In this instructable I'm going to teach you how to make a ladder braid! The ladder braid is a great hairstyle because it is simple to do but can fancy up a ponytail so you are set for prom, wedding, or (if you can do it on yourself) any day! Follow this tutorial to find out how to do it yourself!

Hair style was done by Sharelle Loudd at Beautique Salon in San Jose, CA. She was awesome enough to demonstrate this technique while we documented the process. Any mistakes are ours.

Beautiful photography by audreyobscura!

ladder braid gif

Step 1: Starting the Braid

Supplies:

Hairbrush
Hair binders
Edge Tamer - I loved this because it kept those really annoying short hairs at the front of my hairline from going all crazy.
Hair Spray

Start with a ponytail. We are going to make a fishtail braid going down the body of the ponytail.

Start a small braid just off center. Hold the strand that is on the right, let the middle one hang, and then reach under the pony tail and grab a strand of hair from the right side and bring it under and around the pony tail. This strand becomes your left braid strand.

*The braid done in this Instructable is underhand (like a cornrow is done) rather than overhand. You can do this braid with either method.

Step 2: Continuing With the Ladder

Before grabbing another section, do 3 turns of the braid down so you can see the separation between each "ladder" strand. You will start seeing the ladder shape after going a couple inches.

You are going to pull from behind because you are taking it from the right side and swinging it behind to the left side to create a little S shape. You want to keep the pieces as thin as possible without being too thin. Also, be sure to keep the braid straight.

Step 3: Continue the Braid and Adjust the Rungs

Keep going until you have the ladder braid as long as you want it. You can adjust the "ladder rungs" by lightly pulling on the ladder strands and loosening it up.

You can do all kinds of different patterns with it like increase the distance between ladder rungs. I have long hair and she chose to shorten as she got to the middle portion of my ponytail, and she started pulling my hair from behind more frequently. She pulled her strands from closer the top to give a more downward swoop motion.

If you mess up, it's easy to fix because you can always go back up and pull it out and try again. To increase the distance between the the "ladder rungs" put your finger in between them.

As the hair gets more layered near the bottom, stop the braid and secure the end of just the braid. Also, don't finish after grabbing another strand, finish after doing a couple turns of the braid.