Quick Comparison
| Curling Before You Braid | Curling After You Braid | |
|---|---|---|
| What the braid looks like | Wide fan with visible texture in every crossover | Flat braid with curled ends only |
| How thick it reads | Roughly double; curls fill the pulled-open gaps | True to your actual hair thickness |
| Grip inside the braid | High; bent strands catch on each other | Low; smooth strands slide |
| How long the fan holds | 6 to 10 hours | 1 to 2 hours before it flattens |
| Best wand size | 1 to 1.5 inch for loose curls | Any, but only the ends show |
| Total time | 25 to 40 minutes including curling | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Heat exposure | Whole length, or use heatless overnight curls | Ends only |
| Fine hair result | Convincingly fuller | Braid still reads thin and stringy |
| Best for | Weddings, photos, festivals, fine hair | A quick school run or gym braid |
1. Loose Curls Curled First, Then Mermaid Braided
The baseline version and the one every other look on this page is built from. Curl the whole head with a 1.25 inch wand, taking 2 inch sections and leaving the last inch straight, then shake the curls loose with your fingers rather than a brush. Braid the fishtail over that texture and pancake it. The bend in each strand is what stops the pulled-open crossovers from flattening back, so the braid holds its width for hours instead of minutes. Budget about 15 minutes to curl and 12 to braid.
Who it suits: Anyone whose mermaid braid keeps collapsing back to a narrow rope.
Tip: Let the curls cool completely before braiding, or they drop straight inside the braid.
2. Half-Up Mermaid Braid With Loose Curls Left Down
Take everything above the ears into a fishtail worked down to the nape, tie it with a clear elastic, and leave the bottom half in loose curls. It is the fastest way to get the mermaid effect without committing your whole head to a braid, and it reads beautifully on camera because the fanned braid sits directly against the curl texture below it. Curl the lower half a little tighter than the top, since it hangs free and will drop faster. Roughly 20 minutes total. More versions live in half up mermaid braids.
Who it suits: Weddings, prom and anyone who wants to keep length visible.
Tip: Pin the elastic under a curled strand so the join disappears completely in photos.
3. Side Mermaid Braid Over Loose Curls on Fine Hair
A deep side part with the braid swept over one shoulder is the most flattering option on fine hair, because pulling all the volume to one side reads fuller than splitting it down the back. Curl with a 1 inch wand, spray a dry texture spray at the roots and mids, then braid. Fine hair pancakes very easily, so pull only 2 millimeters per crossover or the braid goes see-through. Expect 6 to 8 hours of hold. The rest of the side placements are in side mermaid braids.
Who it suits: Fine, straight or slippery hair that will not hold a braid.
Tip: Backcomb lightly at the crown before curling so the braid has something to sit on.
4. Waist-Length Mermaid Braid With 1.25-Inch Barrel Curls
At waist length, about 26 to 30 inches, the fan has enough vertical run to look genuinely like a tail, and barrel curls are what fill it. Curl in 2 inch sections with a 1.25 inch iron, alternating the direction on each section so the curls interlock rather than clumping. The braid itself will take 20 minutes at this length, plus another 5 to pancake from the ends upward. Long braids get heavy, so anchor with two bobby pins crossed at the nape. See long mermaid braids for the full length guide.
Who it suits: Hair past the waist that reads thin at the ends.
Tip: Pancake the bottom third widest and taper narrower toward the nape so it looks like a tail.
5. Boho Mermaid Braid With Face-Framing Loose Curls
Pull out two face-framing pieces at the temples before you start, braid everything else, then curl those two pieces last with the wand held vertically so they fall in a soft S rather than a spiral. The contrast between a deliberately messy fanned braid and two clean curled pieces at the face is the entire boho look, and it is what stops loose braids reading unfinished. Add a thin ribbon or a few small gold rings if you want the festival version. Twenty five minutes. More at boho mermaid braids.
Who it suits: Festivals, beach days and anyone growing out a fringe.
Tip: Leave the face-framing pieces about an inch wide; thinner and they look like escaped strands.
6. Mermaid Braid With Curls Pulled Out at the Nape
Once the braid is tied and pancaked, gently tug out the shortest pieces at the nape and behind the ears, then run a curling wand over them for two seconds each. Those released tendrils soften the hard line where a braid meets the neck, which is the part that usually looks severe in photos taken from behind. It also hides the layers that were never going to stay in the braid anyway. Two minutes of work for a noticeably softer result on any of the styles above.
Who it suits: Heavily layered hair and anyone whose braid looks too tight at the neck.
Tip: Pull the pieces out from underneath, not the top layer, so the fanned braid stays smooth.
