Lucia Cook will happily sit for hours plaiting the intricate rows of a cornrow braid, or fiddle with a tricky waterfall braid. But voluntarily go to the hairdressers? That's not her thing.

'I don't like going to the hairdressers to get my hair done,” the Tauranga 13-year-old says with a chuckle. 'I don't like people playing with my hair, but I like going to watch mum get hers done.”

Lucia's not a typical girly girl. 'No,” she laughs. 'I play football and I surf, I do surf lifesaving, cross country running…Yeah I'm not the girly girl. I don't like wearing dresses.

'Lots of people don't expect that I braid hair.” Well she does and she's good at it. 'I can do cornrows, Dutch braids, French braids, waterfall braids, double waterfall braid, fishtail braids, a backwards fish braid…” What's that? 'It's like inside out,” says Lucia. 'Lots of people give me a picture and I just copy the picture.”

Maybe once every two weeks Lucia goes to the salon at Inhair.Mt and braids her mother Janette's hairdresser's hair. 'I've ordered some business cards. The hairdresser wanted some so she could give them out,” says Lucia.

The Mount Maunganui Intermediate School pupil has braided hair for school balls, socials, and she's pretty popular at school camp. 'One girl woke up at 5am just to get her hair done before breakfast at 7am,” says Lucia with a laugh.

'I do all the girls in the school netball team's hair. They come over to my house early just to get their hair braided.”

But Lucia doesn't mind. 'I just like doing people's hair.”

Some people have paid Lucia for braiding their hair if it's for an occasion, but mostly Lucia just does it 'because it's fun”. 'I've just missed the ball season and dance exams,” says Lucia. 'But that's okay, next year.”

Lucia learned how to do her first French braid while camping with a friend. 'We were camping with my friend and her mum is really good at French braids, so she taught me how to do a French plait and I've just taught myself everything else.”

She's got her eyes on a career as a hairstylist. 'It would be pretty cool to be a hair stylist and do people's hair for weddings and things, but I also want to become a professional surfer.”

What makes a good French braid? 'It's got to be nice and tight, start from the top, and you've got to make sure you take your time.”

'It's easy to be patient with hair,” says Lucia. 'If you go fast it will get messy and you have to redo it. So it's better just to do it right the first time.

'I like when people go away happy with the outcome.”

To see what other braids Lucia can do, or to book in a time for your hair do, visit: www.facebook.com/Beautiful-braids-415717085298634

'I'd love to braid more hair,” says Lucia.