Learn How to Style a Braided Updo in 8 Steps

Step 1: Blow dry towel-dried hair. Place a medium-sized round brush underneath the hair and make sure the blow dryer is at an angle; dry the hair section by section. The round brush ensures that the hair will be smooth with minimal fly-aways and will add the needed volume. 

Step 2: Using a large-sized barrel curler, grab the hair at the crown of the head. Curl all the way to the root and hold for about thirty seconds. Repeat all the way down your scalp. 

Step 3: Section your hair into four separate sections. Leaving two long pieces of hair to frame your face – note: one of these pieces will be used for the braid so the more hair you leave, the thicker the braid will be – clip up a large section and put the bottom layer into a ponytail.

Step 4: Spray a generous amount of dry spray wax on the section of hair that you want to braid. Run a comb through the desired braiding area. 

Step 5: Starting at the top of your head, begin braiding the hair back to the ponytail. Tuck the end of the braid into the ponytail. 

Step 6: Let down the previously pinned up section of hair and wrap it around the ponytail. Try to create some volume on the top of your head by pushing the hair up before wrapping it around the ponytail. 

Step 7: Using bobby pins, preferably a color that is similar to your hair color, start pinning the hair down to your head, section by section. You can make it as loose or tight as you want. Overlapping and crisscrossing is encouraged!
 

Step 8: Lock in your new hairstyle with some strong-holding hair spray. Take the big barrel curler and curl the other piece of hair that was left to frame the face. 

Mika Fowler is a celebrity hairstylist that works out of the Kim Vo salon in Beverly Hills. Past clients include Emma Roberts, Malin Ackerman, and The Real Housewives of Miami's Joanna Krupa, whose wedding is featured in our Winter 2014 issue!