A braided style that is especially great for the summer is a braided headband, which is formed by braiding your bangs or the hair on your crown.

I especially love this look for the summer months, when the heat leaves you with sticky hairlines that can trigger crazed desires to shave your head. (Maybe that’s just me?) Regardless, this is a cute style, heat or no heat, and it works for all hair types. Here’s how to style your very own braided headband, with nothing more than a few bobby pins and a hair tie.

1. Tie the bottom layers of your hair back in a low ponytail, leaving the hair you want to braid. This can be your bangs or the front layer of your crown. If you want to make a more dramatic crown, make a deep side part, and start your braid from that point.
2. Start to braid your hair in a standard french braid. Divide the top layer of hair into three sections, and begin to cross the strands: first cross the far right strand over the middle strand, and then the cross the far left strand over the middle strand. This is one round of braiding. For every round thereafter you will continue this pattern, but you will slightly bulk up the three strands per round using the hairs underneath.
3. Continue to braid the remainder of your bangs in this pattern, until you have braided your entire fringe. You should have a pretty face framing headband, or a crown if you started your braid deeper to one side.
4. To finish off the look, use a bobby pin to secure your braid discreetly behind your ear. You can leave the rest of your hair down, or pull it back in a sleek low bun. Gorgeous!

-Shalyn Tharayil