Waterfall Mermaid Braid Tutorial for Long Hair

Dream hair alert!

I have the gorgeous Sonia of Sonia Styling back to help me with a long hair tutorial. She’s lent me her gorgeous locks to create this waterfall mermaid braid tutorial that’s perfect for long hair.

I can’t remember where I first spotted this braid but it’s been appearing a lot on Instagram lately. I find so much hair inspiration on Instagram. You can follow me there and see all the hair accounts I follow.

Unfortunately I have too many layers in my hair to make this work in my hair. My hair is just a bit too short to do this. While I try and do hairstyles that work for lots of hair lengths, this a true long hair hairstyle.

This braid is a combination of two different braids. There’s a waterfall braid at the top and the waterfall sections then link in to create a mermaid braid at the back of your head. It’s a fabulous braid that you can do in your own hair, but it’s so much easier with a friend to help.

While you can try this in curly hair, the straighter your hair the more you can see the mermaid braid detail. Sonia’s hair has a beautiful wave in it which still works for this look but if your hair is super straight, the effect is stunning.

Even if you don’t have mermaid hair, try the waterfall braid which I’ve created a separate tutorial for below.

Waterfall Mermaid Braid Tutorial for Long Hair

Waterfall braid tutorial

What you need:

• Small hair elastic
• Bobby pin

Step-by-step tutorial:

1. Brush your hair to remove any knots to make it easier to braid.
2. Then take a section of hair on the left hand side. Split this into two and twist the top section around the bottom section.
3. Take a section of hair from above the twist, near your part, and place it between the two twisting pieces. It doesn’t connect, it just goes straight through.
4. Twist the two original pieces. Take another section from above two twisting pieces and place it through again. Twist the two sections again.
5. Continue your waterfall twist to the back of your head and use a bobby pin to hold the end of your braid.
   TIP: Use small sections for the waterfall pieces as they will become your mermaid braid later.
6. Repeat on the right hand side. Follow the same steps to create a waterfall twist on the right hand side to mirror the left.
7. Join your braids together. Use a small clear elastic to join your two waterfall twists at the back of your head.

You could just finish your style with this waterfall braid. I love this look and would wear this any day. But let’s step it up to the waterfall mermaid braid…

Waterfall Mermaid Braid Tutorial for Long Hair

What you need:

• Small hair elastic

Step-by-step tutorial:

1. Follow the waterfall braid instructions above.
2. Create a three stand braid at the join of the waterfall braid. Use a waterfall section on each side and the middle section to start your braid. Cross the left over the middle, then the right over the left.
3. Add in the waterfall sections to your braid. Carefully pick up the pieces of hair that fall through your braid and combine them into your braid at the back.
   TIP: Leave the sections a little loose so they create this draped mermaid braid.
4. Keep braiding until all the sections have been added. Continue a few more sections of your braid and then secure the end with a small clear elastic.

If you need to, you can stretch out the braid to even out the tension in the mermaid draped sections until you get the desired result.

Sigh, I just love this braid!

What do you think? Is your hair long enough to try this waterfall mermaid braid tutorial? Will you send me a pic if you try it?

PS. Please pin this to Pinterest or share this tutorial with a friend who has long hair xx