Major Rant ahead

[Shibe]

May contain adult language, I am so frustrated :(



I've been trying to do this video: http://www.ehow.com/clips/22389720/

It's basically an upside down french braid with a ponytail bun.


UGH. Just. :brickwall


I can french braid my hair right now, It just takes a few restarts and quite a while, but I can do it. I just tried this style for about 1.5 hours. Nothing. I can't even get it separated correctly, I am just so so pissed and frustrated. I've been snappy at DF because I'm just so frustrated and he keeps trying to talk to me.

Why can't I do my hair? I know practice, practice, practice, but after almost 2 hours I have made no progress. Just nothing.
I can do other peoples hair, why can't I do my own?? I have almost waist length hair, more than enough for any stupid hairstyle. I just try and try and it just never works. It's like my fingers can't do a damn thing once it's on my own head.

I'm so angry that I just ripped the brush through my hair when combing out my 1.5 hour long failure.

I had to settle for the braid again, which for me is so damn boring. I can't even do a Gibson Tuck correctly!!


I just want to rip my hair out and be done with it.

I know it takes practice practice and more damn practice.

I am so sick of it.

[spidermom]

I've felt the same. Definitely turn your attention to something else. Your subconscious will keep working on it, and one day you'll just do it correctly and wonder what all the fuss was about.

[ositarosita]

When the way you are trying to do something doesn't work.. try it another way .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSARin9SJrY ... she is also a LHC member she has a different way of doing a Gibson tuck for longer hair.. it's MUCH easier

[kaydana]

Na, you didn't really want to do an upside down french braid anyway. Your hair knows best.

If you can't do a french braid without a few restarts yet, go back to that and keep practising. Doing a french braid upside down and getting it to look good is HARD and I consider myself quite proficient at braiding. I managed to get my head around a crown braid (albeit a lopsided one) before I managed to make any headway with an upside down french braid.

Yes, you need to practise more, but you need to practise more with the physically possible hairstyles first rather than jumping straight in with the gravity defying craziness of an upside down french braid.

[Wildcat Diva]

Gosh, I would never even try that. I would know ahead of time I would fail.

[furnival]

Yes, you need to practise more, but you need to practise more with the physically possible hairstyles first rather than jumping straight in with the gravity defying craziness of an upside down french braid.
'Tis true. If you were learning a musical instrument you wouldn't expect to be able to play something really difficult straight away, if you were learning a language you wouldn't expect to be instantly fluent... Why do people seem to expect themselves to be proficient at updos from a standing start? :p Don't jump ahead of yourself! Braiding is a skill, and learning a skill takes patience and practice.

Practice French braids until you can do them easily every time, then try the fiendishly difficult upside down version. ;)

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I know just how you feel. When I was trying to learn to French braid it took me a whole week to learn it. Give yourself a rest from it and try again next week. Practise little and often and you won't get so frustrated about it.

[Shibe]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. It means a lot to me. I'll keep at the regular french braid and try, try again.

[Larki]

Hey, I can't even do a regular French braid, let alone an UPSIDE-DOWN one. :p It's frustrated me to the point of tears several times.

[LauraLongLocks]

In a week, this won't matter anymore. That's what I try to tell myself when I am frustrated with my hair style. Just do something easier today and go back to it another day when you aren't so frustrated.

[browneyedsusan]

Mind Spidermom.

Leave it.
Come back to it in a day or two.
Rinse.
Repeat.
One day you'll get it.
Leave it.
:)

[ravenheather]

I can Dutch braid regular and diagonally but a crown braid no. The upside down part just falls apart.

[duchess67]

I can totally relate to that. I've tried some hairstyles till my hands hurt, had got frustrated and gave up. I don't have that kind of patience anymore.

[Hele]

aw i totally feel you on the "why can't i do this??!!" frustration. My hair is uncooperative in general and trying to learn buns is an arduous process. The one that truly makes me want to punch my computer screen is my nemesis the cinnabun. After trying it again the other night i've finally decided it's dead to me, i'm just not meant to do it. Something that works for me is to watch several different peoples' videos of the same bun, they each seem to do it just a tiny bit differently and eventually one will click with me.

[Madora]

'Tis true. If you were learning a musical instrument you wouldn't expect to be able to play something really difficult straight away, if you were learning a language you wouldn't expect to be instantly fluent... Why do people seem to expect themselves to be proficient at updos from a standing start? :p Don't jump ahead of yourself! Braiding is a skill, and learning a skill takes patience and practice.

Practice French braids until you can do them easily every time, then try the fiendishly difficult upside down version. ;)

Furnival is right on target. Practice French braiding until you can do it with your eyes closed. The upside down French braid is fiendish. I know because I tried and never got anywhere. I returned to my much more satisfactory accent lace crown braiding.

Braiding is a skill that develops over time. There's much more to it than merely crossing strands. Good luck!

[Vanilla]

I often try my hand at new hairstyles right before bedtime. Often, a failed updo will suffice to be slept on (even if it wasn't presentable as a normal day hairstyle). I'll then give it a rest until the following night, and then I'll try to practice again.

It took me almost 6 months to finally get a crown braid to be presentable, and it was after watching 4 different tutorials with 4 different techniques, and finding and sticking with one technique that I could finally replicate. It might just be the technique that your fingers aren't getting right now.

[teddygirl]

That is one of the only 'fancy' braids I can do, however it still doesn't look great. Its passible, but not amazing lol. I can't really french braid straight up, my hands always flip and do a dutch braid. Something about doing it upside down confuses my hands and they do it properly :/

[TheLuckyLurker]

If you need more encouragement/reassurance, check out Torrin Paige's video "Torrin's pep talk". It made me feel a lot better knowing that even she throws hairbrushes across the room sometimes :).

[Shibe]

I will definitely check out Torrins video, she always knows how to make me feel great!


Again, thanks for all the extra commenters that I have missed. Very much appreciated!

[anitacs9101]

Hey, I can't even do a regular French braid, let alone an UPSIDE-DOWN one. :p It's frustrated me to the point of tears several times.

same :c I cannot for the life of me do a french braid. I've gotten it to work well once (it's in my pics), and every other time I just give up. It's not possible for me to separate the sections while braiding--I go to run my hand down the section and it just gets stuck. I have to have my sister or someone brush the sections out as I go. And even then I have a 50/50 chance of giving up lol. It's weird because my hair isn't actually tangly, but if I try to do stuff with it that has it go in a direction it's not used to--tangle city! I'm actually known as "the braider" amongst my friends lol, I can do perfect french/dutch/whatever braids on everyone else. >.< once I run out of my current shampoo, I'm going to try cones to see if it helps.

ETA: So, right after posting this, I decided to try again. I had a brainstorm and tied my handheld mirror to my shower curtain rod, so I could see what I was doing while braiding, and I did a french braid! With no tears!! XDD

[lapushka]

How are you holding your hands? Upside down or right way up? Often that makes a difference. Your hands need to be thumbs facing the floor (with your head tipped down).

[Taenarian]

Na, you didn't really want to do an upside down french braid anyway ... Doing a french braid upside down and getting it to look good is HARD

This. Makes me laugh. So TRUE. /cry