Book Review - "The New Braiding Handbook: 60 Modern Twists on The Classic Hairstyles" by Abby Smith

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of the book for purposes of review. All opinions are my own.

A few weeks ago I was approached to do a review of "The New Braiding Handbook: 60 Modern Twists on The Classic Hairstyles".  I actually jumped at the chance because truth be told, I'm crap at hairstyles, braids in particular.  This fact was causing a major issue in my house because my 6 year old daughter is demanding braids and such.  I thought hey, I may learn a few things!

"The New Braiding Handbook: 60 Modern Twists on The Classic Hairstyles" by Abby Smith available at Amazon in Kindle or Paperback editions

When I received the book, I was pleasantly surprised to see it was by Abby from the blog Twist Me Pretty!  I've been following her on YouTube for a while now, so I knew I was in good hands, and I was right.  I flipped through and marked the ones I wanted to try out on my girl.

The one that was the biggest hit and was much easier than I thought it would be, was the Hair Bow:

 This was so easy, it literally took minutes and here's what the first try looked like:

Seriously, it took maybe 3 minutes.  It's not perfection but darn good for me!!  My girl LOVED this one, she asks for it all. the. time!

Here are the step by step instructions: 

Hair Bow

What girl doesn’t love bows? Seriously this hairstyle just makes me happy!

1–2. Brush your hair up into
a nice high bun. Make sure to leave out about 3 to 4 inches of the ends on the last pass.

3. Split the bun in half.

4. Clip one side of the bun to your head with a duckbill clip.

5. Get your large bobby pins ready.

6. Attach the bun to your head by sliding the bobby pins in vertically. Repeat on other the side.

7. Bring the tail up and forward.

8. Bobby pin the tail near the base of the bun. Spray any flyaways down and pull out some fringe in the front to complete the look!

Excerpted from The New Braiding Handbook (Ulysses Press) by Abby Smith

Here are a couple more styles that were so easy and took minutes:

She was such a happy girl!

Now a few of the styles take a bit more time and practice (I seriously may never master a French braid - but I will say her instructions got me closer than I have ever gotten before), but for the most part the pictures and instructions make attempting these seemingly complicated styles so much less intimidating.  I'm super impressed.  There is a lot of information in this book, it's a great reference (secret - it stays in my bathroom now).  I highly recommend it for those of us who need the step-by-step guide or feel intimidated by all this stuff.  Abby really makes you feel like a friend, cheering you on until you get the hang of it!