French Twist Those Bangs!

A few years ago, I was playing around with the front pieces of my hair and came up with a cute way to french twist my bangs back! It is trendy, quick, easy and hides the grease :)

Start with your hair parted further over than usual.

Tease the hair around the crown of your head. (I always tease my hair before I style it. I can't stand seeing bed head or a part that goes all the way down the back of heads lol) 

Don't be afraid to get some height. Remember, your hair will fall, especially after you play with it.

Next, grab the front section of your hair. Divide the section into two larger pieces.

Let the twisting begin!  Twist the sections of hair around each other - away from your face.

Each time you twist, pick up another section of hair around your face. Essentially, you are just french twisting these pieces of hair.

Continue twisting toward your ear.

When you get passed your ear, take a bobby pin that blends with your hair and slide it in from the bottom pointing upwards.

If one bobby pin doesn't feel tight enough, you can add another by crossing it over making an 'X' to lock them in.

You can leave your hair down with some loose/natural waves...

Or pull it into a pony or braid!

Hope this will help you the next time you're running late or when you're just too lazy to wash your hair :)

We would love to see you make this style your own. Send us pictures and comment below!

- Angela Liljenquist

Double Front Braid

We are totally loving braids this season!  It is a great way to add personality to your hair and SO easy.  Today we are going to show you how to do a "double front braid" perfect for long and short hair. Angela will be the model for today so don't mind her dark roots, it just adds dimension, right?! ;) 

Prep your hair to your likings, i.e. straight, curl, natural, etc. We parted Angela's hair over a little further than usual because we like that look with braids and it just gives you more space to show off your braid :)

Take a section of hair on the back half of the part (about 1x1 inch) and separate into three to start the braid. I did about 3 or 4 inside braids before actually picking up hair to create the french look.

 

Continue that pattern till about 2 inches above the ear.  This will make the braid less uniform and thin because you're not picking up as much hair. This was the look we wanted so if you want a more clean and uniform look go ahead and pick up hair every time you cross!

Once you stop the french, finish the braid off and secure. You can use a small elastic or I just used a bobby pin because it will only be temporary.

Begin second braid (just like the first) leaving you bangs or the section of hair closest to the hair line out. This will give you more of a soft look. If you want your hair out of your face, you can braid it all.

Again adding hair to the braid about every 3 or 4 patterns. I am getting the hair from underneath the braids rather picking it up from the sides. We can do this because we aren't picking up hair every time and this will allow the braids to be closer together.

Stopping the french pattern about 1 inch above the ear for the front braid and continuing the braid down to the end.

Section off the back hair, middle hair (hair between the braids), and front hair.

Pin the back braid so it is secure against the head and low enough to be covered by the loose hair.

I like to use two bobby pins and cross them like an "X" so they wont slip and will be secure.

Using the same technique pin the front braid down just above/behind ear in an "X" so it will be tight and hidden. You will want to keep the middle section of loose hair out because that is what will cover and hide your bobby pins.

Adjust lose hair over the bobby pins and it should fall naturally over the bobby pins. If not pull the braid back and under the hair a little more.

Finish with a little tease at the crown and spray to hold.

You can see that the braided sections of hair are not clean and distinct. I think it looks better this way. We've tried it before using clean parted sections and an outside braid but it looked like "corn rows" and that was not the look we were going for!

 It looks great pulled back into a pony as well, so play with it and have fun!

Thanks for visiting!

~ Angela and Marianne

Look of the Day: Simple Glam

When it comes to clothing, we like to keep it quite simple, but it's fun to add accents every now and then! For Marianne, she matched her lips to her dark purple heels.  For Angela, she simply tied a square scarf around her neck.

MARIANNE

Today I added color to my ensemble by wearing my favorite purple shoes, then matched my lipstick with the purple to bring it together. This is a great way to add some color if you like to wear basic colors like me, (black is where it's at!) but want to change things up or branch out. With such dark lips I wanted to keep my eyes simple with a "cat eye" and natural blush. This makeup is my go to look inspired by my favorite era. It is also so easy and fast... anyone can do it!

ANGELA

When it comes to my style, I keep it extremely simple.  Maybe it's that I'm not good at putting super stylish ensembles together (ha) but I think a lot of it is that I feel comfortable in certain cuts and colors, and I tend to stick to those.  In the winter, I wear mostly solid dark colors and ivory, and put "pops" of personality in my outfits in either shoes, belts, or, in this case, a scarf.   I had this square scarf hanging in the back of my closet and decided to pull it out and try something different with it!
I also like to keep my outfits simple when I am doing a more glam makeup look, which I did today.  I didn't put any dark colors on my lid (I usually darken the crease) but instead used my MAC Amber Lights eyeshadow and new Makeup Forever Star Powder which I absolutely love!  I then did a pretty dramatic wing on top, and heavy liner on bottom, both in black.  On my lips, I used lots and lots (and lots) of layers of my favorite Makeup Forever lipstick.  It was a bold yet glamorous look, my fave!

Trying to stay stylish in these cold months can be tricky, but we are trying our best!  What are your style secrets for winter?!

--Angela and Marianne