Feminine Minimalism
Minimalism means different things for different people. For instance, long healthy hair can be minimalism - same hair and infinite styling options. Again, natural hair (no dye, no straightener etc...) can be minimalism - it is independence.
For majority minimalism means having less and be more. So, the main question is: to have or to be? It is a tough question. And here is a new one: why not both?
This hairstyle is actually a request and I want to thank Julie for this.
So, my inspiration was Empress Elisabeth of Austria also known as Sissi (or Sisi). She was unbelievably beautiful – she was like a queen fairy; unfortunately her life was a sad one.
You can read more about her life on Wikipedia here. They also made a great movie about her life with the beautiful actress Romy Schneider in her role; you can read more about the movie and see the trailer on IMDb here.
Now, about the hairstyle:
Part the hair down the middle, then take the front section of each part (about 1/3 of each part) and braid them together – just a simple, regular braid – on top of the head, trying to keep the middle parting. Then make two perimeter braids, one on each side, starting from behind each ear.
Secure the ends of these perimeter braids at the base of the top braid, then arrange the top braid so that it will look like a crown and will conceal the ends of the perimeter braids.
On my hair (waist length with long layers), the hairstyle doesn’t really look like in the movie, nor like in the portraits of the empress, because both actress and empress, had very long and beautiful hair and without layers, but it is a hairstyle that looks nice and it is a very, very, very comfortable hairstyle.
If you want to make the hairstyle more dramatic, like in the first pictures, you can attach some flowers to a nylon thread and add it to a strand as you braid. My flowers are silvery crocheted flowers with a tiny faux pearl in the middle of each flower. Or you can just add two shiny butterflies like in the last pictures.
I cut my hair. I got rid of the last portion of dyed hair. It took me three years to get rid of the dye and to have a decent length at the end of the journey. So now my hair is 100% natural. Yay! I cut it myself. I do that for some time. Don’t get me wrong; I’m pretty sure that hair stylists are great people – it’s just a communication issue between me and them, so I found that the easiest way to deal with this issue was to learn how to cut my own hair.
I know that layered hair is not very popular among long hair communities, but I prefer my hair this way versus all hair same length. I think it goes well with my hair texture.
So this is how I cut my hair: I part my damp hair down the middle and bring all the hair in front, then keeping my head as straight and tall as possible I cut the hair in a straight line. A big mirror is a must! Then I sectioned the hair from the back of my head from ear to ear and, taking small vertical sections of hair, I pull them horizontally and cut them vertically, having the bottom strands as guidance for how much should I cut. In front I take a small section of hair from the middle and I cut just as much as I think it will frame my face beautifully, then I take sections from the top of my head pull them vertically and cut them horizontally at the same length as this section. Then it comes the hard part! I take thin vertical sections of hair from above the ears, making sure a have some hair from the top and also some hair from the area below the ears, then I pull them in an angle so that is allowing me to cut a straight line between the hair from the top and the hair from the bottom. It is pretty difficult to do and it is even more difficult to explain.
There is an easier way to get a similar result. You can make a ponytail on top of your head and cut all the hair at the same length.
I’ll try to make some pictures during the process next time I cut my hair, but this is not going to happen soon, because I planned the next cut on March 2013. You know how they say: “If you want something to grow, just let it go.”
Always keep in mind that most of the time there are many ways to do the same thing. And I noticed that this applies to almost everything in life. So, there is another way to make a round braid with six strands and it is probably simpler. If you look at the pictures the left braid was made using the previous method (click here to read more) and the right braid using this new method I just discover. As you can see the braids are equally messy – freshly washed hair is not cooperative when you want to braid it – but they look the same.
How you do it? I hope the sketch I made is explicative enough. You take one outer strand and place it under 3 strands, then change direction and put it over 1 strand, then take the other outer strand and place it under 3 strands and over 1 strand after you changed the direction… and repeat for as long as you have to.
My suggestion is to try both methods to see what you find easier. I first made a high ponytail and if you do that too, you can then insert two hair sticks at the base of the ponytail and make an chinese bun for an exotic looking hairstyle. Obviously, you can do that with any kind of braid.
Thank you Chad Yoon and Madelyn Cotton-Kinch. I also want to thank to all my readers for their beautiful thoughts and suggestions.
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