The fish tail braid is so hot right now. It’s that perfect mix of polished and I-don’t-give-a-crap that looks great with anything. There are so many variations to the braid and, that’s probably the reason everyone loves the style so much – you really have the freedom to make it your own. We love Leona Lewis’ side fishtail braid – proof that a fishtail braid is sophisticated enough to rock on the red carpet.
Fishtail braid looks pretty difficult, but once you’ve got the technique down, it becomes almost as easy to create as a regular braid.
Here’s our best technique for creating your own fishtail braid.
- Spray a conditioning spray all over dry hair to add shine. Then create a side part. Divide your detangled, second-day hair into two separate and large equal sections. Decide which direction you’ll weave; you can weave from right to left or left to right, depending on whatever feels most comfortable.
- Braid the hair into a fishtail by holding the right-hand section in your right hand. With your left hand, take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the left-hand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the right-hand section. In other words, the strand of hair has gone over the first section and finishes under the second section. The skinner strand you use, the more intricate the braid will look so try to use the same thickness for each strand during the braiding process or it will come out looking uneven.
- Do the same thing on the other side. Hold the left-hand section in your left hand, use your right hand to take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the right-hand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the left-hand section. You’ll need to use gravity to your advantage as you keep changing hands, and if the strands keep slipping then your hair probably isn’t ‘dirty’ enough. Running some mousse or styling wax through your hair will fix this problem in a jiffy.
- Keep repeating the steps until you reach the end of your hair length. Tie your hair with a elastic hair tie.
- If you feel the fishtail is too tight, use your fingers to gently massage into the strands and loosen it. Pull out the sides of the braid slightly to give it a messy boho feel and to create wispy flyaways.
- Spray some holding hairspray all over your hair to hold the fishtail in place.
Tips
Use bobby pins or hairspray to hold flywaways
For thicker hair use thicker strands thank skinnier
For a messy look tease your hair first before you begin braiding
Fishtails braids will not work unless your hair is at armpit length