The kids have been asking me everyday how many days it is until Halloween and it’s a holiday that we’ve honestly been low-key enjoying for the last couple of weeks already! We decorated the front of the house 2 weekends ago, spruced up a couple areas inside the house with Halloween décor, and just decided on our family Halloween costume for this year a few days ago! It’s actually been so nice to have the holidays to look forward to during this time –anybody else?
One of Mei’s favorite costumes is Elsa from Disney’s Frozen! While the dress is honestly something she wears year-round, the entire costume gets lots of extra love during the entire month of October. Mei has actually been trying to grow her hair out for the last few months as she’s told me she wants to do “fancy hair”, and of course at the top of that list was the iconic Elsa braid. Read on to see how I transformed my girl’s short find hair into a high-volume long side French braid with 3 simple secrets (and everything is available on Amazon too with Prime shipping so you’ll be able to get it in time for Halloween this weekend)!
Elsa Braid Tutorial
Our “Before”: Shoulder-Length Bob With Slightly Grown-Out Bangs
Target denim jacket | Pippa & Julie star sequin dress
Mei got my fine thin hair and for the longest time, she’s rocked a super cute chin-length bob with blunt-cut bangs that went straight across. It was a low-maintenance style that kept her hair from getting super tangled and also seemed to really fit her petite features. About 2 months ago though, she voiced her opinion deciding that she wanted long hair and to “cut off her bangs”, which really meant that she just didn’t want bangs anymore. 🤣 And so, we’ve been slowly growing out her hair and pushing her bangs to the side so that they’ll stay out of her face. I’ve been experimenting with different hair styles to also clip her bangs back and away from covering her eyes (see here for our fun messy pigtail buns tutorial!).
To transform Mei’s short hair into a long Elsa braid, I first picked up a few hair tools and accessories from Amazon:
- hair extensions (I recommend 20″ and longer for this style)
- Tangle Teezer Back-Combing Teaser Brush (also here)
- Tangle Teezer Ultimate Finisher
- Tangle Teezer Original Detangler (24,800+ reviews!!)
- Bumble and Bumble Strong Finish Hair Spray
- Rhinestone Snowflake Clips + Bobby Pins
- Snowflake Spiral Twist Hair Pins (larger snowflake option)
- Elsa dress (optional)
Our “After”: High-Volume Long French Braid
Watch the video to see all the tools in action!
Step 1: Brush out all the tangles using the Tangle Teezer Detangler.
I’ve talked about how this brush has been a game changer for us as Mei has hair that seems to get tangled with the slightest movement. If you’ve yet to try Tangle Teezer, here’s the scoop: all Tangle Teezer brushes are created with a combination of short and long teeth — the long teeth work to detangle without pulling while the shorter teeth work to smooth and shine as it goes. We went from Mei previously avoiding brushing her hair at all costs to now requesting to have her hair brushed and braided by me every chance she gets! The brush is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and is safe to use on both dry and wet hair.
Step 2: Tease hair to create volume.
After having so much success with the Tangle Teezer Original Detangler Brush, I decided to also pick up the Tangle Teezer Back-Comb Teasing Brush and Tangle Teezer Finisher Brush. After my first use of this teasing comb, I am 100% sold! Teasing hair can be somewhat damaging to the hair cuticle, but this back-combing tool from Tangle Teezer doesn’t have that effect at all. This comb has a greater density of teeth at the base, which really helps compact the hair towards the roots to give extra volume quickly and easily. The design of the Tangle Teezer teeth here also make it such that the hair isn’t matted down and is actually easy to brush out afterwards! I personally found that the teased hair stayed put and this teasing comb really was the must-have tool to create that high-volume look for this Elsa braid.
Step 3: Clip in hair extensions, if needed.
