Polished braid styles don't have to be square. This high-end look, pulled straight from the Valentino runway, provides the perfect base for a headband or hair accessory.
How to:
1. Prep detangled, damp hair with smoother and volumizer. (Try Aveda Light Elements Smoothing Fluid, $26, and John Frieda Luxurious Volume Thickening Mousse, $5.99.)
2. Blow dry hair straight with a paddle brush and part it to the side.
3. Gather hair into a low side ponytail and secure with a clear elastic, leaving out a half-inch-wide piece.
4. Wrap the loose piece around the base of the ponytail to conceal the elastic. Secure with a U-shaped bobby pin and set with strong-hold hairspray.
5. Braid the ponytail and secure at the end with another elastic, concealing it with a piece of hair from the end of the braid.
6. Secure with hairspray all over, smoothing flyaways with hands. (Optional: Add a headband for a preppier look.)
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Best Braid Style No. 10: Updated Leia
2016 has been the year of "Star Wars," so why not bring your braid styles along? These plaited Princess Leia buns are adorable, whether or not you have plans to board the Millennium Falcon.
How to:
1. Prep clean, dry, tangle-free hair with shine spray. (Try Sebastian Professional Halo Mist, $18.95.)
2. Part hair down the middle and make two equal-sized pigtails, leaving out some pieces (or your bangs) in the front. Secure with clear elastics.
3. Tightly braid each pigtail, securing them at the end with another elastic.
4. Wind each braid into a bun and pin into place. Set with hairspray.
5. Modernize the look by accessorizing with floppy hat; the buns double as a glam support system.
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Best Braid Style No. 9: Desk to Dusk
This front French braid had the world aflutter when Jennifer Anniston debuted it at the 2009 Academy Awards. The look holds up beautifully — a necessary edition to your collection of day-to-night braid styles.
How to:
1. Start with wavy, texturized hair. (Try Garnier Fructis Style De-Constructed Texture Tease Dry Touch Finishing Spray, $4.29.) Create a slight side part.
2. Make a tiny (and we mean tiny!) French braid from the scalp down the side of your head. (If it's going awry, start over. This time, find and work with the section of hair that falls naturally where you want the braid. Braid in that direction.)
3. Pin the braid in place a few inches above your ear.
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Best Braid Style No. 8: Edgy Dutch Twist
Cara Delevingne made this badass braid style famous in Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" music video. Now, it's become a must-try look, especially when paired with a smoky eye.
How to:
1. To recreate Cara's volume, curl your hair with a two-inch curling iron, starting from the ear, down.
2. Create a deep side part.
3. On the side of your part, make a tiny, side Dutch braid, starting about an inch from your hairline and moving straight backward.
4. Pin the braid in place underneath the hair in the back, then mist all over with a strong-hold hairspray.
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Best Braid Style No. 7: Rapunzel's Chignon
If Rapunzel ever attended a red carpet event, we imagine this would be among the braid styles she'd choose to rock. Though the look requires some French braiding skills, it's not as complex as it looks.
How to:
1. Tease hair and lightly smooth it out at the crown for height.
2. Create middle or slight side part, and split hair in two sections, left and right.
3. On each side, reverse French braid the entire section until you get to the spot behind your ear.
4. Switch from a French braid to a regular braid and finish braiding each section away from your head. Secure each side with a clear elastic.
5. Wrap one braid from left to right at the nape of your neck, securing with large hair pins (available at a beauty supply store) or bobby pins as you go. Coil the opposite braid underneath it and secure into a bun.
6. If desired, leave out a few pieces around your face and curl them with a curling iron for a soft, romantic touch.
7. Set with strong-hold hairspray.
Braid envy — it's a thing. If you find yourself gazing longingly at the intricately beautiful braid styles on Instagram and Pinterest, you've got a major case of it. There's nothing like an afternoon spent flipping through online photos of stunning braid styles, imaging yourself wearing them all from work to brunch to your wedding.
There is one little hiccup to this whole braid fever phenomenon: If you're not a naturally gifted hair wiz, attempting complicated braid styles can be downright daunting. Luckily, it doesn't have to be.
To help give even the most clumsy among us a leg up in the braid styles department, we grilled some of the industry's most celebrated stylists and bloggers for the precise, step-by-step braiding instructions you need to pull off braiding all by yourself.
Thanks to celebrity stylist Marcus Francis, Nine Zero One Salon stylists Florido Basallo and Amber Maynard, plus a few other independent braid geniuses, we have the goods on how to recreate 15 amazing braids. From the fan-favorite waterfall braid to the classic braided chignon, you'll see that these modern and sophisticated braid styles can take you anywhere.
Still afraid you don't have the skills? Put aside any doubts you have, and remember, you're not landing a Mars rover. You're just braiding your hair. With these simple braiding instructions (and a little practice), you can master Pinterest-worthy braid styles in no time.
