Braid squeezing and fluffing- do you?

[JadedByEntropy]

The difference between a tight braid and a fluffed braid is dramatic. Are you one who fluffs your braid?

And already having thicker hair I'm constantly running into braid squeezers: newer friends or even strangers who think its okay to squeeze [and usually pull] my braid to check if its fluffed or not.

Disregarding the touching issue :tmi: What are your experiences with this style?
Before and afters?

:writer:

[JadedByEntropy]

I don't actually have a good before picture, but my after is like this http://s26.postimg.org/uh15pjd0p/IMG_3391.jpg (http://postimage.org/)
image hosting 15mb (http://postimage.org/)
I rarely do fluff, but it does draw attention like a haircut. Falls out pretty fast too.

[Flor]

My hair is too sleek and slippery in texture to hold any fluffying. A minute later it just looks like a loose braid.

[LadyCelestina]

I think many people with super thick braids fluff it up a bit or don't compress it as much.Of course nothing wrong with that :D
(No,really,saying that fluffing your braid up is "cheating" is like saying wearing your hair curly is cheating because it look voluminous.)

I don't fluff mine on purpose since it gets frizzier that way,but after a wash I try to braid loosely so that I don't squish the curls too much.And of course they fluff up the braid a bit on their own.Here is a pic of normal tight braid with stretched curls -the outdoor one,and the looser curly braid
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab50/Celestial-flight/f473da83-0a15-48b4-b9ea-da43a85971e1_zps7b18ab1a.jpghttp://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab50/Celestial-flight/c2de960c-412e-4514-b79b-c8ed5f8baa48_zps9267d3c2.jpg

[eadwine]

I don't fluff my braid, nope. I like the sleek look better :)

[Stray_mind]

My braid usually fluffs itself. :D No matter how tightly i braid my hair, after some time it's all loose..

[FoxyGhost]

I don't fluff my braid but I cant really remember anyone ever squeezing it to check. Most people give me personal space though, probably because of my resting b**** face.

http://i61.tinypic.com/2q1t5av.jpg
Me chatting with my favorite princess.

This is as tight as I can make it while dry. It can get tighter when I damp braid but I don't like to stretch my hair like that.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I always make my braids loose and fluff them a bit because i hate the thinness of my ends :( Having coarse hair also helps with the illusion :D

[Tota]

I do both. If I make a loose braid or fluff it then the front of my hair (which is APL) falls out of it very quickly. So if I don't want that, I'll make a tight braid. But of course I always prefer the look of a thick, fluffy braid :)

[two_wheels]

I fluff a crown braid because I prefer the way it looks. I don't fluff a hanging braid because I do those when I'm in a hurry and want something effortless that will last all day- and fluffing is effort!

[jacqueline101]

I've never heard of fluffing a braid but no I don't I wear mine sleek and smooth.

[HaMalka]

What is fluffing a braid?

[two_wheels]

It's when you pull the strands apart slightly after you've finished the braid, to make it look wider.

[Annibelle]

I don't fluff mine-- not that I don't want to! Fluffing my braid means it all coming apart in a few minutes, anyway; even when I do super tight braids, my hair works its way out.

[Madora]

Neither for me. Fluffing is only pretty for a short time and gets shaggy quickly. Tight braiding is rough on hair.

[cathair]

If I wore braids out I probably would fluff them, but I don't wear them much, because tying them off gives me splits. Mine holds fluffing quite well, so they look quite wide front on. Trouble is, if you look at the sideways they end up super flat like a ribbon! They're like Mr Invisible, turn them sideways and they disappear :) If anyone touched my braid they would receive some choice swear words.

[Pallas]

I've tried fluffing my braid before but the taper gets ridiculous, to the point where the elastic falls right off, and it never looks that impressive anyway. If I had thicker ends I would do it all the time.