If you’re using hair extensions, you’ll want clip them in starting about halfway down the back of the head. You don’t want to start too high as there’s not enough hair to hide the extension clips, and not too low as there’s not enough hair to secure the extension. I personally also teased the hairline using the Tangle Teaser Back Comb Teasing Brush right below where I clipped in the extension, creating almost a mini “shelf” for the extension to secure into.
Step 4: Pull back top hair and smooth out the top of hair using the Tangle Teezer Finisher.
Create that smooth high volume look by pulling back the top of teased hair near the forehead and smooth it out very gently using the longer teeth in the Tangle Teezer Finisher. Hold in place with a few spritzes of Bumble and Bumble Strong Finish Hair Spray.
Step 5: French braid all the way down.
I start the French braid a little farther back for the style, about 4-5″ back from the forehead. This helps to preserver that high-volume style in the front that’s key to re-creating that Elsa look!
Step 6. Pull and spread out braid once finished.
Once the French braid is completed all the way down, secure in place with an elastic. Then gently pull out and “pancake” the braid to create a bigger plait. Elsa’s braid has that slightly undone look so you’ll want to make sure none of the braid sections are too tight.
Step 7: Finish with snowflake hair accessories.
And finally, add that final touch to the braid with a snowflake pin at the bottom and a few snowflake twist pins all throughout the braid. This step really finishes off the look and turns the braid into an Elsa braid!
hair extensions
Tangle Teezer Back-Combing Teaser Brush (also here)
Tangle Teezer Ultimate Finisher
Tangle Teezer Original Detangler (24,800+ reviews!!)
Bumble and Bumble Strong Finish Hair Spray
Rhinestone Snowflake Clips + Bobby Pins
Snowflake Spiral Twist Hair Pins (larger snowflake option)
Elsa dress (optional)
And so, my top 3 secrets are no doubt the Tangle Teezer brushes (Original Detangler, Back-Combing Teaser, and Finisher) that really helps to create that high-volume look that Elsa rocks for her iconic braid. I’m so glad I discovered these brushes as they’ve definitely helped me step up my Mom game and give my girl some cute hairstyles! The Bumble and Bumble hair spray probably comes in as a very close honorable mention as it’s incredible for holding hair in place without making it stiff or crunchy either.
Let me know if you give this high-volume French braid hairstyle a try — it’s perfect for little girls but low-key I may just be re-creating it on myself this weekend too!
Have you done and Elsa braid before? Let me know in a comment below!
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Thank you for posting this! My little niece loves Frozen and would love to try this hairstyle! Trying this for a fun weekend in!
Oh wow, this is so pretty! I want to do this to my own hair!
she looks SO happy!! One of my favorite things about Elsa is her braid, it’s iconic! I love love seeing that smile on her face!
Her Elsa braid turned out beautifully! Such a cute Halloween costume idea!
Her hair turned out so beautifully! I love the Elsa braid so much. It’s pretty iconic, if you ask me. I’ve never attempted it because I’m honestly a mess when it comes to hairstyles, but you did a great job giving instructions here.
Super love the braid, super super love it!!! Great idea and very creative.
Very cute and I’ve got 3 mini Elsa’s in my house too!
WOW so impressive! I can’t wait to do fun things like this with Charlotte! I will need all of your tips!
Pulling out braids to give them volume is so essential! Such a cute look. 🙂
Oh my gosh you did such an amazing job, it looks so good!!!
Aw, how adorable. That hairstyle worked out beautifully for her.
How cute!! This Elsa braid is too adorable.
Nice hair braid, it’s really beautiful.. How I wish there is someone who can do that into my hair. Love it!
This looks cute! I need to try this out on my sisters when I get the chance. I think it would probably suit their hair more as it’s longer. Thank you for sharing this technique on how to achieve this iconic disney look.
Thats so great i am so bad with braid my mum always do that for me . Super great tips thank you
OMG how cute! I love how her Elsa braid turned out!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
I LOVE Frozen….so much so I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve seen it! Her hair came out sooo cute, I love it! xoxo, Sarah
My daughter would absolutely love this! I really need to learn how to French braid now!
