It’s been a long time since I did a mini braid styling tutorial. Honesty, I usually throw my hair up in a topknot during the day or put in one big french braid for bed. I did go out a couple weeks ago and this is the style that I wore. I got quite a few compliments that night even though I wasn’t wearing my big attention-grabbing hair.

I used some hair extensions to create a fuller looking bun. You can read my article about that here. I got the idea from YouTuber, MsTanish1. Her original video tutorial for a mini twist extension piece is linked in my article. To be honest, it took a LONG time to create the hair piece. I used some synthetic braid hair and plaited it up. I want to say it look around 3 hours while I was doing other stuff. I tried to braid the extensions neatly so it would blend well with my own hair in case it showed. As an alternative, you can buy pre-braided hair extensions at your BSS or online here- Pre Braided Hair Extension on Amazon.com. I actually do have some braided hair on a track, but it’s in 1B and at my sister’s house somewhere so I ended up making my own hairpiece…I would not do it again though. It wasn’t worth the time.

Okay…on to the tutorial.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• Hair pins
• Bobby pins
• Braided extension hair in appropriate color
• Hair tie (I used a headband)
• Thick, chunky headband in black or brown

How to Create a Full Twisted Mini Braid Bun for a Night Out:

Step 1:

Put hair in high ponytail. You don’t want it too tight because you’ll be layering other things around the base and it will tighten with each headband, etc… but mine was a tad too loose in the back. You want it to be comfortable, without any sagging braids.

Step 2:

Place the thick headband around the ponytail. This will create more volume for the bun. You could probably use a sock bun or something but that might turn out too full and look a little lumpy or awkward.

Step 3:

Wrap the braided extension hair around the headband making sure to cover as much of it as possible. The braided extension will create a full, or even huge bun look without showing through your real hair and ruining the look.

Step 4:

Place your finger in the center of the hair in the ponytail and push your mini braids down so they surround the base of the ponytail evenly. Since, it’s a high ponytail, your mini braids will most likely fall at different lengths. That’s okay, because you’ll be wrapping the hair around to create the bun.

Step 5:

Take a portion of hair and twist it (by turning the hair, this is not a 2-strand twist). Try not to make it too tight, because you want the final look to be full. However, make sure any shorter mini braids are wound well enough in the twist so they don’t poke out.

Step 6:

Wrap the twist around the ponytail base and pin it down to secure it. I use hairpins for this.

Continue grabbing portions of mini braids. Twist them in the same direction (for me it was counter-clockwise) and pin each twist down. Make sure the hair covers most of the extensions underneath.

Tuck in any short braids that stick out. Use pins to secure any areas that need it.

Final Look:

To complete the look, I bobby pinned around the bun to make everything appear neater and tighter. This is a recreation of the original look. When I wore it out, I used some waxy stuff to lay down my edges (they don’t really lay down though). In the picture below my braids in the back were still quite loose. I could have fixed that with bobby pins or made the ponytail a bit tighter.

I might go ahead and purchase some pre-braided extension in a reddish brown and attempt a ninja bun or something a little different the next time I wear mini braids. Let me know if you try it this or any other mini braid plus extension style. I think this is great option for those with thinner or shorter natural mini braids. You get the health and ease of mini braids without extensions but the full aesthetic of braids with extensions.