How to do marley braids: Easy step-by-step tutorial

Constantly seeing your fave celebs or social media stars rocking marley braids? Don’t worry about reaching out to your go-to braid lady, because we’re here to show you how to marley braid hair yourself, in just 10 easy steps.

As this style is twisted (marley twists hair only require two strands to be wrapped around each other, instead of three strands of hair like box braids do!), it is a lot quicker to do.  So, get your weaving fingers at the ready and discover just how simple this technique is, below.

How to do marley braids on yourself

Prep your marley braid hair.

Before you begin weaving your marley braids, you’ll need to prep your braiding hair. To do this, you just need to comb through it to remove tangles, and apply the VO5 Frizz Free Cream  to smooth out any frizzy strands and make them easier to work with.

Section and secure.

Taking your comb, section and divide your hair. After, clip the top half up so it doesn’t get in your way when you start plaiting.

Prep your hair.

Take a small amount of the VO5 Frizz Free Cream a again and, using your fingers, run it through the first section of hair you plan on braiding. After, apply some of the VO5 Firm Hold Gel Spray

Using both of these hair products will make your strands softer, easier to plait and also keep frizz at bay.

Start creating your marley braids.

Now for the fun part: mastering the marley braid hair technique! Take your hair and split it into two even parts, then place the marley hair in the middle of the two sections and hold it securely with both hands.

Twist the top section of the part in a downwards motion about 4-5 times, then do the same with the bottom section, twisting in an upwards motion.

Do the twist.

Take the bottom twisted strand and overlap it with the top, upward twisted strand you created in Step 4. Keep twisting these two strands together, making sure to keep a tight grip to keep the marley braid secure.

Twist from root to tip.

Continue twisting until you reach the end of the marley hair.

Repeat the process.

Moving section by section, divide the hair equally and continue this box twisting process.

Psst.. To make your style look seamless, we suggest you use the same size and length marley hair extension for each twist.

Trim your marley braids.

Once you’ve finished twisting all your hair, carefully use a pair of scissors to snip off the ends.

Finesse your edges.

The final step of this marley twists hair tutorial? Touching up your baby hairs! So, spray a small amount of the  VO5 Mega Hold Styling Gel onto a spare dry toothbrush and use it style your edges.

Final look!

That’s all there is to it! Want to jazz up your marley braids up a little? Simply add a few well-placed hair cuffs and you’ve got a protective hairstyle worthy of a Solange music video.