7. Low Mermaid Braid on Second-Day Curls
Curl on a Monday night, braid on a Tuesday morning. Day-two curls have lost their bounce and picked up natural grip, which is exactly the state a mermaid braid wants, and the braid holds two to three hours longer than it does on the day you curl. Revive the curls with a mist of water plus a pump of leave-in on the mids, scrunch, let them dry for 10 minutes, then braid low at the nape. This is the fastest look here at around 12 minutes because there is no heat step.
Who it suits: Anyone who curled yesterday and does not want to reheat.
Tip: Skip the brush entirely on day two; a wide-tooth comb through the ends only is enough.
8. Heatless Overnight Curls Into a Morning Mermaid Braid
Wrap damp hair around a robe cord or a satin heatless curling set at night, sleep in it, and unwrap in the morning to loose bendy curls that were never heat damaged. They braid beautifully because heatless curls are softer and less springy than wand curls, so they fan rather than resist. The catch is timing: hair must be about 80 percent dry when you wrap, or you wake up damp. Full method in heatless curls overnight for long hair.
Who it suits: Heat-damaged, color-treated or fine hair.
Tip: Mist a light setting lotion before wrapping so the heatless curl survives being braided.
9. Shoulder-Length Mermaid Braid With Loose Curls at 12 Inches
Twelve inches, roughly collarbone length, is the shortest hair a mermaid braid works on, and curls are non-negotiable at that length. Because the braid is short, the fan has to do all the work, so pancake aggressively and let the ends stay loose and curled rather than braiding them tight. Use a 1 inch wand here rather than 1.25, since a bigger barrel simply falls out of shorter hair. Expect a braid about 5 inches long that reads far wider than it is. See also how to style short fine hair.
Who it suits: Collarbone and lob lengths that get told braids will not work.
Tip: Stop braiding two inches from the ends and leave the curls loose so it does not look stubby.
10. Bridal Mermaid Braid With Soft Hollywood Curls
The polished end of this list. Set the whole head in uniform curls all rolled in the same direction, brush them out into one smooth wave pattern, then braid. Brushing is what separates a bridal finish from a beachy one: it removes the individual curl edges and leaves a glossy continuous ripple that the fanned braid sits on. Add three or four pearl pins along the outer edge of the braid. Allow 45 minutes and do a trial run before the day. The wave method is in soft Hollywood waves.
Who it suits: Brides, bridesmaids and black tie events.
Tip: Brush the curls with a boar bristle brush, not a paddle, so the wave survives the brushing.
11. Beachy Mermaid Braid With Salt-Spray Loose Waves
The opposite of the bridal version. Spray sea salt spray through damp hair, scrunch, air dry or diffuse, then braid the resulting matte rough-textured waves. Salt spray adds grip so the braid barely needs pancaking to stay open, and the finish is deliberately undone with pieces falling out. It is the version that survives wind, which is why it works for coastal weddings and boat days when a polished braid would be ruined in ten minutes. Pairs with the rest of the beach hairstyles.
Who it suits: Humid weather, holidays and anyone with naturally wavy hair.
Tip: Salt is drying, so mist a leave-in through the ends first or the braid ends look straw-like.
12. Mermaid Braid on Natural 3A to 3B Curls
Naturally curly hair already has the texture the whole technique is chasing, so skip the heat entirely. Stretch the curls first with a blow dryer on cool and a brush attachment, or with two loose overnight braids, because unstretched coils shorten the braid by several inches and make the crossovers hard to see. Then braid on stretched, not straightened, hair. The fan looks more three dimensional on natural curls than on wand curls because the coil pattern breaks up the surface.
Who it suits: Natural 3A to 3B curl patterns wanting a heatless braided style.
Tip: Work with a curl cream on damp hair, not dry, so the pattern stays defined inside the braid.
13. Waterfall Mermaid Braid With Loose Curls Dropped Through
Start a waterfall braid at the temple, dropping a small section every crossover, and let those dropped sections fall as curls through and below the braid. Collect the ends into a fishtail at the back and pancake it. The dropped curls have to be curled beforehand or they hang as limp straight pieces and the effect is lost. Keep the dropped sections small, about half an inch, since they become part of the mermaid braid later. Twenty five to 30 minutes. Full method in waterfall mermaid braids.
Who it suits: Intermediate braiders and anyone wanting movement rather than one solid braid.
Tip: Drop each section forward over your shoulder as you go so it does not get re-braided by mistake.
14. Double Mermaid Braids With Loose Curls Between Them
Two narrow fishtails, one on each side of the crown, pancaked out and left to run down over hair that stays curled and loose in the middle. Because each braid only takes a third of the hair, they braid quickly and the bulk of the curl volume stays visible. It reads younger and more festival than a single heavy braid, and it is far more forgiving if your braiding is uneven, since two thin braids hide mistakes that one thick one shows. About 20 minutes for the pair.
Who it suits: Thick hair that is too heavy for one braid, and festival looks.
