Dealing with layers in Braids?

[mykle]

I am a guy growing his hair out, it is more than long enough to tie back now and I am generally a ponytail guy, but I am trying to learn to braid it and other than fumbling fingers I am having some trouble. My hair is quite thick which is making it tough, but also I still have layers that really poke out before I tie the braid off even when I manage to do it half decent and I dont like how it looks much. DO you guys have any way to deal with that? I am hoping to branch out a bit but don't like how it looks much. Thanks

[alexis917]

I am a guy growing his hair out, it is more than long enough to tie back now and I am generally a ponytail guy, but I am trying to learn to braid it and other than fumbling fingers I am having some trouble. My hair is quite thick which is making it tough, but also I still have layers that really poke out before I tie the braid off even when I manage to do it half decent and I dont like how it looks much. DO you guys have any way to deal with that? I am hoping to branch out a bit but don't like how it looks much. Thanks

My layers poke out too, and my hair's really thick. They've improved a lot as they've grown, but when they were shorter they made my three strand English braids look really frizzy and messy!
I found that they stayed contained a lot better if I braided my hair when it was damp- which was easy since I wash my hair at night, sleep in a bun, and it's damp in the morning to be restyled.
When it came to three strand braids, reversing it was really helpful too. Same for Dutch braids- they hold in my layers way better than French braids.
To do a "reverse" three strand, just do the same thing you'd normally do, but cross the strands UNDER and not OVER. It feels weird at first, but you get used to it!
If you learn how to do French braids, I suggest you try Dutch braids too. It's basically a French braid where you cross the strands under, not over. :) good luck!

[Leeloo]

I love parandas! They hold in my taper making the braid looking neater.

[Leeloo]

Parandas are easy to make out of yarn, but you'll have to look up instructions ( I needed to see the pictures to figure it out).

[Dandelion6]

I have a few layers that poke out when braiding but I don't stress. I like the bohemian feel.

[spirals]

You don't need to make a paranda necessarily. A long, thin scarf in a solid color would look manly to most people. Stretchy scarves are easy to use because you can tie them into a Y--two ends and the third "leg" is a long loop. When you're done braiding you pull the two ends through the loop and it will stay. I will totally do pics if you want after the weekend; just let me know via pm.
Also as far as a regular braid, one thinks "right over [middle], left over, right over, left over...." To learn dutch or reverse, I taught my brain to think "middle over [right or left]". It helps me visualize what I'm doing.

[jacqueline101]

Mine poke out too I just let them.

[spidermom]

Braiding while damp and using gel helps. I don't have layers, but I have lots of shorter, newer hairs that poke out and make my braids look fuzzy.

[mykle]

Thanks for all the tips. I will give braiding the other way a try if I can figure it out and also when my hair is damp. As far as the ribbons that people mentioned, does that really help that much? It seems maybe a bit femme for me right now and maybe to complicated as it is tough enough just to get a decent basic braid.

[Sharysa]

Fishtail/Herringbone braids are great for keeping layers contained, since the pieces are smaller. Just go to Google or Youtube for tutorials.

[sarahthegemini]

You could try aloe vera gel.

[The-Young-Maid]

You could probably just tie off your braid a bit above where most of the layers stick out.(I'm not sure where your layers are) That way you just have a longer tail at the bottom.

[mykle]

Thanks for all the tips everybody. Looks like I have some experimenting to do.

[mykle]

Thanks again. Braiding it while damp seems to help a lot, plus it makes it easier for me to braid it. I braided it this afternoon and have been wearing it like that at home. Its pretty much dry now, but still not a frizzy as it usually is. I am going to try dome of the other suggestions too. Maybe ill actually wear my hair braided out this week and give the ponytail rest! Nothing against ponytails though.

[mykle]

Also I will try and get a picture sometime to post of it.

[Lolaaa]

I hate my layers for this reason!