Confession of a beauty editor: I'm a recovering heat tool addict. A day wouldn't go by without subjecting my hair to a torturous curling iron, punishing blowdryer or distressing straightener. Thankfully, I've since broken the cycle of heat tool abuse, but it wasn't easy! My wakeup call came a few years ago when I had a unwanted in-salon straightening treatment (I was eventually talked into it) applied to my hair during a work event, the end result completely destroyed my hair... I guess you could call it an occupational hazzard. Post treatment I needed to cut all ties with my beloved heat tools because my hair was far too weak, in fact it never regained its health, I had to wait a full two years until it grew out! Meaning, I had to get creative with doing my hair sans tools—and quick! My bandaid? Braids! The beauty of a slightly dishevelled braided updo is it that it looks far more difficult to create then it actually is. I have about six different braided styles that I alternate between, but one of the most coveted styles that I've yet to master is the fishtail braid. [caption id="attachment_10996" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Hair & makeup artist Olivia Colacci is giving our model an epic fishtail braid.[/caption] I had the three-pronged version down pat, but the fishtail was a mystery to me, until I did a fishtail how-to video for Canadian Living with the amazing Marilisa, artistic director of Marc Anthony hair care. She demonstrated the tutorial on me and the style quickly became one of my go-to looks for the summer of 2011. But without practicing I completely forgot how-to to do it, until last week. While shooting some of our spring fashion stories our editorial hair & makeup artist, Olivia Colacci was giving our model (Christina The, Elmer Olsen) a perfectly unkempt fishtail braid. While on set she gave me a quickie refresher course, which gave me the know-how and courage to attempt the 2.0 twist.

 Ta da! While on a nature hike with the boyfriend and dogs I dusted off my twisting skills and made myself a pretty decent fishtail! Rather than have me write out the steps it's much easier to follow along with our how-to fishtail video.