pulling at individual strands, so I try again, and again. And eventually I just get frustrated and just make a bun instead.

I think spiraling a braid to cover your head would look so cool! It would be like a hair hat!

[Chromis]

I think I might just be incompetent with bobby pins. I can never seem to insert them into my hair comfortably. They are always pulling at individual strands, so I try again, and again. And eventually I just get frustrated and just make a bun instead.

I think spiraling a braid to cover your head would look so cool! It would be like a hair hat!

If you can't get the bobby pins, you might try ickle bitty claw clippies or Amish hair pins. For me the bobbies work best, but they are what I am most accustomed to.

[Patrycja]

I love crown braids but I am too chicken to even try it :lol: I can't even do a decent plain three strand braid when its not wet :embarassed: I will definately have to try this when I get that long :) thanks!

[Anje]

Beautiful! I've done this with pigtails, but I think I like your ponytail-based one better! Now I just need to become more competent at pinning it in place without mussing it up.

I long for the day I can get a fat, fairly un-tapered braid wrapped around my head, Yulia Tymoshenko-style. It'll never be quite as fat as her braid extension, but it's still a great look.

[physicschick]

Thanks for posting this. I might actually be able to do it by starting with a ponytail. (Somehow things go wrong when I've started with two independent braids on opposite sides of my head.) It looks great on you!

[Mary <><]

Very lovely! Great job!

[julya]

Chromis, thank you, for suggesting the mini claw clips. That is a great idea! I have a bunch of those around the house, and I have much better luck with those than bobby pins. I'll post a pic when I give it a try.

[Sceleste]

I just tried this style and had problems hiding the bobby pins. It didn't look good to me when they were showing. I might invest in some really tiny claw clips and try with those.

Any chance we could see a picture with a barrette at the back? I tried to hide the pony with one but it didn't look pretty. In fact it looked exactly like I was trying to hide something under the barrette. :)

[Poppy Seed]

Why didn't I think of doing it this way??? My mini-goal is to be able to wrap on plait around my head (almost there, but like you I have a bit too much taper on the ends - it only just reaches right round), and so far when I want the style I've faked it by doing two which both start very close together near the nape of my neck then wrapping them across each other and round.

Will try this tomorrow methinks!

[Amoretti]

This is a good idea! Thanks for posting it; I think it might just be something I can do. :)

[Boudicca]

Nice idea! I might try this. It looks very Giselle.

[TammySue]

Thank you so much for this style, which is something I can certainly do! I think it looks so pretty! :blossom:

[julya]

I tried it out using claw clips and it worked! I actually just did one braid, instead of two, but it came out nicely. I posted couple of pictures of it in my photo album, but I'm not sure how to put them here.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1372&pictureid=16202
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1372&pictureid=16201

[Stagecoach]

Lovely style! I wear my hair very similar, but without the pony band. I start my braids right next to eachother, cross and wrap. That way, I don't get any breakage from the pony band.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f85/PrairieSunrise/hair/doublebraids.jpg



Several people have commented on my hair when I wear it like this. Of course, sometimes it's because my name is Heidi, and they like to point out that my hair matches my name. Yeah, like I've never thought of that before.

This always cracks me up, because the storybook Heidi didn't wear her hair in braids wrapped around her head! The book only describs Heidi's hair as black, curly and loose! I've often wondered why we associate the braids with Heidi.

[angelthadiva]

Very cute! I'm going to have to try that...I don't have the patience to do the "real ones" for myself!

[Cheery]

I tried this on my hair today and it actually worked!! I've always wanted to do crown braids but they never seem to work out right, but this style was so easy! Thank you for posting it!

[janaana]

This sounds like a lovely style. I'm going to try it tomorrow.

[heidihug]

Any chance we could see a picture with a barrette at the back?

Next time I do this hairstyle, I will try to get a pic with a barrette in the back and post it here.



The book only describs Heidi's hair as black, curly and loose! I've often wondered why we associate the braids with Heidi.

I know, what's up with that? I actually think that the braid thing came from several editions of the book which were published in the 50's and 60's which had illustrations of Heidi with braids - I know my copy of the book had her on the cover with braided pigtails.

So glad this style suggestion was helpful for some of you - nice to see the kind responses after coming back from a 4-day holiday weekend!