Recently on YouTube, there has been a viral trend of YouTubers following each other’s tutorials (makeup, hair, DIY projects, etc…). I thought I’d give it a go and test if YouTube tutorials are impossible for beginners, or actually achievable! Here is my attempt at following a YouTube hair tutorial.
A large amount of these “following tutorial” videos revolve around makeup tutorials. I originally planned on following a makeup tutorial, but soon realized I didn’t own half of the products needed for most of the looks I found. Instead, I decided to follow a hair tutorial!
I would consider myself to be a novice when it comes to hair styling. I taught myself how to braid from YouTube videos. Growing up, I would practice on dolls, my sisters, and my own hair. I can do multiple styles of braiding including French braids, Dutch braids, fishtails, four and five strand braids, as well as having attempted waterfall braids. I’ve also helped friends out with hair for plays and musicals, and have done my own hair for multiple high school dances.
On most days I simply wear my hair down, but will occasionally pull it into a ponytail, curl it, or do French braids. With school, homework, and activities, sometimes you don’t have the time to attempt detailed hairstyles!
When searching through hair tutorials to try for this challenge, I remembered a tutorial I watched last year. The movie “Wonder Woman” was coming out, and I saw a tutorial for one of Diana’s braids in the movie! I will admit, I have watched this tutorial a few times in the past, as well as trying it out on my sister, but have never attempted this look on myself. Based on the difficulty of the braid, I thought it would perfect for this challenge (and who doesn’t love Wonder Woman)!
Video courtesy of Kayley Melissa on YouTube
Let’s try it! (Special thanks to my friend, Gabby, for helping me take photos!)
First things first, I brushed my hair and pulled up the video to get started! In the video, she starts by putting in hair extensions for added volume and texture. I have thin, medium-length hair, so extensions would have been nice to add, but unfortunately, I have none. Sometimes you have to work with what you’ve got! The next step is to pull the hair from behind your ears up and secure with a clip. I don’t own a clip similar to the one she used, so I used a thin hair elastic instead.
The next step is to split the ponytail into two sections and to grab the third piece of hair randomly from the side. With the third piece, wrap it around the two sections from the ponytail to begin creating an infinity braid. The infinity braiding can be tricky at first, so I would recommend looking it up before you try this style out!
Once you’ve have wrapped that piece around a few times, incorporate it into one of the two main sections. The next step is by far the hardest in the tutorial: a French infinity braid! You use the same technique of creating an infinity braid while incorporating hair into the sections like you would do with a French braid. Take a piece of hair from outside the two main sections, and wrap it around them. In the video, she uses the phrase “over, under, over, together”. You take the outside piece of hair and go over one of the main sections, below the other, and back over it to then add it to the main section you first went over (it’s a little confusing). Then you do the same with a piece of hair from the other side, and so on and so on.
Mid-way down your head, you are going to switch from doing a French infinity braid to a French fishtail braid (as if it couldn’t get harder)! With the two main sections you have, grab an outside piece of hair (like you would do for the French infinity braid), but incorporate it into the main section on the opposite side you took from. For example, if I take a piece from the left side of my head, I’m going to incorporate it into the right main section of hair. Once again, it would help to be familiar with the type of braiding before you attempt this hairstyle!
*It was somewhere around here where my braid began to get messed up. Your arms begin to become super tired, and it can be easy to lose track of which fingers are controlling which pieces of hair. With more practice, I’m sure I could do better!
You continue to French fishtail down the rest of your head until you reach the bottom, in which you proceed to do a normal fishtail braid to the end of your hair.
That’s the finished look! When watching the tutorial again once I was finished, I definitely noticed some things I could improve on. In general, her braids were tighter than mine, most likely because she took smaller strands of hair. Not only that but back in the first step I used a hair elastic to create the half-up, while she used a clip. Once the braiding is complete, she removes the clip, while I couldn’t take the hair elastic out without having to cut it. In her finished look, it is easy to point out where one type of braiding ends and where the next begins. With mine, all the braids look very similar.
Overall, I would say I did a pretty good job! The hairstyle itself is very complex and tiresome on your arms. The video gives very clear and useful instructions, and provides a simpler version of the hairstyle! This experience has proved to me that beginners like me can successfully achieve looks in YouTube tutorials (as long as we practice a few times)!
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
All original photos from Paige Strout