Easy Side Braid Hairstyle How To

Busy Phillips is one of my favorite actors on ABC's Cougar Town.  She has beautiful long blonde hair which appears to be very healthy.  She looks great when she wears her hair in a side braid.

The side braid is a very popular hairstyle all year round, but it is especially popular during the hot summer months since it serves to keep hot hair off the back of the neck and keep strands from frizzing or getting limp.

Step By Step How To Recreate Easy Side Braid

A side braid is easy to achieve on hair which is long enough to plait.  To re-create this easy side braid follow the steps below on newly cleansed or aged hair:

Step 1: Use fingers or 100% boar bristle brush and direct all hair over to one side of the head. If you prefer, you can do like Busy did and create your side braid with an opposite side parting.  This hairstyle works with any type of part and any type of desired fringe.  If you want your braid to rest behind the ear, be sure to adjust your hair to the proper position before starting to braid.

Step 2: Apply a light styling cream, spray or similar styling product appropriate for your hair type, texture and current condition.  If you hair tends to frizz you may wish to apply a tiny bit of defrisant cream.  Finger pick styling product through your target braid strands.   Pull hair into a side pony and capture base with a hair-friendly elastic like a Blax or Bungee the same color as your hair.

Step 3: Once hair is prepped with desired product and pulled into a pony, separate the tail into three equal sized horizontal sections.  Plait hair into a traditional English or Dutch style braids.  You can plait so that the finished braid has hair which is over or under.  Braid the length of the strands and add an elastic hair tie at the end of the braid.

Optionally you may braid only partially down the length leaving a lot of hair at the bottom.  The option is up to you and the type of braided look you wish to create.

Note: You can create the braid on damp hair and then loosen into loose waves and coils like Busy has done to the side.

Step 4: Once your braid is finished, apply 1-2 drops of shine serum into the palms of your hands and massage together.  Lightly brush the serum coated palms of your hands over the top of your braid.

Braid Customization Option

A typical three-strand braid works perfectly, but the more you experiment with the braid the more unique the look will be.  You can create a customized look by gently pulling a few random pieces from the braid and allowing them to flow free.  This creates an unfinished or messy look.

Another option is to take your fingers and randomly loosen a few of the plaits so that they look more chunky, loopy or knotty  than the rest of the plaits.

Finally, you can change up your side braid by only braiding two strands instead of three or by creating a French Twist or rope braid instead of an English or Dutch plait.

Or after you created the three strand braid you can do what Busy does and roll it up into a messy braided chignon pinned behind her ear and to the side.

More Information

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