The dutch flower braid is a beautiful updo that is prefect for any formal occasion! Though it looks complicated, it is simply made up of a dutch braid and a bun and is easy to do with a friend!

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!

Step 1: Prep Your Hair

All you are going to need for this hairstyle is a small hair binder and lots of bobby pins!

Start by spritzing your hair with water to control flyaways. Next, part hair on her left side of the head. The braid will start here and go over the top of the head and down around her right side.

Step 2: Start the Braid

Start next to the part. Take out 3 sections and start your dutch braid along the hairline heading toward her right ear. This will give you a nice face-framing look.

Once you get to the tip of the eyebrow, turn the braid and starting bringing it along the back of the head towards the opposite (left) ear. This will help you avoid putting the bulky braid right behind the ear.

Now move behind the person you are doing the hairstyle to so you can see what you are doing clearly. Continuing taking hair from the top of the head to feed into the braid. For the other side, don't grab hair from the bottom of the head, just grab what is under the braid to keep it going where you want. That hair will be fed into the braid once you turn it again and bring it back around (this will give you a "S" shape).

Step 3: Continue Braid

Continue the braid and bring it along the back of the head towards the opposite ear. Make sure to hold the hair taut and move in slow strokes so you don't tear anyone's hair out.

As you can see in the last image, once you get near the opposite ear take it down the left side of the nape of the head.

Step 4: Final Turn

Now you are going to continue the braid along the bottom of the hair line. You will continue to grab above the braid.

Fed the braid with the rest of the hair you let hang down. Gradually pull the loose hairs (the ones we left hanging when you did the braid above) and we're going to braid that into a thicker dutch braid. Have the person you are doing this to look down to build in some slack so they can look down when you are done.

Continue the braid until you reach the other side of the head (don't bring the braid up). Keep it loose. Once you reach the end, do a traditional 3 strand braid 3 turns, then hold the 3 strands taut. Don't finish the braid quite yet.

Step 5: Loosen Braid and Finish

Before you get too far in this braid, hold it in one hand and use the other to loosen the braids. You want to fluff them up to give a softer look.

Once you have loosened the braid on the head, you can continue the braid at the end. As you go, loosen the outer part of the braid (the side closest to the center of the back of her head). This side of the braid will be the petals and this will give the flower dimension.

Rubber band the end. To make the end easier to hide (and in case you have a long bit of hair as the tail), bind the end of the hair in the binder as shown in the last image.

Step 6: Make the Flower

You are going to make a bun starting with the outside. You want to layer the braid around the middle so it looks like a flower.

Take your hand over top of the braid and use your fingers to create a small pocket. Lift the braid up, and continue to create a bun by wrapping the braid into a spiral. Keep going around until you get to the end of the braid and the middle of the bun. Tuck in the end so it doesn't show and use a bobby pin to attach it in place.

Go underneath the bun and bobby pin underneath the bun. Find your finger on the opposite hand, then cross the two pins. The bun might be heavy, so don't be afraid to use those bobby pins. Come underneath the hair behind the ear and place in another bobby pin. Spritz the hair again when you are done. Make sure the bun can stay up on its own and keep the bobby pins hidden.