DIY Frozen Hairstyles and Disney Hairstyle Books {Review}

Pamela Chan, Contributor

I’ll admit that when it comes to hairstyles for my five year old daughter, our repertoire is pretty limited. On school days she wears her hair in a pony tail or I make two pony tails and pull them together in the back. Outside of school hours, she wears a headband or wears nothing in her hair. My daughter’s hair is just past shoulder length and is a combination of straight Chinese hair with a fine, silky quality inherited from my father’s Scottish genes. What’s the net result? It’s hard to work with her hair as it’s slippery and won’t stay in place easily.

For this reason I was keen to read two books published by Disney: Hairstyles (40 Amazing Princess Hairstyles With Step by Step Images) and Frozen Hairstyles (Inspired by Anna and Elsa).

What you Receive

The Hairstyles book contains a front section featuring 6 standard braid patterns along with 40 hairstyles inspired by 11 princesses any princess loving girl would know:

• Ariel
• Aurora
• Belle
• Cinderella
• Jasmine
• Merida
• Mulan
• Pocahontas
• Rapunzel
• Snow White; and,
• Tiana

The Frozen Hairstyles book also features 6 standard braids and 28 looks inspired by both Elsa and Anna.

Illustrations and step-by-step instructions accompany beautiful photographs of the finished hair style. The instructions are detailed and easy to follow. The illustrations show each step required to complete the hairstyle. Strands are highlighted with a different colour to emphasize which locks of hair you need to hold or move. You can easily make out what needs to be done at each step.

In the Hairstyles book the sections for each Princess features vibrant images of each subject along with the names of the hairstyles that will be featured for her. In the Princess Hairstyles book, each section is dedicated to a different princess, along with colour coded pages and drawings on the photographs to remind the reader which princess inspired the hairstyle.

What You’ll Need

The supplies needed for these hairstyles are minimal. We had on hand a good quality, bristle brush, bobby pins, small and large elastics and some pretty flower hair barettes. For some of the hairstyles you could use ribbons or weave in coloured strands of fake hair.

Our Experience

Traditional Fishtail Braid (Featured in both books)

We started with an easy pattern from the Braid School section included at the beginning of both books. The braids on my daughter’s hair seem to fall apart as the elastic slides down the shaft of the braid. So I stop the braid a little bit farther away from the end of the hair so that the elastic won’t slip out. This braid is not had to do and makes for an different look when you are braiding either large or small amounts of hair.

This hairstyle involved making braids on either side of the head before the ends are attached together in the back. The braids are adjusted to make an interesting pattern. I wanted to try looks that involve smaller braids being brought together in interesting ways. This type of style works for straight, fine, silky (read “slippy”) hair.

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Roll the PonyTail: Inspired by Belle (Hairstyles: 40 Amazing Princess Hairstyles)

Two small ponytails are joined at the back and the small braids are tied together before the remaining hair is wrapped around the braided parts. This look did work on my daughter’s hair but it requires tight braids and firm fastenings to make sure that it will stay in place.

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PonyTail With a Twist: Inspired by Belle (Hairstyles: 40 Amazing Princess Hairstyles)

This is a quick and simple look that can be done quickly in the midst of the morning rush to get on the road and off to school. An older girl could easily do this look by herself.

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Five In One (Frozen Hairstyles)

Now that I’d tried a few looks, I was getting more confident. “How about this look?”, I thought. The Five In One is similar to the Fish Tail but has 5 strands. This was my mistake. Working with five strands while using silky, slippery hair was not a good idea. After splitting the hair on the top and making my strands, I had to abandon the look half way. It was raising my blood pressure!

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Anna’s Braids (Frozen Hairstyles)

This look copies Anna’s casual look from the Frozen film. My daughter has bangs so the effect doesn’t look exactly the same as the one that is achieved in the photographed. Essentially this is a loose, lower braid on either side of the head. The instructions explain how to weave in a ribbon or coloured strand of fake hair. This is an easy, everyday look.

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Pocahontas’ Braided Bun (Disney Hairstyles: 40 Amazing Princess Hairstyles)

I have been making ballet buns on my daughter’s hair for the last few months and I think I’m getting pretty good at it. So I was keen to try a different way to put her hair up on top of her head. This look is easy to do. Silkier hair does require more bobby pins to keep it in place.

My Thoughts

Recently I had the opportunity to see a yearbook from a large, local high school. While scanning the pages, I was surprised (shocked actually) to see that 98% of the girls had long hair. The school has about 2,000 students. I think I saw less than five girls who didn’t have long hair. So my math might be off. When I was in high school there was a vast variety of hairstyles in our student body. Some girls had long hair. Some had short, spiky hair. And there was every length and hair style in between. With so many girls sporting long hair, these types of books are a great way to have fun with your hair. Some of the hairstyles are elaborate while others are more simple. Some of the narrow braids at the back reminded me of the looks you saw in the 1960s or even in Renaissance era paintings. One of my older nieces had a look at the books and made a note of some of the ideas. I could imagine girls would enjoy using the books while visiting with each other and trying out hair styles. The ideas also provide an easy way to change your look without spending a lot of money. Some of the looks could even be used by older women.

I would recommend the book both as a purchase for your own use and also as as gift for friends and family members who have shoulder length or longer hair.

Disclosure: I received sample of two products to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided and all views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.