All these beautiful braids posted are just awe inspiring! I didn't think any real person could have braids that suggest they may actually be a Disney character :shocked:

[lapushka]

If I were to fluff it, it'd be way too much. No, and I don't quite get the wanting to fluff up the braid either! Cute girls hairstyles calls it "pancaking"! :rolleyes:

[two_wheels]

I get why people do it, I think it's linked to the whole "oof so much hair" aesthetic we've discussed to death before. I like the look on other people, anyway. I am just too lazy to re-do it all day long.

[Fericera]

I love that picture, FoxyGhost! Your hair looks great, and it reminds me that I should really watch The Little Mermaid someday. It seems to be lots of people's favorites but I've never seen it.

As for the braid question, mine generally won't fluff nicely so I have to go for the sleek look.

[stachelbeere]

If I wore braids out I probably would fluff them, but I don't wear them much, because tying them off gives me splits. Mine holds fluffing quite well, so they look quite wide front on. Trouble is, if you look at the sideways they end up super flat like a ribbon! They're like Mr Invisible, turn them sideways and they disappear :) If anyone touched my braid they would receive some choice swear words.

the exact same thing happens when I fluff my braid but I don't mind and do it anyway... it looks more boho, I think ;)

[Larki]

I think I do this, haha. Never knew there was a term for it, but sometimes I do gently pull the individual sections/bumps after braiding to make it look a little bit thicker.

FoxyGhost, WOW!

[HaMalka]

I once tried to fluff my braid. I ended up with a mass of tangles and flyaways. I have not tried it since. Thank you two_wheels for explaining the word fluffing in this context.

[Duchess Fuzzy Buns]

I don't fluff my braid but I cant really remember anyone ever squeezing it to check. Most people give me personal space though, probably because of my resting b**** face.


Ahahaha! Resting b**** face... pretty sure I have that condition too. :agree: Also, your hair is amazing!

Never thought to "fluff" a braid, but now that you mention it I might have to give that a try. ;)

[Impulsive]

Sometimes. It depends on my mood. If I want a longer braid that day, then I'll braid tightly and won't fluff. If I want a thicker braid, then I'll fluff away.

[ARG]

I'm a natural fluffer. I'll braid mine nice and sleek, and a few hours later have a very soft fluffy braid. Sometimes I like the look, most of the time I take it apart and redo it.

[PiXiEmandy]

I have the same resting face,,,,,,its nice

[Quixii]

I usually loosen ("fluff"?) the last couple inches of my braids to help disguise the taper a bit.

[meteor]

I have a phobia of tangles and matted hair, so I don't ever fluff my braid or tease my hair in any shape or form.

I also do very tight braids because that's the only way it holds and looks smooth. I tend to oil my hair before braiding.

I heard tight braids are not good for hair, but I don't see how it could hurt unless one pulls hair close to scalp.

[Sharysa]

Sometimes excessively tight braids lead to breakage and splits because they're wound so tight.

I don't bother fluffing my braids intentionally because my hair is thick enough and they won't hold properly if I do, and then they tend to poof naturally after a couple hours anyway due to my waves.

I noticed that a lot of wavy/curly or thick-haired people either can't fluff their braid for practical/aesthetic reasons, or they don't need to because their hair does that naturally. Whereas the fine/thin or straight haired people often like it.

Grass is definitely greener on the other side, yo.

[sparrowswing]

Nope, my hair is super-silky and fine, so any attempts to fluff have failed miserably, looked awful, and usually resulted in tangles. My hair doesn't like loose braids either, so my braids are generally very tight all the way to the sad little tapered end.

[lapushka]

I think fluffing and loose braiding are two separate things. Loose braiding doesn't harm the cuticle any, fluffing might be almost as rough as backcombing is. I'm a loose braider myself (not too tight, not too loose).

[Mainesongbird]

I fluff side braids (full braids), but I don't fluff accent braids or braids for updos....

[Kate_1221]

I don't usually fluff my braids because they already become loose too quickly as it is. Of course, I make exceptions sometimes for hairstyles that require me to split up my hair. For instance, I sometimes do a braided bun with a regular braid below, and in that case I do fluff the braids a bit.

