At the moment, I am very much into doing different things to my hair. I have always been a straightened-hair-down kinda girl, mainly because I suffered from severe acne  in my younger years, and used my fringe to my best advantage.

Two courses of Roaccutane and advancing age later, I am much more comfortable in my own skin (literally) and I am even welcoming the pull back dos (check my post on ballerina buns) , which were a big no-no in the past!

Plaits were, as well as the ballerina buns, a big part of my life when growing up. My mum was a big fan of many forms of plaiting and side ponytails.  I learnt how to plait my hair very young, and for most of my life, they played the “bad hair day” ally part.

What I never learnt was to do a French plait – this was always a frustration of mine.  And I had never heard (or seen) a fishtail plait until very recently.

So, as with all the things I like, I decided to give it a go. Armed with a comb and Youtube, I found video tutorials to help me fulfill my plaited dream.

Holiday hair - but where's the sun?

I found the French plait particularly useful for when on holidays. When done in the fringe, it kind of tidies up the frizziness of the whole hair, resulting on a  “polished” wild look.

As for the fishtail, I just find it prettier than a normal side plait; it is more interesting, I like the texture on it – after finishing it, I usually scruff it up a bit, to get a more natural, less tight look.  It also helps to keep the strands of  hair that are too short for a side plait tighter. For both, it took me a few attempts to get it right,  but now I am able to do them quite quickly!

Here is the tutorial I used for the fishtail plaits and the French plait, both by FoxyLocks on YouTube.

It is so nice to wake up and think we have options that won’t take you ages to achieve,  before reaching out to the good old straightener!