braiding curly hair

[mamaherrera]

Ok so I'm doing these two french braids to sleep in tonight on my 2C hair, that's been braided all day, but a different style that I could not sleep in. so I sprayed a little bit with water and attempted to braid. I try and section my hair using clumps that are already formed, but I still end up gfinding these tangles, and I just try and separate them down to the end, but my other hand is still working to hold the braid that I've started. I get some pulls, some sore spots when I"m down, from these lovely tangles, and I'm wondering, any tips out there for french braiding without the pulling/perhaps ripping, hoping not "yanking out" hairs, when I want to braid my hair?? I can't braid my hair wet, because my scalp needs to dry fast, so braiding no dry hair is my only option but I do try and spritz it, but it would take lots of time (sore arms) to try and get it literally damp. Hoping others have these same options but can offer some advice, or maybe I should just avoid braids, if they're going to do more damage/ouch than good.

[vega]

Hi why not just place your curls in a bun thats wat I do an no damage

[fiðrildi]

Do you detangle your hair before braiding? If you do, and still find tangles, maybe bunning could be a better option for you (cinnamon bun, for instance).

[Madora]

Why French braid your hair? Why not just plain braid it..that is, a simple 3 strand braid? Less difficult, just as confining/protective.

If you still want to pursue French braiding your hair, then this might help:
Tip for doing a French braid (using a one piece barrette or clip):
1) Detangle hair thoroughly
2) Make a horizontal part from the top of one ear, around the back of the head, to the top of the other ear.
3) Take all hair ABOVE the part, comb out gently. CLIP with a one piece barrette.
Now start the actual French braiding:
1) Make one complete cross over. Hold the braid with one hand
2) Take a thin section of hair from right and join it to the hair strands on the Right. Pinch the section. Then take it over and JOIN with the middle section. Pinch. Rake the strands!
3) Take a thin section of hair from the LEFT. Join with LEFT section. PINCH. Rake!
4) Repeat steps 2-3. Remember to Pinch and Rake each time you add a section
5) Braid to end. Fasten w/hair friendly elastic
Tips: Tension - don't braid too tightly
Angle - hold your hands up when braiding
Head angle - sometimes it helps to either lower your head or tilting your head back
Once you feel comfortable with braiding French and Dutch, try to do it w/o the CLIP.


Using the clip frees up your hands. You don't need to concentrate so hard on keeping things together as you begin to braid because the clip is holding the hair for you.
All you need concentrate on is adding in the tiny sections from each side.
I would strongly caution you to be sure your hair is thoroughly detangled before attempting any braiding..of any sort.

[mamaherrera]

good point about PInching the section, because I do get those stray hairs!! After yesterday, struggling (both with my Friday braids to stay) and my french braids, I think I will stick to just buns, because , man my hair got manipulated!! And I hope I didn't lose too many, but I imagine, it was more breakage, than pulling hairs out, but still. . . . And when Im in the shower my hair is not that tangly, so I guess that proves that for me, it's best to detangle in the shower with conditioner, because in reality, my dry hair is a mess!! thanks

[yahirwaO.o]

If u totally stil want to French braid, I suggest Oiling hair or putting some type of leave in conditioner.... hair is much more manageable to braid and easy too

[chen bao jun]

French braiding long curly hair is very difficult. There is a thread on it somewhere. I'm an expert braider who has french braided short curly hair all my life but once it got to bra strap it start ed doing this thing where the bottom braids itself while you are braiding the top and creates tangles. I don't think straight haired people can understand this. You can manage if it's full of oil or leave in and you keep smoothing as you go but I don't think it's worth it. Try regular braids or buns.

[chen bao jun]

And for get de tangling curly hair thoroughly. Haha.

[LadyCelestina]

super simple solution: get a beak or claw clip.Clip when you can't braid due to tangles.Detangle.Unclip.Continue braiding.Also as Madora suggested,rake through the strands every cross you do and keep them separated as much as you can.

[LadyCelestina]

also I would braid on dry hair that is well detangled.

[mamaherrera]

You have all made very good points.
-Chen--you know exactly what I'm talking about, the whole, as I'm braiding on top, my ends were so so so getting tangled, even I swore they weren't like that when I started, they were all in clumps, and yes, you just can't detangle dry curly hair, especially if it has gel in it to get it clumped together, just not workable. I just like doing my braids, but I guess it's better for my hair, not to do it. I know it's way easier on wet hair, but like I said before, my scalp goes nuts if I keep it damp by having wet braids stay on top of my scalp all day, so I have to let it air dry free. But I could try the clipping the ends, as I braid, if I get super desperate to braid. But after all the damage and extra manipulating I did yesterday between my "day updo" and my night dutch braids, I'm gonna give my hair a rest today. All that manipulation definitely got rid of extra shed hairs, today I showered, and lost like 200 hairs in the shower. Hopefully I only lose like 20 on my next shower day. so for you curlies, it's mostly normal braids, and buns, huh?? I guess it's ok that I can't do much with curly hair since I am not good at most updos anyways. I would love some links for some cute updos for curly hair that can show off my great ringlets at the bottom, but I"ll keep looking! Thanks