[Arwenlily]

I don't fluff my braids but sometimes when I just washed my hair and it is very curly, my braid looks thicker. Also, after I comb my hair and it is fluffy, when I braid it looks thicker.

[chen bao jun]

I braid on the loose side, because if I don't, my hair straightens out. it does that anyway with braiding, but braiding looser makes it take a certain amount of time before I have limp hair with no curl (since i have to braid to keep tangles away every night).
On the other hand, I am black, so what I call tight braiding would probably be REALLY tight to the rest of you.

[FallingDarkness]

I think I fall somewhere in-between.
Although I definitely do not "fluff" my braids, I don't braid them tightly. I just throw the strands together, pulling enough so that it's secure, though not compressed.
I do think that it does naturally get "fluffed" after awhile. . . But at that point a few strands fall out (still growing out my layers, grr) so I'll redo it.

[Charybdis]

My normal braid looks like a ship's hawser, so, no, I don't fluff.

[inanna]

If I'm braiding my hair with the intention of making a bun of some sort, I'll often fluff out the braid a bit to give my tiny buns a bit more oomph. If I'm just wearing the braid down, I don't bother with fluffing because like Flor, I have hair that's slippy enough to just slip out of the braid more easily if I were to loosen it. It already does a pretty good job of escaping all by itself, so I try not to encourage it. ;)

[Youngjae]

No, I don't fluff my braids, nor do I braid super tight. I feel like my hair would just fall out if I did. I guess I'm stuck with a thin braid (that would be the only part of me that's thin)

[alishaxmarie]

I think fluffing and loose braiding are two separate things. Loose braiding doesn't harm the cuticle any, fluffing might be almost as rough as backcombing is. I'm a loose braider myself (not too tight, not too loose).

I don't see how this could be the case. I mean, when you fluff/pancake the braid, you're pulling the hair outwards starting at the bottom so the hair-tie/nearby hairs wouldn't be sliding against the cuticle but along it. With teasing/backcombing, you literally end up brushing off the scales that comprise the hair's cuticle after lifting them, which sounds a lot more damaging to me.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I don't fluff my braids....My braids frizz/fluff out on their own after a while :p I've never liked how fluffed out braids look on me.

[JadedByEntropy]

I usually loosen ("fluff"?) the last couple inches of my braids to help disguise the taper a bit.

This is what I've noticed a lot lately. Sometimes its an obvious transition, but it does help with the taper a LOT and looks quite unexpectedly good. Keeping the size the same width helps with those crinkley waves at the end when I undo it as well.

[Nadine <3]

No, I have a hard enough time getting my layers to stay in and not flying all over willy nilly.

[maborosi]

Mine don't really fluff. My hair is so slippery that it'll just slide out before it looks thick- or it'll condense back down. I have lots of hair- but it compacts down to almost nothing! No point trying to pretend my hair is super thick there.

Incidentally, tight braiding doesn't seem to work very well unless I use a good butter or coconut oil product to 'dirty' it up a bit.

~maborosi~

[Ingrid]

It doesn't work with my hair, seems to fall apart and look messy pretty quickly. Also I like my hairstyles to be reasonably secure and protective, especially if I'm outdoors. I don't do super tight braids either because I find that places too much strain on the hair.

[Bitstuff]

I can't fluff my braids at all, ever. They just don't stay that way. I braid in long different-coloured wool dreads, folded in half, to make my almost-daily side braid a bit bigger towards the end and more interesting. They have a smiliar effect to a paranda, except smaller, I imagine.

[JadedByEntropy]

http://s26.postimg.org/m4h3szueh/2014_06_29f28b_34_13.jpg (http://postimage.org/)
img host (http://postimage.org/)

I took a "before". likely my avatar is still going to be an "after" shot until I reach my goal length.

[woodswanderer]

I guess I'm a sleek braider but it fluffs after a long day.