Sweet 16 Hairstyle How-to: Feather Waterfall Braid with Bling

It seems like the standard Sweet 16 hairstyle is a variation of the half up/half down style with curls and the customary tiara, at least among teenage girls on Long Island. However, this past weekend, I offered my services to a family friend and provided the birthday girl with a complimentary up-do as a gift for her special day as we couldn’t attend due to a prior commitment. This simple step-by-step guide is how I created Ashley’s Sweet 16 hairstyle, the feather waterfall braid with bling.

Ashley wanted curls and a braid so after a few trials we decided on the feather braid and mermaid waves. She had planned on a tiara; however, I felt the jeweled piece might have taken away from the allure of the feather braid. Instead, we opted for hair bling, tiny rhinestones that were flat-ironed into the hair, enhancing the braid rather than hiding it.

The Sweet 16 girl washed her hair the day of, forgetting the mousse to put in prior to drying giving the head a few fly-aways that needed to be smoothed out on top with some spray and a flat iron. For optimal results, it was requested to cleanse and dry the night before, but with the proper products we made it work.

To create her Sweet 16 hairstyle I first curled her hair with a one-inch tapered iron vertically, starting at the nape, taking small sections, spraying with Kenra’s Thermal Styling Spray prior to curling and then pinning each one to set until the braid was finished.

Stopping the curls where the braid was to begin, I fixed the top of her hair with a flat iron and styling spray to reduce the static. I then directed the hair to the side and created one Feather Waterfall French Braid on the right, then one on the left, securing each with a small band and then tied them both together, without braiding to the bottom, using a piece of her own hair wrapped around the braid to hide the bands. I curled the remaining hair from the dangling ponytail, secured any additional pieces with hairpins and flat-ironed in the bling, creating a crown effect.

I secured her Sweet 16 hairstyle with Purity Design Pure Hair Eco Strong from IT&LY Hairfashion.

Having no time to videotape how I created the above Sweet 16 hairstyle, I found an easy tutorial to create a Feather Waterfall & Ladder Braid from Cute Girls Hairstyles.

Happy Styling!

©Deirdre Haggerty, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this article may be reproduced without prior written permission and consent from the author.