Vikings Inspired Side Braid Tutorial

Vikings inspired braids are my absolute favorite! If you remember, I dressed as Lagertha (complete with the braid!) a couple of years ago for Halloween, and it was one of my favorite looks I’ve created to date! Even if you’re not a Vikings lover, you just can’t deny how gorgeous Vikings inspired braids are, so I wanted to share how I created this look and maybe you can find some inspiration to do your own Vikings inspired braid!

If you do… please tag me on instagram. I NEED to see it. <3

So initially when I created this look I planned to film it. And then I didn’t. Because I’m awesome… so really this tutorial is a deconstructed vikings inspired braid, because I took all the photos in backwards order as I took the style back out, ha! I made sure to capture each step though!

First, start with your hair brushed through and parted to one side.

Lightly spray your hair with a texture spray or hairspray so that it holds its position and prevents flyaways. I have the nastiest flyaway hair so this is a must for me. Once you’ve sprayed, run a quick brush through it one more time.

Dutch braid

On the side of your head opposite of the part, take a 1-2 inch section and start dutch braiding down your hair for about 3 inches, then stop dutch braiding and just finish the braid as a three strand (traditional) braid so that you have some flexibility to move it around.

Make sure to pull it apart so it looks nice and thick, but don’t overdo this one because we want it tight enough to hold it’s shape. This is also called pancaking. Your hair should look something like this at this point.

Section off the upper portion of your hair.

Basically you’re going to take all of your hair and split it into two sections, a top section and a bottom section. Leave the braid out. I chose to also leave out a small section on the top side opposite of the braid so that I could use it to sweep over the back of my head so it looked smooth, but that is optional.

When you have your two sections, band off the top section to the side of your head, right above your ear. Make sure it’s on the same side as the braid! You can pull the lower section of hair over to the other side for now to keep it out of the way.

Wrap your braid around your elastic.

To do this, I pulled the braid back so that it was snug to my head and directly on top of the elastic and then I secured it with a pin so that portion of the braid stayed in place. Then I took the rest of the braid and wrapped it around the elastic until I felt like it looked good, then I secured that with a pin as well. You could also secure it with another elastic, then pull the braid apart over it to hide it.

Make a bubble.

I leave about 2 inches of hair beneath the first elastic and then band it off. Then I just pull out the hair that’s trapped in between the two elastics to create a “bubble” look. I sometimes will tighten the elastic if necessary to get the desired look and size for my bubble.

Once you have created your bubble and it looks the way you want it, make sure to take a piece of hair and wrap it around the elastic to hide it. This look really benefits from hiding the elastics.

Remember that bottom section of hair? Time to use it!

Now that we’ve got our bubble ready and our top section is all settled, grab the bottom section of hair and pull it over so it is directly under the bubble. If you left out a tiny section of hair on the top side, make sure to grab that as well and swoop it over the back so it looks smooth.

At this point, it’s going to look like two ponytails stacked on top of each other on one side, like an inch or so apart. If you have extra hair from the smaller braid that wrapped around the elastic at the top of your bubble, tuck it into the elastic so your hair is split between the top and bottom sections and there are no other missing pieces out.

Take the bottom section and braid it.

I just used a traditional 3 strand braid for this section. Keep it kind of loose and make sure to pull it apart so it’s nice and thick! Also… the tag on my shirt in the pictures of the back of my head. Grrrrrr.

Next, braid the top section with a different style braid.

I went for a fishtail braid for the top section so it was different from the bottom braid. You could also do a pull through braid and I think that would look really pretty! Don’t forget, pull it apart so it’s thick and a little messy!

Twist the two braids around each other.

I only did two twists around each other because I wanted to still be able to see both braids in detail without too much of it getting lost in the twist. Depending on how long your hair is, you could do it more or less.

Add the finishing touches.

At the bottom, just rubber band the two braids together and then make sure you use a small piece of hair to wrap around the elastic and hide it. At this time you can go through and really pull and tug on the style wherever it needs a little bit of messing or thickness. I had to add a couple of bobby pins to hold some strays in place as well. I also pulled out some of the baby hairs to frame my face and give the whole look a kind of messy vibe.