Badass Braids

I have wanted Lagertha's Viking braid/fauxhawk 'do for years now, so imagine my extreme delight when I saw this book. Beautiful full-page photographs of the completed hairstyles and illustrated step-by-step instructions will show you how to look like your favorite characters from history, movies and books - Lagertha, Daenerys Targaryen, Lucrezia Borgia, Sailor Moon and more. Can't wait to try some.

There is a wide range of styles from all through sci-fi, historical fiction and animation. The photos are beautiful and the drawings used to explain the styles clear and easy to follow. Basic plaits are explained and there are styles for men.
The author also has a Youtube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/user/silvousp...) that has lots of videos going other some of the styles in the book, others and basic plaiting techniques.

OMG YES! This is the book that I feel like I have been waiting years and years for and I'm so so happy I've got my hands on it! I've always loved braids - my grandma used to give fench and dutch braids when I was younger and then taught me how to do them on myself and they're something I do to my own hair even now, years on, for work and going out. Braids are just such a simple way to make it look like you've made a  load of effort with your hair and they always look fantastic!

So imagine my delight when I saw this beauty on NetGalley, I knew I had to request and I'm so glad I did. This is written by Shannon Burns (A.K.A Silvousplaits) who also has a youtube channel & a website and in it she re-creates a lot of famous hairstyles from a lot of famaous TV programmes, films and games. 

There's such a great range of hairstyle in here which cater for every experience level. In the front it contains sections on what tools you may need and also all the simple braids which are used in book such as a normal braid, french braids, dutch braids, fishtail braids and 2 strand braids with simple explanations on how to do them. And each hairstyle itself has a skill level, time it will take and tools you will need. There's a massive range of both updo's and also hair half up/half down and a great range within those categories too - there are some which are very formal and regal looking which I probably wouldn't wear everyday and also more badass and simpler looking which are perfect for everyday to make it look like you put loads of serious effort into your hair.

This features hair from Game of Thrones, Vikings, Sailor Moon, Leia and Rey from Star Wars, Outlander, Hunger games, Final Fantasy and Wonder Woman just to name a few! It's absolutely brilliant being able to re-create your favourite hairstyles from your favourite moveies, TV and games which is great.

The only thing I would have liked was slightly clearer images as they are pencil sketch style drawings which could end up being a bit confusing however there are also explanations on how to carry out each step and I think if you know the basic braids mentioned to be used in that hairstyle, then it shouldn't be too hard to re-create the looks!

I would definitely recommened picking this up if you're a braid lover like myself and I honestly can't wait to try some of these on myself! If you want to take a look at Silvousplaits work before you purchase the book, she does have a website where she posts some of her braids.

Thank you so so much to NetGalley and especially to Silvousplaits / Shannon Burns for writing this beauty of a book which is my new hair bible and also to Race Point Publishing for providing me with the Advanced copy. I would also like to state that all opinions on this book are my own and are honest.  I will definitely be picking this up in a physical copy when it's published as I have a feeling I'm going to be using it on a daily basis!

A wonderful and timely publication on how to obtain fantastical and intricate braids, from easy Sailor Moon inspired half-buns to intricate Elizabethan updos. Specific characters are included, like Princess Leia Organa and Rei from <i>Star Wars</i>, Katniss from <i>Hunger Games</i>, Eowyn from <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, as well as the television shows mentioned in the title. 

The hairstyles included cover a wide range from practical and sensible for adventurously active heroines, through modest and romantic for regency-era reserved lady-types, all the way to regal and magnificent for powerful ruling ladies. There are also a few more masculine styles.

Optimistic (in my opinion) difficulty levels and time required to complete the looks are suggested, as well as lovely photographs and drawings explaining the steps involved to achieve the braids and short descriptions of the necessary hair tools and techniques. 

Although most of the braids are suitable for formal occasions, many styles can be simplified for everyday use.

Great fun for anyone who likes experimenting with hair styles, fans of fantasy and sci-fi characters, or anyone trying to emulate the style of these heroines.

I love it when books are on the sixth-sense level! I've literally been searching for insane braids, and this book won me over (it had me at the title - Westworld and GOT-inspired braids?! AWESOME). This book was perfect for me, since I'm a bit instruction-challenged. I need pictures and simple instructions and the fact that the braids are inspired by amazing shows just tickles me pink. It's exactly what I've been looking for!