Tip: Make the two braids deliberately different widths; perfectly matched pairs look stiff.
15. Mermaid Braid With Loose Wave Extension Curls
The salon version of this search term: knotless or box braids installed with loose wave human hair curls left out along the length, so the braid is never braided to the ends. It is a protective style, typically 4 to 6 hours to install and 150 to 400 dollars, and it lasts 6 to 8 weeks. Body wave and loose wave textures hold definition longer than deep wave, which frizzes first. This is a different service to everything above, which is DIY on your own hair, but it shares the same visual logic: braid plus loose curl equals volume.
Who it suits: Anyone wanting a multi-week protective style rather than a one-day braid.
Tip: Ask for human hair on the loose sections; synthetic curls lose definition after the first wash.
What a Mermaid Braid With Loose Curls Actually Is
A mermaid braid is a fishtail braid that has been pancaked wide so it fans out like a tail. You split the hair into two halves, take a small piece from the outer edge of one half, cross it over into the other half, alternate side to side to the ends, tie off, and then go back and gently pull each crossover open until the plait spreads. Loose curls are what fill that spread. Without them you are pulling flat strands apart and the braid simply looks thin and gappy; with them, every pulled-open section holds a bend that catches the light and keeps its shape. It is worth knowing that this keyword returns two different hairstyles. One is the DIY braid described here, done on your own hair in 25 to 40 minutes. The other is a salon protective style: knotless braids installed with loose wave human hair curls left unbraided, which takes 4 to 6 hours and lasts 6 to 8 weeks. Entries one through fourteen on this page are the DIY braid. Entry fifteen is the salon version. The core mermaid braid method covers the braiding motion in more detail.
Curl First, Braid Second: The Order That Creates the Volume
The order is the whole trick, and almost every tutorial that ranks for this style skips explaining it. Curl the full length first, then braid over the curls. A curled strand has bend along its entire length, so when it becomes one of the small crossover pieces in a fishtail it sits proud instead of lying flat, and when you pancake that crossover open it holds the new width. A straight strand pulled open springs back within the hour. Use a 1 to 1.5 inch wand or iron on 2 inch sections, alternating direction section to section so the curls interlock rather than merging into one shape, and leave the last inch of each section straight for a modern finish. Do not brush afterward. Shake the curls apart with your fingers only, because a brush removes exactly the separation you just spent 15 minutes creating. Let everything cool fully before you start braiding, since warm curls stretch out under braid tension and drop. If you want the volume without heat, overnight heatless curls give a softer bend that braids just as well, and the heatless curl tools compared guide covers which one suits your length.
The Pancaking Technique That Fans the Braid Around the Curls
Pancaking is the act of widening a finished braid by pulling on it, and doing it badly is the most common reason a mermaid braid falls apart. Work from the bottom of the braid upward, never top down, because pulling at the top first loosens the tension holding everything below it. Pinch the tail of the braid with one hand to hold tension, then use the thumb and forefinger of the other hand to tug the outer edge of each crossover outward by two or three millimeters. Two or three millimeters at a time, not a centimeter. Go around the whole braid once, then go back and do a second pass if you want more width, which is far safer than trying to reach full width in one aggressive pull. On curled hair you will feel the strand resist slightly and then set, which is the grip doing its job. If a section slips out entirely, do not re-braid the whole thing: pin it flat against the braid with a bobby pin pushed in from underneath and it will disappear. Taper the amount you pull so the bottom third is widest, which is what gives the braid its tail silhouette rather than an even rectangle.
Mermaid Braids With Loose Curls on Fine or Slippery Hair
Freshly washed hair is the enemy of this style. Clean hair has no friction, so the fishtail loosens as you braid, the curls drop within the hour, and the pancaked sections slide back closed. The fix is texture, and there are three reliable sources of it. Day-two hair is the best and costs nothing: the natural oils give strands enough grip that the braid holds two to three hours longer. Second, a dry texture spray misted at the roots and mids before curling, not after, so the product is inside the curl rather than sitting on it. Third, a light dry shampoo at the roots for lift, which matters on fine hair because a flat crown makes even a wide braid look small. On genuinely fine hair, pull only about two millimeters per crossover, since fine hair goes translucent when over-pancaked and you can see straight through the fan. A 1 inch wand suits fine hair better than a 1.5 inch, because bigger barrels drop out of fine strands quickly. Finish with a flexible hold hairspray held about ten inches away, and see cute hairstyles that last all day for more hold strategies.
