Laid-Back Braids

" Hi! I'm Leah Wyar, the beauty director at FITNESS magazine. Today we're at the Warren-Tricomi Salon in New York City where celebrity stylist and Garnier Fructis stylist, Marc Mena, is doing beautiful updos that you can wear day or night. So we're gonna start with Melissa who is our Fashion Assistant at FITNESS and Marc is going to do some laid-back braids with an updo. So Marc, when you're starting out, you really want sort of a beachy wave texture, right?"

" Marc: Absolutely. So then you just do a couple of buns the night before with some mousse or gel and it'll give you- help you create this soft wave. Leah: Okay, great. Marc: So now what we're gonna do is we're gonna create the braids. So you do a section right above the ear area. And then to create the braid, I coat my fingers with a little bit of wax. Then, I begin the braid. I'm doing kind of like a cornrow French braid. And if you can't braid or cornrow or French braid, just do a tight, standard braid -- and that should help you create the same look. Leah: And so you part it where the hair naturally parts? Marc: Exactly. Leah: And then create the braids from the part out to the ear? Marc: Exactly. If you want to create a little bit more of a severe look, then you can do more of a middle part. Now, I'm using these little, waxy elastics to tie in the braid because they don't pull the hair, so it's healthier for the hair. Leah: And also they're small, so it'd have a small section. Marc: Exactly. Leah: Okay. Marc: So now once that braid is done, then you section it off into three sections -- section off the front of the hair. So then you do a back section and then I create a low pony. Leah: And you're using a bungee elastic, but you could really use a regular elastic? Marc: You could use a regular elastic -- I like to use this one because it's easier for me to use. Leah: Okay. Marc: Once you have that ponytail in place, just grab the hair, dip your fingers in the wax again, coat each section, twist it, and pin. You can use either bobby pins or pins, whatever is easier for you to use. So twisting, placing, and pinning. You can make it tighter or looser -- I like this look, especially when you have braids, I like it a little bit looser. So you don't have to twist it so tight. And once again, everything is kind of messy -- messy is modern, it's very chic. Leah: Braids seem to be really popular right now. Everyone's wearing them, you know, on the runway."

" Marc: Oh yeah, you can catch it everywhere -- all the fashion shows are doing it, celebrities have been doing this. It can be casual or dressy. Leah: And also very versatile. You can hold back long layers, you can sort of secure bangs that are being grown out. Marc: Exactly. Even people that have a fringe, you can braid those back."

" Once you have all of your twisties in place, re-spray it. Grab the section, twist it back with the braid and pin it into place."

" And with the little leftover hair you have, twist it, and begin to create the same look that you were doing before. Twist and pin. Once you're done with the look, we spray. And there you go, there you have it, Laid-Back Braids."