BEAUTY: Frida Kahlo's Braided Hair

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You learned how to make flower crowns that emulate Frida Kahlo's famous hair flowers. Of course those were secured in her high braided hair. Braids are something I've done since I was a child, but rarely anything fancy. During the hot Virginia summer, I played with simple braids a few times in my hair, and my daughters, but again nothing overly complicated. However, since I have long hair, I've wanted to learn more intricate styles. Frida's braids take basic and embellish on it. I think these styles are all very achievable for anyone that's familiar with basic braiding. If you aren't familiar with how to a basic braid, start here. That linked tutorial is done by a dad, and he is correct, it doesn't need to be perfect. Remember, for the most part, you are going to cover it with flowers. This combination of long hair braided and either wrapped around or piled on top of the head with adorning flowers, is a classic Frida Kahlo style. If you have medium length hair, you can either just do accent braids in the front, add extensions, or two braided pigtails pinned to the top of your head. If you have short hair, don't worry about braids. Rock the flower crowns with just your normal fabulous hair.

Like I mentioned, I've have long hair (ends about mid back), so these tutorials I'm going share are for long hair. There is one tutorial for medium length hair, but can be used for long hair too. For this post, I've found some great photo tutorials, and video ones. This post will be segmented into tutorials made with photo steps and written instructions, and filmed tutorials. There is even a video tutorial that includes makeup to recreate Frida's famous unibrow. Also, should I have failed to mention, this series of posts about recreating Frida Kahlo's look, is not intended as a costume. A culture is not a costume. It's about embracing a culture and showing your love. I would wear this any time of the year (minus the unibrow), but since Dia de los Muertos is soon, I thought sharing her style was fitting. Ok, onto the tutorials!

PHOTO TUTORIALS

A Beautiful Mess shows us How To Style Maiden Braids. This is a great style if you have long to extra long hair, as it uses multiple braids alternating and pinned to the top of the head. This can be done with the help of a friend, as shown, or by yourself if you have a great mirror. This is a great style for layering flowers or weaving colorful ribbons through the braids. You can also place a flowered circlet over the braids, or a flower crown between the two large sections of braids.

Keiko Lynn shows us how to do a top poof and wrapped braids. To create the poof, you do need some knowledge of back combing. It's not hard to do, but Keiko's photo and instructions aren't detailed on that subject. Here is a tutorial for backcombing. Use a fine tooth comb with barbs (made for backcombing/teasing) for the backcombing. Use the tight bristle brush to gently smooth the top without brushing out the teasing. Along the braids, you can clip hair flowers, or place a flower crown.

A Cup of Jo shows us how to create a Braided Top Bun, by twisted and pinning a braided high ponytail. With a flowered circlet, this a great solution to any bad hair day!

The Beauty Department shows us hot to create a Hot Crossed Bun for long hair, or medium hair. This circular wrap is a great hair style if you have very long hair, like I do. The medium length version wraps to above the bun. Though I have long hair, it's not very thick. If you are like me, for the bun, you might need the help of a Hair Donut. You can get them on Amazon (linked), beauty supply shops, or trendy accessory stores like Claire's. This hair style would work well with a flower crown or a circlet.

VIDEO TUTORIALS

Manyo Metal shows us how to create Frida Kahlo's hair and makeup. She has medium length hair, but this same style would work great with longer hair too. You can coordinate the ribbon color to your hair flower color. This is a great style to clip hair flowers into, or wear a flower crown. She honors Frida by finishing off the look with Frida's makeup including her famous unibrow.



Iris aka I Love Gerardo uses a long scarf and large brightly colored flower clips to create a Frida Kahlo Braided hair style. This is a similar style to the above video tutorial, but using the scarf makes the braid chunkier. Since the scarf does add volume to the braid, it's best to just add individual flower clips. You can coordinate the scarf and flower colors to the rest of your outfit.



Iris shows us another braided hair style. This one has the front half of the hair braided with ribbons, and the back is down. This is great if you have medium to long hair. You can add add flowers to the side, to hide where the ribbons start. You can coordinate your ribbon colors with your outfit.