Mermaid Braids With Loose Curls by Length and Thickness
Length changes what curl size to use and how hard to pancake. At about 12 inches, collarbone or lob length, use a 1 inch wand, stop braiding two inches from the ends, and pancake hard, because a short braid needs all its impact from width rather than length. At 18 to 22 inches, mid-back, you are in the easiest zone: a 1.25 inch wand, a full-length braid, and moderate pancaking give a classic mermaid shape. Past 26 inches the braid gets heavy and needs anchoring with two crossed bobby pins at the nape, and alternating curl direction becomes essential or the length clumps into one shape. Thickness matters separately from length. Very thick hair often looks better in two braids than one, because a single braid becomes so wide that the crossover pattern stops reading. Fine hair does the opposite and wants one braid with all the volume concentrated in it, ideally swept to one side. If your hair falls past the waist, long mermaid braids covers weight, tension and how to sleep in one without waking up with a flattened fan.
Making the Braid and the Curls Last All Day and Overnight
A mermaid braid with loose curls holds six to ten hours, and the curls always soften before the braid does, usually around hour four. Slow that down by spraying a flexible hold hairspray over each curl before you braid rather than over the finished braid, since spray on the outside of a pancaked braid stiffens the surface and does nothing for the strands inside it. Use a clear elastic at the ends, which genuinely disappears in photographs where a black one reads as a hard dot. If the braid loosens during the day, do not re-pancake it, because that only pulls more hair free. Instead push two bobby pins in from underneath at the point where it sagged. At night, the braid becomes an asset: retie it loosely, sleep on a satin pillowcase, and unravel it in the morning for soft next-day mermaid waves that need nothing but finger-shaking. That overnight effect is the same principle behind overnight heatless curls on damp hair, and it means one styling session realistically gets you two days of hair. For an evening event, braid about two hours before you leave rather than right before, so the style settles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should you curl your hair before or after a mermaid braid?
Before, always. Curling first puts bend into every strand that goes into the braid, so when you pancake the crossovers open they hold their width instead of springing flat. Curling after the braid is tied only affects the loose ends and does nothing for the fan. The one exception is face-framing pieces, which you pull out first and curl last.
What size curling iron is best for mermaid braids with loose curls?
A 1 to 1.5 inch barrel. That range gives a loose curl that stacks into the braid and pancakes well. A 0.75 inch barrel makes tight ringlets that spring back and fight the widening, so the braid ends up narrow. Fine or shorter hair does better at 1 inch, while thick hair past the waist holds a 1.5 inch curl best.
How do you make a mermaid braid look thicker?
Three things stacked together. Curl the whole length first so the strands have grip and bend, pancake from the bottom of the braid upward two or three millimeters per crossover, and taper the widening so the bottom third is widest. On fine hair, add a dry texture spray before curling and a light backcomb at the crown. Clip-in wefts placed low add width as much as length.
Why do my curls fall out inside a mermaid braid?
Usually because the curls were still warm when you braided. Warm hair is soft and stretches under braid tension, so the curl pattern pulls straight. Let the curls cool completely, ideally pinned to the head for ten minutes, before braiding. Freshly washed hair also drops faster, so work on day-two hair or spray texture through first.
How long does a mermaid braid with loose curls last?
The braid itself holds six to ten hours pinned, and the curls soften first, typically around hour four. Spraying each curl with a flexible hold spray before braiding rather than after extends that by a couple of hours. The salon extension version with loose wave curls is different and lasts six to eight weeks with proper night care.
Can you do a mermaid braid with loose curls on shoulder-length hair?
Yes, from about 12 inches or collarbone length. Use a 1 inch wand, stop braiding roughly two inches from the ends so the curls stay loose, and pancake harder than you would on long hair. The resulting braid is short but wide, which is what sells the look at that length. Below about 10 inches there is not enough hair for the fan to read.
How do you sleep in a mermaid braid with curls?
Retie the braid loosely, not tightly, and sleep on a satin pillowcase or wrap it in a satin scarf. A tight braid overnight creates a crimped kink at the elastic. In the morning, unravel it from the bottom and shake it out with your fingers for soft next-day mermaid waves. Do not brush, or you will lose the wave pattern entirely.
Are mermaid braids with loose curls the same as boho braids?
No. Both leave hair loose, but boho braids are smaller braids finished with beads, feathers and accessories, and they are braided down to the ends. Mermaid braids are deliberately not braided to the ends, which is what creates the flowing look. Mermaid reads polished and aquatic, boho reads organic and festival.
Which mermaid braids look are you saving?
If you take one thing from these 15 mermaid braids with loose curls, make it the order: curl first, braid second, pancake last. That sequence is what turns a narrow rope of a fishtail into a wide, soft fan, and it is why the same braid photographs so differently on two people with the same hair. Use a 1 to 1.5 inch wand, work on day-two or texture-sprayed hair, and pull each crossover open only two or three millimeters at a time starting from the ends. Save the looks you want to try, then browse the rest of the mermaid braids hub, or go straight to long mermaid braids if your hair falls past the waist.
