Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
Curled Pigtail Bubble Braid Hair Tutorial
With the summer music festival season being right around the corner, I started to think about some cute hairstyles that would be a fun addition to festival fashion. In this hair tutorial, I show you how I used my Beachwaver curling rod to create simple and easy curled pigtails. I also show you how to add bubble braid faux hair extensions if you want too!
My pup Johnny Cash is a mini American Eskimo
Gilligan’s Island Inspiration: Mary Ann Summers
This hair tutorial is very simple yet packs a huge punch of CUTE! You can either add the bubble braids or not. I used to think pigtails were for kids, then I remembered the Mary Ann character from Giligan’s Island, played by the actress Dawn Wells.
The braids are a cute addition!
She wore pigtails as a young adult on the tv show and in many photos over the years and the style suited her face well! I used this as partial inspiration for this hair idea.
I adore the colors in this dress
Never watched Gilligan’s Island? After living on Sanibel Island and experiencing hurricanes, I understand some of the dilemmas they went through and have started to see the humor in it all. Watch the entire hilarious series on DVD via Amazon.
Links for the products I love and used for this tutorial link out to Target, Walmart, Temu or Amazon.
Johnny Cash works for dog friendly cookies!
Step 1:
The first thing I did was wash my hair. I wash my hair every three days. I LOVE my Viori shampoos and conditioners. Use code CAROLYNBRADEN or this link to get a 10% discount on any Viori order. I wash my hair at night, dry it with my Dyson hair dryer (I used the twice a year Sephora 20% sale to score mine at a discount years ago and my husband and I love it), then use a sleeping cap at night to prevent frizz and damage from sleeping on hair.
I used the curly cone for this tutorial
Step 2:
The next morning, I applied a bit of heat protect serum to my hair, brushed it out with my WetBrush or my UnBrush (I love them both!), then I used my Beachwaver Multibarrel tool with the CURLY CONE attachment to curl my entire head of hair.
Watch the video above or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden to see how to use this attachment to curl your hair:
The curls make the pigtails even cuter
Step 3:
I brushed my curls out just a bit with my fingers, then used a rattail comb to make sure my hair was parted in the center, then I pulled one side into a low ponytail at the base of my neck, secured it with a seamless ponytail holder, and repeated this on the other side of my head. I pulled out some layers around my face to add a little more style.
I love this cute swimsuit!
Step 4:
You can then leave your pigtails as is, smooth some Moroccanoil treatment in it (it smooths curls and makes them shine…I’ve used this for well over 10 years) spray them with a little hair spray (I like Kristin Ess) and be on your way OR you can add faux bubble braids!
My bubble braid extensions
Bubble Braids
I ordered blue and purple pastel bubble braid hair extensions from Temu, as they had the best price. Amazon also has some. Mine were attached to ponytail holders, so I just looped them over my own curled pigtails to create a mix of natural hair and the bubble braids.
The braids matched my dress
They are a tiny bit on the heavy side so if you are sensitive to this, you may want to only create one low side ponytail and add one bubble braid extension. I’d wear the bubble braid extensions to a music festival, a fun concert and more. They are fun!
This dress is cute as a cover up or on it’s own
My Dress
I got the bubble braids to match my rainbow pink and purple pastel dress/bathing suit coverup I got on Amazon.
The pigtails on their own
My Sunglasses
My mermaid sunglasses are some that I made and you can get that tutorial here.
I matched my swimsuit to my favorite beach tote
My Swimsuit
My swimsuit is another Amazon find and you can get it here. I ordered a size medium as it supports and covers my chest (I have DDD’s and they need support!) very well.
He’s the best!
My pup Johnny Cash loved doing my photo shoot with me! He loves working for cookies!
If you loved this article, then we know you’ll love this one too: How to Make Mermaid Hair Clips
Carolyn J. Braden is the owner of Carolyn’s Blooming Creations is a regular contributor and editor for CBC. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.