Sunday 23 February 2014

The Lydia Look // Teen Wolf Lydia Martin Braided Updo



Today I'll be sharing a tutorial I've created for this Lydia Martin look. I'm a big fan of Teen Wolf and Holland Roden, and adore her style (and I love braids), so it only felt fitting. The look itself is two braids arranged into a headband shape. I've tried to explain and show it as simply as possible, but if you have any questions just ask me in the comments!
You will need: a hair brush, bobby pins and elastics. Optional is a texturising spray to add some more, well, texture and grip, and some kind of curling tong to curl the pieces of hair left out of the braids.

Before beginning, my hair was fairly wavy as I had slept with it in a twisted bun. I'd suggest having some kind of movement in your hair if you'd like it to be like Lydia's, but I have no doubt this hairstyle would be just as nice with straighter hair. I also suggest giving yourself a centre or close-to-centre part, so that your braids can be of equal size.
Step 1: After brushing through and spraying and scrunching my hair with VO5's Give Me Texture Dry Texturising Spray, I sectioned off the hair before my ear on each side of my head, and pinned them out of the way. If you have a fringe of some sort and want to leave it down, then feel free to.
Step 2: Now to start braiding. Split your hair into two down the middle, and braid each section. Make sure to start your braid fairly low down, you'll be wrapping the hair over your head so you don't want any awkward lumps. Just make sure to check it looks good every now and then by lifting it up against your head. Once braided, tie the ends with an elastic and then gently tug at the braids to make them larger.
Step 3: Once braided, let down those small pieces that were pinned up earlier. To recreate Lydia's look, pin half of each section back, just behind the ear. If you have a fringe that can't really be pinned like this, then either leave it down, or pin it upwards.
Step 4: My hair is quite long, so what I'm doing here is wrapping the half section that I pinned back around my fingers, and then sliding it into that same bobby pin. It looks a bit silly at this point, but the braid will soon be covering them. If your hair is a bit shorter then you may just want to skip this step!

EDIT: After wearing this hairstyle a lot since, I've found that you can actually incorporate this extra hair into the braid from the beginning, as long as you leave the braid quite loose at the start. It does make the hairstyle quicker in a way (you can skip steps 3 and 4) but you will most likely have to do a bit of adjusting with the finished look!

Step 5: Now for the fun bit! Take one of your braids and carefully wrap it upwards and over your head, like a headband, and then pin it in place at the end. While doing this, you want to cover those sections that were pinned up. Also, don't pull it too tight, the look is fairly relaxed.
Step 6: Repeat to the other side, making sure to tuck the ends of each braid into the other. This is the time where you can add a few more bobby pins in to make the braids secure. You can also do as I did and gently tease some of your hair out around your hairline to make the style more casual.
Step 7: This step is optional, but I curled the sections of hair I had loose around my face with this Mark Hill wand, to make it look a little more like Lydia's. You can also spray with hairspray, but I've found that once pinned in, the braids stay securely in place. Otherwise, you're done!

I've been wearing this look to college because (after practicing a few times) it's actually quite easy to do, and I think it looks really laid back. I can see myself wearing this on a more dressier occasion though, perhaps with less hair let loose - it's really versatile. Obviously this look is one for those blessed with longer locks, but I think it's manageable as long as your two braids can overlap each other, even a little.

I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial, it was really fun to create. Like I said, I have a big love for Lydia and Holland's style so I hope I did this look justice. Let me know if you give it a shot! Also, a big thank you to my sister for taking all of these photographs!

I am wearing:
Top // Topshop
Cardigan // Zara
Necklace // Kukee
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