I got to share this with my niece here. I love your site a lot
Oh wow, this is the cutest braid! My little nieces are always asking me o do an Elsa braid for them, but I’ve never gotten that top pouff totally perfect. I’ll have to try again!
awww how happy is she with her fabulous Elsa braid! you did amazing mama – so good!
xo Laura Leigh
https://louellareese.com
ahhhh she is so precious and i love how you did this!! shes a lucky girl.
Wow. Cool. The hair is turn on beautiful. Amazing. My niece will love if I make her hair like this. She is really like Elsa.
Awww this is so cute! That really is the perfect Elsa braid! My step nieces are HUGE Frozen fans, haha I might have to try this out for them! Xx.
That is super cool! You did a great job on this. I would definitely need all these secrets. I can barely do a regular braid. LOL
I know this is for a little girl, but I really want to do this to my hair. I LOVE how it turned out. It’s super cute.
Wow this is so cute and beautiful. Liked the braid and the design. Very pretty.
That is so cool and looks so amazing. I will have to remember this if I ever have a girl. I will make sure to share this with my friends who have a girl that loves Elsa!
This is the cutest! I totally want to try this out on myself. Love how it turned out!
Lizzie
http://www.lizzieinlace.com
what a beautiful hair style for kids. I think, I know what will do for my daughter’s hair for her birthday.
So cute! That braid looks like perfection. Love it. Good job.
❥ tanvii.com
This looks beautiful. I will try this braid on my little girl because she likes to dress up as Elsa.
She is so adorable! Such a fun outfit. 🙂
Oh she is the cutest Elsa ever!! I can’t even get my son to dress up as a ghost haha!!
You did such an amazing job on those braids – hope its the best Halloween!!
Helen
You did a great job on the Elsa hair! She looks so cute with the Elsa outfit too!
When I read the title, the first thing I thought was “our family all has way too thin hair.” Then you showed your daughter’s hair and I realized we can do this too! Thank you so much for the inspiration.
The blue stars on your daughter’s hair is beautiful. Where can I get those things??
Ah yes, teasing always creates volume. And she looks so happy!
This is too cute! The braid came out so nice. These are such helpful tips to getting as close to the Elsa braid as possible.
Aww she looks more cute than elsa in this voluminous french braid…though glad you shared these tricks with us too..
She looks just like Elsa with that style, you did such a great job with this hairstyle! What a lucky little lady, she’s going to have the cutest costume around!
What a great tutorial on how to do this cute hairstyle. And she looks beautiful!
You did an AMAZING JOB!! My daughter keeps asking me to do this and it’s an epic fail!! haha
What a detailed and extensive step by step on how to create the most perfect look. I like the details and descriptions you give in how to create the look. The video paired with the step by step instructions definitely brought the blog entry together. Keep up the great work!
wow ! now that is a one beautiful looking braid , i be trying it on my daughter
Her hair looks fabulous! I like those shiny hair clips you used on her. You did an awesome hairstyle 🙂
Wow!
This is an amazing. You really tried.
Nice braid, I’d love to braid my daughter’s hair just like that, if it gets longer like that.
The braid turned out great, but she is so stinking cute!
What a little cutie!! You did such a great job and I love the added accessories!
Ssssoooo pretty!!!! Quite the number of steps to follow but that is the reason why we have this guide, right? I love it.
Kileen, I love this tutorial! I am an adult and I have no idea how to braid! Let’s see if I can do this myself – thank you for always sharing useful tips! I mean it.
This is a much better idea than using those scratchy wigs in my opinion. Those hair accents are too cute! 🙂
So cute. I recently watches Frozen 3.
love the post
I just loved the post a lot. Thank you for sharing that!
Wow, she looks beautiful. Love
Hey, She is looking so cute in French hair braids style.
very very nice
very nice