This book is awesome! I love the look of the different braids in here and was even able to do a couple. Can’t wait to try some more!

Such a fun and creative resource. I would have liked to see more step-by-step photos of the actual process instead of drawn illustrations but with enough practice I think most can be successful at mimicking the styles included in this text.

This was great! I've been a subscriber of Shannon's YouTube channel for years, and I was so excited to see that she had come out with a book. She's really good at breaking down complicated hairstyles and making them easier to replicate through clear and concise instructions. I loved how this book was organized by genre, and there was such a wide variety of hairstyles from a lot of different shows and movies. Highly recommended!

This had a bunch of really cool ideas in it.  Sadly for me, my hair is way too fine to copy a lot of them, let alone have it turn out looking so neat.  Still, the step by step instruction plus the picture of the finished style was nice.  I can tweak things and use what I want out of it so it was worth checking this book out.

I don't think there's a lot to say about a book that teaches you how to do braided hairstyles. The hairstyles shown looked cool and I think that the fact that they all had the level of difficulty in their description was helpful. It had a nice variety of hairstyles, and I liked the fact that some of the braids were exemplified on men. 

Because I have shoulder-length hair, I was only able to try a few of them, but I liked the way they looked.

My only complaint about this book was that not all the hairstyles mentioned the length of hair needed in order to replicate them, but nevertheless, it's a good book to learn how to do some original hairstyles.

Pre-order now: http://amzn.to/2E7YN5Y

I am reviewing this book for Shannon Burns, Race Point, and NetGalley who gave me a copy of their book for an honest review. 
Beautiful braids of differing abilities. The step by step instructions make them seem so easy to follow and great photography. I could just look at the amazing designs again and again and wonder if I can ever recreate these.  I also liked that some of the designs were shown on male models. I also loved how they were based on characters from popular shows – many of which I’d seen so I could imagine the design on that particular character. 
Need my nieces to grow up a bit more and then I can test my ‘braiding skills’

I really, really, really wish I was capable of braiding my own hair. Every time I try it turns out looking weird and lopsided. Because I can't see the back of my own head while I'm braiding it. Ugh. Either way, this book is a guide to do your hair like all your favorite characters from period dramas, sci-fi and fantasy and even anime and video games! I am so jealous of all the hairstyles in this book. I have the hair for it, just not the talent or the patience. Or pain tolerance for having my hair yanked.

5 Words: Hair, braids, fantasy, historical, Vikings.

My problem is that I suck at braiding my own hair unless it's a three or four strand side braid, so I can't do these on myself. But there's a handy guide at the beginning of the different types of braid and how to do them.

But with other people? This was easy.

I did them all on my sister. And the tutorials are easy to follow, the diagrams worked better for me than the explanations as I'm quite a visual person. Some are harder than others (obviously) but all of them worked.

I've been practicing on myself (it's painful) because the Lagertha and Ragnar styles looked amazing on my sister, and I want them on me.

This was a fantastic book of truly bad-ass braids.

A how-to guide for recreating the hairstyles from various franchises. There are 45 different looks in this book, a number that includes multiple characters from Vikings, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, and Black Sails as well as individual characters like Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy, Vanessa Ives from Penny Dreadful, Maeve Millay from Westworld, Morgana from Merlin, and Lucrezia Borgia from The Borgias. There's even a chapter recreating hairstyles from animated sources, such as Katara from Avatar, Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon, and Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. In other words: if you have ever wanted a character's cool hairstyle, it is probably included in this book. 

Each hairstyle comes with written instructions, step-by-step drawings, and photographs, a combination that works very well. If I didn't understand something in the instructions, I could look at the drawing, and if that was unclear, I could study the photos. Also, silvousplait's youtube videos FINALLY taught me how to french braid my own hair, a feat 33 years of life of had not managed. 

The styles are mostly intended for hair long enough to braid, unsurprisingly, though Burns does include tips on how to use hair extensions. Her instructions tend toward assuming that one is dealing with straight, fine hair. My own is extremely curly and thick, but I just ignored directions to tease it for volume, for example, and didn't have a problem. Some of the styles would probably not be suitable for kinky or coiled hair (types 4A-C, in curl typology), but others would work fine. 

