How to Create a Headband Braid in 8 Easy Steps

A fresh base is always the best base. Shampoo and condition hair with a fortifying wash and care system like TRESemmé Repair & Protect 7 Shampoo and the TRESemmé Repair & Protect 7 Conditioner, then blow-dry your hair.

Braids expose cowlicks and flyaways like no other. Hair oil or serum can help infuse strands with moisture and keep frizz at bay, making those weaves look immaculate. Pump a tiny amount (just slightly bigger than a pin-prick, really) into your palms and run through your locks. We like the effects of TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Serum (not pictured), which works to seals in some major shine.

Using the end of a fishtail or rat-tail comb, create a well-defined part a few inches behind your hairline. For this half-headband version, first part your hair as you would normally before sectioning off the front. You should end up with a thick strip of hair that begins at your forehead.

Take three small locks from that freshly parted section, as in a regular French or three-strand braid.

French braid your hair, moving downwards from your partline towards your ear. The top of your head should start to resemble a waterfall effect, as you incorporate strands regularly into each weave.

Braid till the ends, switching to a regular three-strand braid right above your ear, so the plait is detached from your scalp. Secure with a hair tie. Pancake (a.k.a. flatten/fatten) the braids to even them out, as they tend to get thinner, especially towards the tips.

Swoop your finished plait underneath the rest of your hair, and secure it at your neckline with some bobby pins.

Want more personality to your headband braid? Create some lift at the backseam by gently tugging with the end of a fishtail comb.

You did it and mastered how to do a headband braid!

To create your headband braid, you’ll need to section a large piece of your hair with a tail comb. This section should be approximately 3 inches-wide and should start from your deep side part and finish just behind your ear on the opposite side.

Ready to learn how to make a braided headband? Then take a 1-2 inch-wide portion of hair from the section that you created in step 2 and divide this section of hair into 3 equal parts. Now cross the left section over the middle section, before crossing the right section over the new middle section.

Once you’ve completed this process twice, continue braiding along the hairline, but this time makes sure to pick up a small pieces of hair as you weave, just as you would do a French plait.

Once you reach the opposite ear, you can stop picking up strands of hair to interweave into your braid, and simply continue plaiting your hair until you reach the end.  Once you’ ve braided your hair all the way down to the tail, secure your plait with an elastic band. Then pancake it to make it appear thicker and fuller. To do this, use your thumb and index finger to lightly tug at your braid.

Pull the tail of your plait around your head, so that it lies flat against the nape of your neck. Secure it to the underneath bit of your hair with some bobby pins every few inches to ensure it stays hidden under the rest of your mane.

Now that you’ve completed your headband braid, it’s time to focus on the rest of your mane. Working on 1-2 inch sections of hair at a time, use your curling iron to make loose waves. Only hold the curling iron in place for a few seconds, as you don’t want to make ringlets, here!

Secure the final look with a mist of Nexxus Weightless Style Ultra Light Hair Spray! And there you have it: a boho-inspired headband braid that will impress all who gaze upon it!