Rory's Secret Twist

Photo by: Rory M.

The French Twist is an old style, but the technique I am sharing is one that I discovered by accident, and it remains the only way I do twists now. 

Photo by: Rory M.

Step 1: Brush out the hair nice and smooth!

Step 2: Gather the hair at the base of the neck into a pony tail. 

Step 3: Position your hand over the ponytail, holding it between your thumb and index finger. 

Now it gets fun...

Photo by: Rory M.

Step 4: Rotate your finger counter-clockwise from 6 to 12 o'clock. The hair should be wrapped once 

around your finger.

Step 5: From there, rotate your hair down to 3 o'clock. 

Step 6: Turn your index finger to the left, so it points directly at your head. Keep turning until your finger is at nine o'clock (as seen in figure 5). 

Photo by: Rory M.

Step 7: Pull, tug, and tuck until the twist looks as you want it to. Bobby pin all the excess hair in place. Bekka's hair is very long, but we only used 7 bobby pins to keep it all in place!

Once your twist is all in place, give it a veil of hairspray to keep it smooth and together. 

Photo by: Rory M.

Don't be afraid try accessorizing like we did with a little red rose. The French Twist is a great style if you want simple elegance, or if you want to experiment with flowers, bows, clips, headbands, etc. 

Photo by: Rory M. 

Photo by: Rory M. 

Happy Holiday Hairdressing!
EOB

Winter Series: Hats

Photo by: Rory M. 

This is a winter trend I wish I took more advantage of. Hats are a great accessory because so much heat is retained through the head, and hats come in more styles than just about any other accessory. For this chapter of our Winter Series, we're going to showcase some of the most common styles of the season:

The Pom-Pom

Photo by: Rory M. 

The Goofy/Animal 

Photo by: Rory M. 

The Headband

Photo by: Rory M. 

Photo by: Rory M. 

The Paperboy

Photo by: Rory M. 

Do you have a favorite winter trend? Share your secrets with us at: anewbeautyblog@gmail.com!

EOB

Five-piece Braid

Photo by: Rory M. 

Photo by: Mike B. 

Today's tutorial isn't an easy one. The five-piece braid is complicated, not because of the process, but because of the nature of the braid. No matter how dexterous your hands may be, most of us have only two at the most, and juggling five strands takes a lot of concentration and coordination. 

I began the braid by taking a small chunk of hair from the heavier side of a side-part. Next, I separated the hair into five even pieces.

Photo by: Mike B.

The five-piece braid is essentially made up of weaving the five pieces in-and-out of each other. I begin with the right piece and pull it over the piece directly to its left. 

Next, I pull it under the next one to the left. Then, I go over the next piece. 

Instead of going under the following piece (on the far right), I took the strand on the far right and pulled it over the new strand now directly to it's right.

Photo by: Mike B. 

I know that's a lot of overs and unders. The way that I remember it is this: 

• Begin on on end.
• Over
• Under
• Over
• Repeat from other end. 

One of our readers sent us a great website that shows very clearly how to make four, five, six, even seven-piece braids! I like this site because it shows how to make the braids in a very clear way.

Photo by: Mike B. 

Photo by: Mike B. 

E-mail us your hair challenges at: anewbeautyblog.gmail.com. 

That Time of Year

Photo by: Rory M.

Hello beauty bloggers!

My apologies for being remiss. This is a reminder that we are still alive, however, the next week consists of finals. Preparing shoots and articles has gotten increasingly difficult with all that's going on at school, but we are trying our best to keep up!

Thank you all for your support!

EOB

PS: You can still follow some of my (Rory) holiday-themed adventures on my personal blog, Creatively Me.