-So, it's been a while since I've measured my hair.
But the last time, it was around three feet.
So, let's see if we're still at that point.
Feel like if I just put this at my part
and let this cascade down.
So, it looks to be about 40 inches,
which is about three and a half feet.
So, as someone who's five foot three, that's over half of me.
My name is Molly, and I'm going to show you
how I style my three-foot-long ginger hair.
I didn't necessarily plan on having hair this long.
It, kind of just was the outcome of many haircuts
where I was too scared to cut off more than an inch or two.
I just kept it going until it accidentally
became part of my identity.
My hair definitely has its own like, personal space bubble.
I've definitely sat on it.
The other day, my cat knocked over the trash
can next to the toilet.
I went to pick up the trash can and realized
that my hair was in the toilet. So, as a content creator,
it wasn't until I started making new videos
that I actually started learning to do more intricate braiding.
But then, it started shifting into like,
the fantasy Renaissance. Because everybody was like,
you look like you're in the show ''Vikings''
or ''Game of Thrones''.
So, then I started kind of recreating those looks,
which then started kind of spilling over into
like the costuming and the outfits and the throne.
This is actually a vintage dress from the '60s, handmade.
This is like, a great example of, like, the '60s-'70s
Renaissance Revival.
It's just such a special piece to me,
and I hope I never grow out of it.
So, this is one of my most extravagant, expensive dresses.
It's actually extremely long.
It's by a Romanian brand called Chotronette.
So, when it's on, you have these really dramatic sleeves here.
You've got the chain details that's kind of,
you know, reminiscent of chainmail.
Obviously, you wouldn't go to battle in this dress.
But this is the dress that you would wear
while you were ordering people around to battle for you.
And the train is massive.
So, when you have like, a really extravagant dress on,
really extravagant hairstyle,
sometimes a nice crown just really tops it off.
This is one of my favorite crown styles
where it kind of, you know, dips in to your forehead.
And it just looks really nice with like,
braids or, like, a middle part.
This one is like very woodland fairy.
It has, like, the wings on it
and everything and the little mushrooms.
So, this would be a really cool, like, spring fairy tiara.
So, after people watch my videos,
I like them to feel like they've been somewhere else,
or they've gotten a little glimpse into,
like, a more simple world
where we're just doing our hair and putting on dresses.
The first order of business when I'm doing this braid
is to just section everything.
The braid that I'm going to do today
is kind of similar to a bubble braid.
But the variation that I, kind of,
came up with was to make some of the strands of the braids,
actual braids themselves. So, it's like braid-ception.
I start with like, a Dutch braid on the top.
When I first started braiding my hair,
I definitely was learning by watching tutorials.
And once you get kind of a feel of the pattern,
you can learn to do, like,
variations to it that look really complicated.
But the base is still just a three-strand
or just a four-strand or a five-strand.
Okay. So, I kind of braid down a little bit
and secure it just so I can put a hair tie where I want it
without the braid unraveling at the bottom.
Then, I kind of, pull open these little pieces,
and it just kind of volumizes the braid.
So, I'm going to split this ponytail into two equal parts.
So, I'm just going to get this out of the way,
I think I'm just going to do the tuck.
I'm going to make about seven small braids.
So, I'm just going to kind of, try to figure out the thickness
that that I want them to be.
So, I'm just braiding this all the way down to the bottom.
This is just a normal three-strand braid.
This is probably the most time-consuming part.
Reach into to my treasure chest, grab an elastic.
One down, 13 to go.
Having 14 total is kind of just a rough estimate.
I'm more focusing on making sure
that I have the same number on both sides
and that they're pretty similar in thickness.
All right. Braid number four.
It's really easy to leave strands out.
Whenever that happens, I either just like,
weave it back through the braid,
or I just only shoot from the front,
and I hide it behind my back. So, this is what I have left.
I feel like if I were to split this into three,
it would get really thin at the end.
So, I'm just going to split it into two,
and then we'll have six braids instead of seven.
All right. This is braid number six.
So, just moving on to the other side,
I just split this into two,
and I'm going to add my six braids on this side.