Overall, this is an excellent book if you enjoy stealth cosplay or experimenting with unusual ways of wearing your hair. Highly recommended. 

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2320373488

YASSSS. I had to pick this up because, really, who hasn’t wanted to replicate the badass braids and updos in practically every period-drama made in the past few decades? I myself came for the "Vikings" braids and stayed to peruse the wide variety of other styles. There is something for almost every level of braiding experience in here as well as every interest level–from costume dramas to sci-fi and even some manga/anime (Sailor Moon’s pigtails are deceptively simple).

I do wish that the basic braids reference section would have had a brief photo tutorial rather than just relying on a verbal description. While the styles in this book do imply that you already have some experience with braids–it’s not a “how to braid” book, rather a “how to style with braids” book–the audience for this seems very wide reaching, and I think even a brief tutorial for the basics would have been nice. (I, for one, cannot successfully braid anything fancier than a half Dutch braid.)

Some of the styles also lend themselves more to having someone else help you to style at least part, if not all, of the braids. A note on the style’s intro page about whether another person’s help might be useful would have been nice to see as well!

Despite these brief issues, the steps are well explained in the text and understandable without any videos. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves the wide variety of hairstyles in tv and movies. Even if you’re not one to style your hair, it’s still a fun look at how the hairstyles are formed. And if you’re a cosplayer, this would be a very valuable resource as well!

Head over to the author’s website, http://silvousplaits.com/, for more tutorials and interviews!

This book is amazing, i love the information that is given and how well we are shown in the way to create these styles on our selves or others. She gives us chapters on how to basics braids which for any starter is important. Honestly, i am so proud of her and can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

This book makes me jealous.  I have never been able to braid my own hair.  But I could do other peoples.  Just not that well.  My aunts Frieda and Jean on  the other hand, would braid your hair so tight you didn’t blink for a week.  Even after all the beautiful tutorials in this book, I still can’t braid worth a dang, but I try.  This book does a good job with the illustrations and the final products, I just wish there was more step by step instructions.  Plus for many of these braids, the instructions are more for someone else to do the braids rather than the wearer and the braider being one.

I absolutely love all these hairstyles! I wish I could do my hair like that but I’m definitely not coordinated enough. The pictures show everything so beautifully. Loved this!

Badass Braids: From Vikings to Game of Thrones, 50 Maverick Looks for Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fanatics by Shannon Burns is currently scheduled for release on April 3 2018. When she’s not studying for her PhD in social neuroscience, Silvousplaits (a.k.a. Shannon Burns) is creating and posting weekly instructional videos on her YouTube channel of DIY hair art that mimics the hairstyles of valiant men and women in the best historical, sci-fi, and fantasy shows and movies. Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Vikings, and The Hunger Games--oh yeah, she's done them all. In Badass Braids she shows you how to transform your hair step-by-step. You'll look just like your favorite heroes and heroines in no time. With an introduction to the styling techniques for different kinds of basic braids, interviews with behind-the-scenes stylists and actors, and original styles inspired by fan-favorites.

Badass Braids: From Vikings to Game of Thrones, 50 Maverick Looks for Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fanatics has me wishing I had my long hair back, and willing to go through the awkward regrowth process so that I can try more of these out. This book offers readers a good deal of information on the tools and tricks for perfect braiding. I liked the amount of detail given about the different combs, brushes, other tools and decorations that could be used and how or why you might want to use one or another. The tips and instructions are all well done and very detailed, but never talk down to the readers, which sometimes happens in how-to books of every variety. I also like that there is information on the character each style is based on with each style, both including who they are portrayed by and some information on the real character from history, literature, and so on. The combination of photographs, illustrations, and step by step instructions make the process easy to follow on your own.

Badass Braids: From Vikings to Game of Thrones, 50 Maverick Looks for Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fanatics is a wonderful book for hair and braid lovers, and those looking to emulate the characters from various shows and movies. It could also be helpful for cosplay, conventions, and other costumed events. While not everyone needs this book, anyone wanting to expand their knowledge of hairstyles in general, and braiding in particular, would do well to get this book.

This is a really great book to give women ideas for new hairstyles based on popular historical tv series. It may also be a good reference book for hairstylists or those looking for creative hair ideas for either costumes or for every day usage.