Glitter Braids Will Give You the "Alien Superstar" Hair of Your Dreams

Summer may be coming to an end, but that doesn't mean the concert makeup and hair looks need to. (Especially if you want to live in your "Renaissance" era forever.) Trends like textured chrome nails and eye gems have likely been dominating your social feeds the last few months as people show off their festival looks in their curated summer dumps on Instagram. In said pictures, you may have also noticed a familiar trend: glitter braids.

This hairstyle is a twist on traditional box braids but with a high-shine finish. Like the original, they can be customized to be knotless, which means that they wouldn't have the small knot at the beginning of the plait for security. Still, when it comes to technique, the style pretty much remains the same. "The name 'box braids' refers to the square-shaped partings that are used to attach the extensions in order to create the braids," the founder of Iman Yvonne Beauty, Alicia Bailey, previously told POPSUGAR. Whichever technique you choose, know that this trend will have you standing out in any crowd.

Read ahead for all you need to know about glitter braids, then keep scrolling for inspiration to re-create the trend yourself before the season comes to a close.

With glitter braids, the fun is in the hair you use to achieve the look. Often featuring tinsel, the decorative material is mixed into the braid prior to starting the actual styling process. Similar to the tinsel hair trend that dominated 2021, glitter braids utilize more of the holographic strips to give that hyper-shine finish as opposed to a subtle sparkle.

Still, if you're more of a fan of extensions or just have finer hair, you can achieve the trend too, but your installation process may look a bit different. "We attach rings a few inches below the parting to keep [them] discreet," Emma May, master stylist and tinsel specialist at London's Samantha Cusick salon, previously told POPSUGAR. So instead of the shine being hypervisible throughout the length of the hair, this version usually finds the shimmer appearing more toward your mid-lengths to ends. Additionally, you can still get the braided effect by opting for french braids, braided buns, or even baby braids.

If you want to take the look up a notch and add even more texture, opt for crystal gems, à la Saweetie at the 2021 Met Gala, and you'll be visible from outer space. Should you want something more subtle, wash-out glitter is the perfect alternative to get the sparkling look of your dreams, and you can pair it with temporary color like Kim Kimble's After Party Hair Coloring Conditioning Wax ($6) for a complete makeover that won't have you second guessing your choices the next day. Either way, if you're looking for some glitter hair inspiration, see some of the best versions we found on TikTok ahead.