Summer Braided Hairstyle | Katniss Reaping Braids

The Gibson Tuck kind of exploded on me. Ever since I’ve been getting requests to do more hair tutorials, but I’ll be 100% honest with you, I’m no hair wizz. I, like most of you who email me, just like the easy and uncomplicated stuff that manages to look swell despite it’s simplicity. There have been several instances where I thought I’d found something I could share, but in the end I felt silly because it just seemed so easy. It felt like a magic trick, and that the style was really impressive, until of course you know the trick, and then it looses all it’s allure. But I realized that I’m totally cool with that. I’d like to be the simple hair lady. And I’d like to share stuff that only requires ponytail holders and bobby pins, stuff that I like for my own hair. Now I know I just cut off my own hair, but don’t worry, I will still provide tutorials like this one. I can’t decide if I’m going to use a friend or get myself a wig, but either way I will keep them coming when I can.

What You Need

★ comb
★ two hair ties (it doesn’t really matter what color)
★ bobby pins

What You Do

You’ll want to make two braids on either side of your head. Don’t worry about a perfect part because you’re going to comb over it so it looks like there was no part. Now, there are several neat tricks you can do with this to make it interesting, so let’s start with the basics. In the video I braid my hair down my side, but I’m careful not to pull it towards the front when I’m braiding because that will make a strange bump when I pull it back. I think this might depend on hair type, so if you want to try it and see what it looks like, it can’t hurt to try. Some of my best discovers have been accidents! But for now, try to braid it while pulling it to the side or as close toward your back as you can. If you have shoulder length hair, start your braid more towards the back instead of on the side or the front. It will create the same effect! It may be a little difficult to braid behind your own head at first, but it just takes a little bit of practice (and perhaps mumbling allowed to yourself, “one, two, three”).

My hair is really layered, so to get it like the picture above, I had to get the ends a little damp first, so they’d stick together and braid without ends sticking out all over the place. You’ll notice in the video my hair is bone dry and I had to do a lot of pinning and tucking to get the ends to hide. It was also the day of my hair cut, so I didn’t get a chance to dampen it before my appointment!

Once you’ve braided both braids, you’ll want to take one and lay it across the back of your head, tucking the end underneath so the ponytail can’t be seen. Use some bobby pins to pin the braid in place. In the video I put the braids higher up on my head because I like that look, but if you want to mimic the Katniss Reaping style from The Hunger Games, you’ll just want to put them lower on your head. It doesn’t matter which side goes where, or which braid goes over or under, you can change it each time you try it! If you’re like me, and you feel like you’ve got more hair on one side than the other, I usually make my thicker braid the first one pinned and put the smaller one on top so it stays.

Finally when you’re done pinning, you’ll want to take your comb and gently run over your part so that it looks clean. I totally forgot to do this in the video, and obviously I don’t have hair anymore so I can’t redo it, but I do this move at the very end of The Gibson Tuck, so if you’re confused just take a peek at that.

Video

If you’d like to view or favorite for later, this video is also on YouTube.

Enjoy!