Braided Half Up | Prom Hairstyles

BONUS VIDEO! Be sure to check back here this coming Wednesday night, to see a bonus family video! It’ll be a Room Tour of Daxton & Paisley’s room! Paisley is so excited for you to see her new bed!

With Prom season right upon us, the girls and I wanted to give you an easy half-up hairstyle perfect for the dance. This is an updated variation of our Pancake Braids w/Sock Curls tutorial that we put up years ago.

We began by curling Brooklyn’s hair with a 25mm curling wand, and helped set the curls with hairspray. For the accents, you can use any type of braids you want, but I feel the best options are Dutch Fishtails and regular 3-strand Dutch Braids. {This is because they pancake the best.} For this tutorial, and for the sake of time, we used Dutch Braids here.

The twins aren’t going to Prom this year, since they have chosen to not date until they are 16, but they are helping several of their upper classmate girls to do their hair for the night! I believe I’ve been roped into helping, too!

Brooklyn’s Prom Look:
Dress {Similar}  | Necklace {Similar} | Flash Tattoo | Earrings | Shoes

To see your own photo recreations of this style featured in our CGH app, feel free to tag your photos on IG with: #CGHBraidedHalfUp

This look would also make a wonderful Festival Hairstyle, something you could wear to Coachella, medieval festival, or a renaissance fair. Really, this hairstyle pretty much looks great for any occasion… a definite head turner!

Items Needed: Brush, rat-tail comb, teasing brush, spray bottle, 3 small hair elastics, 6-8 small bobby pins, finishing spray {if desired}.

Time Requirement: 10-15 minutes

Skill Level: Easy

Video Tutorial:

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Begin by prepping the hair for an updo {I used a 25mm curling wand and added some hairspray to help define longer lasting curls}…
2. Take a front section of hair, from the forehead to the crown, and carefully back comb it all with a teasing comb {remember when teasing, only go in a downward motion, not an up-and-down motion.  This will help add volume, yet keep the hair from tangling and being difficult to take out later}…
3. Once teasing is done, flip the hair back over and using an edge of the comb or smoothing brush, gently smooth the top surface of the hair only {being careful not to comb out your tease}…
4. Leaving about 2 inches of hair above each ear down, gather the rest of the teased hair and create a poof on top/front and shape it to your liking…
5. When you love the way the top looks, set it by crossing bobby pins in the back {I used four pins to get Brooklyn’s thick hair to stay in place all day}…
6. Next, take the two inches of hair on one side of the head and Dutch braid them.  I started with Dutch Braid stitching {adding hair in the sides} for three or four stitches, before switching to a regular 3-strand braid…
7. Only go a few stitches past the back center of the head before securing the braid with an elastic…
8. Now go back and pancake the braid {making the hair look more full and also cover any unwanted part lines…
9. Repeat Steps #6-8 on the other side of the head…
10. Then take one braid over the poof bobby pins and secure in place…
11. Next, cross the other braid over and bobby pin you just placed, making sure to tuck the elastics under other braid to hide them…
12. Use a strong finishing spray to set the style, and add accessories {if desired}.

Brooklyn’s In-Video Outfit
Shirt {Similar} | Shorts  | Shoes

Mindy’s In-Video Outfit:
Jeans | Shirt | Tank | Shoes

If you loved this Prom-inspired Braided Half Up hairstyle, please let us know! Please also feel free to tell us if you would like to see us post a Prom Prep & Texture tutorial, as well!

Happy Hairdoing!