So, when it comes to my more intricate styles of braids,
or if I'm just doing a braid that I'm not really sure
where it's going, how it's going to turn out,
I usually give myself about a three-hour window
of how long it might take.
All right. I'm on the last braid.
I wish I could say it gets easier from here.
But, unfortunately, that would be a lie.
So, now that I have my six braids on each side,
and then this free hair, this is where we start the actual braid.
So, I'm going to weave portions of this free hair
and these braids, free strand,
and then a braid, free strand, and then a braid.
I'm just continuing that pattern.
So, now I'm going to take these braids out,
and I'm going to clip them out of the way.
So, now with this hair that is left over,
I'm going to take a hair tie and just secure it.
All right. I'm going to take these out now, carefully.
And to finish off this first section,
I'm just going to pull each section
that's in between these braids.
It kind of gives like, a lantern effect.
All right. So, now we just repeat the process,
except we have the braided section on top.
Again, clipping this way,
and then securing these braids with the hair elastic.
So, now we have those. And now, we do the same thing.
We're just pulling the individual braids out.
And this is the part where it starts to look like a birdcage.
With the braids, I have to make sure
that I'm doing them in order
because it's really easy to get them crisscrossed.
So, you want to keep them in the order that they are laying.
I'm so good at describing stuff. Can you tell?
Oh, that's a good little sphere. Okay.
So, this is going to be the last little bubble,
and then I'm going to end it. I'm going to stop it right here
because I feel like if I tried to do one more braid bubble,
they'll, they've gotten a little bit too thin.
So, I feel like this is a good ending point.
So, the most common question is,
do my hands or my arms hurt while I'm doing this?
And when it's a braid that's, like, right in front of me,
not really. Behind my head, yes, sometimes.
But it's actually my back that hurts the most
from just sitting up so long. I shouldn't say that with that.
It's actually my back that hurts the most just from sitting up,
having my arms up.
So, I'm just going to secure this at the end
because I'm going to take
the rest of these braids out at the bottom.
So, I'm just putting a little bit of heat protectant
where I'm going to curl.
I'm just going to curl these little pieces that I left out,
and I'm going to give a little bit of curl to the bottom.
I think that'll bring a fun texture into the braid.
I like to call these little pieces
that I leave out my slut strands because they remind me of like,
the little pieces of hair in the front
that the maidens had back in the day
after being in the brothel.
This is, like, my favorite curling wand that I own.
It's the GHD Thin Wand. And it's just so perfect
for like, getting, like, really small ringlets.
All right. Now I'm going to do some decorations.
I don't use real plants because my cats will eat them.
They'll also eat these,
but at least these won't poison them.
And I have a bird.
I'm going to see if he fits anywhere in here
since it kind of looks like the bird cages.
I don't want to go too overboard
because this is already kind of, a busy braid.
I find it easiest to just stick it in the hair ties.
So, when we started this braid, the sun was up.
As you can see, no longer is. So, that can just kind of,
give you a sense of how long this kind of thing takes.
All right. I'm going to try to put my little bird friend
I think in this one.
I think that's where he will have the most room.
I use a lot of like,
craft supplies as hair accessories.
So, this is technically for, like, making a wreath.
Look at him sitting in there. So, cute. All right.
This is the final look with all the embellishments added.
I feel like I've become a pro at this particular braid.
Even though it looks really complicated,
as long as you know kind of, the basic steps.
It's more time-consuming than it is complicated.
Even though, you know, hair is something that's superficial,
you know, it's not who I am. It's part of who I am,
but it's not completely who I am.
It's definitely such a great way to express who I am
and really have something that's unique,
and show other people
that you can also have something that's super unique about you
and can just completely embrace it.
And just run with it.
And I do love that it inspires younger people who have red hair
or have long hair, or even just really like
the, you know, fantasy kind of aesthetic.
I feel like it gets,
you know, kind of a nerdy bad rap sometimes.
But being able to, kind of, bring it into the mainstream
and make it more accessible and kind of normalize
it is a really cool thing to be able to do.