Yarn Braids Are Trending on Pinterest—Here's a Guide to Protective Style

The scramble to find innovative ways to keep our natural hair healthy amid limited access to salons has resulted in an increased search for protective hairstyles—and people are turning to Pinterest for inspo. Take a look at some of the keywords around the subject matter that saw a significant spike on the famed visual search engine in 2020:

Box braids, cornrows, Bantu knots, twists… and the list goes on and on.

Honestly, the demand for low-maintenance hair inspiration makes total sense, especially since these hairstyles minimize potential damage to growing hair, without compromising style. Even Pinterest's Head of Content and Editorial Partnerships, Aya Kanai, shared her growing appreciation for these easily manageable hairstyles.

"I love the idea of having a hairstyle that lasts for multiple days or weeks," Kanai tells us about her admiration for protective styles, especially with our newfound lifestyle that consists of regular Zoom meetings for most. "It looks like you did something, but you didn’t do anything—you did it one time and it lasted a long time. Now that we live our lives with mostly just our head and shoulders visible on Zoom, it’s the only part people see."

Without access to help from hair professionals due to statewide shutdowns, who can blame the millions of Americans searching tirelessly for at-home hair solutions that look like you put some effort in? Our point exactly. We want to talk yarn braids specifically, which saw a 145% increase in searches this year.

Ahead, we dive into the yarn braid trend that is taking Pinterest by storm. From quick tips to cool inspiration, we’ve got you covered.

How To Do Yarn Braids

If you know how to install braiding hair, you’ll install the yarn with no problem—you may even save a few dollars. Yarn tends to be cheaper than kanekalon braiding hair because it stretches further since you can separate it into smaller pieces. You may be thinking, "Doesn’t yarn get hot?" The answer is yes. However, you can avoid the extra heat, particularly in the summer months, if you use acrylic yarn and not wool. Wool yarn can also be drying to your coils, so even in colder months, you may want to skip using it altogether.

One final tip we want to add to your haircare toolbox, is yarn braids tend to be lighter than traditional box braids. However, once the yarn is wet, the braids can become heavy and take an extended amount of time to dry. Wringing them out post-wash and wrapping them in a microfiber cloth for up to an hour can help soak up the excess water. Like most protective styles, stylists usually recommend keeping them in for four to six weeks to prevent breakage and tangles.

The inspiration:

Now, for some much needed inspiration. Below, we've rounded up some of the coolest yarn braids on Instagram.

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Yarn Braid Highlights

Add dimensions to your braids by adding colorful yarn without the damage of traditional hair color.

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Neon Green Yarn Braided Cornrows

woman with green eye makeup — @mylanielaniee

We can’t get enough of this green eyeshadow and green cornrows beauty moment.

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Yarn Braided Pixie

woman with multi colored braids — @_omhhredroom

Cropped braided looks are chic and cool, and adding a pop of color with yarn can help your look take on new life.

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Cropped Yarn Braids

woman with colored braids — @_omhhredroom

Yarn braids can work on any length or cut, and these blue and yellow yarn braids make this cropped look the epitome of hair envy.

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Yellow and Turquoise Yarn Braids

Two-toned hair can be achieved in more than one way, and here we see Frokyo braid each half of her hair in two different colors.

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Yarn Braided Bob

woman with multi colored hair — @blissfulsperspective

This yarn bob is sleek and intricately crafted since Bliss used more than one color to braid her hair. If you want to try this at home, check out her tutorial.

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