How to Create a Fishtail Braid

There are many hairstyles a mermaid can wear, but one of the most iconic and most commonly thought of when thinking about mermaids is the fishtail or mermaid braid. With fish in the name, how could it not be related to some of your favorite mermaids? If you’re trying to complete your perfect mermaid look and struggling with your hair, we have all the steps you need to master this braid in no time!

1. Pull all of your hair to the side. They’re easiest to do as side braids first, then when you get more comfortable doing it on yourself you can switch to straight down your back versions.
2. Divide your hair into two even sections.
3. Take a thin strand of hair from the outside left section and bring it over the top to the inside right section and tuck into the right section.
4. Tighten up both sections.
5. Take a thin strand of hair from the outside right section and bring it across the top to the inside left section and tuck into the left section. Tighten up both sections.
6. Continue alternating sides until you reach the bottom of your hair. For a tighter braid, tighten up both sections as you go. If you want something looser, you don’t have to tighten, but it may come out more uneven.
7. Wrap a hair tie around the end of your hair to secure your braid.
8. If you want to loosen it, gently pull on the braid on the sides, starting at the top and working your way down. Don’t pull too hard though, you don’t want to loosen up layers of your hair or remove any of your hair from the braid.

There are other versions of the mermaid or fishtail braid, but this is by far the easiest one to learn. Once you become more advanced, you can start French fishtail braiding and more complicated styles, even fishtail buns or fishtail side braids. However, this is the best place to start learning how to do a mermaid braid.