Rope Braid Curls! From straightie-wavy to wavy-curly! [PICS]

[DreamSheep]

Lots of piccies ahead (some are only visible to established members)!

Usually my hair is 2a/1c, and over the course of the week flattens out to a 1b. Anyway, last time I washed my hair, when it was still quite damp, I rope braided it and then rolled it up into some Leia like buns to see if I could achieve some curls the next day:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/magikspiffy/1355a8c0-be31-449b-a514-f6c381c98c3a.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/magikspiffy/media/1355a8c0-be31-449b-a514-f6c381c98c3a.jpg.html)

These headphone-like buns are actually pretty uncomfortable to sleep in, so I let them down as tightlyish rope braided buns, which looked quite messy the next morning, but came out as beautiful 2c/3a curls.

This is what I started out with:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15244&d=1421285020

And after separating them out... Curls!!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/magikspiffy/Fotodeldi3010a13-1-15alas12242.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/magikspiffy/media/Fotodeldi3010a13-1-15alas12242.jpg.html)

Embellished with a pretty bow:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/magikspiffy/Fotodeldi3010a13-1-15alas12143.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/magikspiffy/media/Fotodeldi3010a13-1-15alas12143.jpg.html)

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15245&d=1421285054

(I also realise most of these pictures are mirrored, as they were taken on my Macbook, which seems to defaultly take mirrored pics).

Anyway, this was a bit of hairfun, and I encourage any one else to give it a go if they would like :)
The curls did disappear quite quickly after bunning them - but I really loved this little hairdo and it was quite effortless, and I'm glad I immortalised the moment. ^^

[cathair]

Very pretty :) I like your t-shirt too.

[sunflowersmiles]

I like!!!! It kinda makes me think of Ariel's hair in The Little Mermaid when she is out on the town with Eric. Very pretty :)

[LunaHuntress]

Gorgeous! I must remember to try this some time!

[Avis]

Very pretty! I need to get better at rope braiding.

[squirrrel]

What gorgeous curls. Love it! :)

[DreamSheep]

Thanks everyone!! ^-^
cathair - I love this t-shirt too! It was from H&M, and I often find myself trying to find faces in the swirls and patterns

Rope braiding with damp and conditioned hair was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. There's no need to take perfect sections, but I found it also held better (with dry hair it just unravels - although doing it with dry hair will give you soft natural looking waves if you don't like braid waves as much). :)

[Angels+Eyeliner]

I love it (and the bow, I need to find one like that now). Shame it didn't last long after you put it up, but I bet it would look great for a special occasion if you decided to wear it down.

[TwilightShadow]

It looks very pretty, especially with the bow.

[DreamSheep]

I love it (and the bow, I need to find one like that now). Shame it didn't last long after you put it up, but I bet it would look great for a special occasion if you decided to wear it down.

The bow was from an etsy shop called TheNakedLaceCompany.
They have very cute bows attached to French barrettes. :)

I'm pleased it worked, so I know I won't be risking it if I were to try it out for a special event.

[Catatafish]

Those curls are absolutely beautiful!

[lapushka]

Pretty curls. Seems like a nice way to get curly. :D

[BrightEyes]

Your hair is beautiful! I love the curls :)

[yogagirl]

Wow, it turned out great!! I will definitely try it :)

[Johannah]

Really nice!

[KellyZoe]

Those curls are so pretty! I've never even thought of rope braids to make curls, so I'll have to try that... Thanks for sharing

[Bambi]

I'm trying this tonight:).

[velorutionista]

Those turned out great! I do this too, though usually in 4 buns for boing-ier curls...

[RapunzelKat]

Lovely! I get really pretty crinkly waves from rope braids, but they won't quite curl my 1a hair. :D Might be worth trying again with more, skinnier braids though. :hmm:

[Kome]

I love it with the bow! Super cute.

[DreamSheep]

Thank you everyone! :)

Wow, it turned out great!! I will definitely try it :)
You should!!


Those curls are so pretty! I've never even thought of rope braids to make curls, so I'll have to try that... Thanks for sharing
I'd love to see results if you are willing to share! :)


I'm trying this tonight:).
I'd love to see how they turned out!


Those turned out great! I do this too, though usually in 4 buns for boing-ier curls...
Thanks! :) I might try that myself - I did quite like this 2c/3a type texture, but I would also like to experience more true curls. ^.^


Lovely! I get really pretty crinkly waves from rope braids, but they won't quite curl my 1a hair. :D Might be worth trying again with more, skinnier braids though. :hmm:
Thanks RapunzelKat! You have a stunning mane, I'm sure they'd look fantastic on you. :)
My curls immediately vanished after I put them in a bun, so my hair probably doesn't love holding a curl, but it's relatively low effort.
I found having fairly damp hair and sleeping on it (and if damp in the morning, maybe blowdrying on cool would help?) helped a lot to get the definition. :) If I do it on dry hair I get nothing like this

[allierat]

So pretty!

[mermaid lullaby]

I might have to try that :)

[Daylilly]

Those rope braid curls look sooo pretty on you! I have done rope braid curls before but since my hair is not as thick as yours I didn't get a great result. I was thinking for thinner hair if I added a paranda I might get the big bouncy curls.

[RapunzelKat]

Thanks RapunzelKat! You have a stunning mane, I'm sure they'd look fantastic on you. :)
My curls immediately vanished after I put them in a bun, so my hair probably doesn't love holding a curl, but it's relatively low effort.
I found having fairly damp hair and sleeping on it (and if damp in the morning, maybe blowdrying on cool would help?) helped a lot to get the definition. :) If I do it on dry hair I get nothing like this

Thank you! :flower: Blow drying is a good idea - I tried Bantu knots the othe day and lost most of the wave because they were still damp when I took them out... I've been playing around with heat-free waves/curls with pretty low success rates. :lol: If I try this again I'll post results!

[Upside Down]

DreamSheep I think you have one of the most beautiful manes I've ever seen, online or offline.

[gwenalyn]

I tried this, based on your amazing results, and it still didn't work :( My hair just ended up with strange looking bends in it instead of gorgeous wurlies like you got. Do you think it's because I'm a 1a? Or thinner hair? How tightly did you do the rope braids? Mine were pretty tight.

[yogagirl]

DreamSheep I think you have one of the most beautiful manes I've ever seen, online or offline.
Agreed!


I tried this, based on your amazing results, and it still didn't work :( My hair just ended up with strange looking bends in it instead of gorgeous wurlies like you got. Do you think it's because I'm a 1a? Or thinner hair? How tightly did you do the rope braids? Mine were pretty tight.
I haven't tried it myself, but I have practiced rope braiding in the last few days and upon inspection of the braids I can't see how they could produce the same kind of curl. I think it's because DreamSheep has a super full iii mane. I'm wondering if doing one braid instead of two might help us with thinner hair.

DreamSheep, if you end up trying this again, could you post a picture of your braid before you took it down? Just curious how thick the braids are and how tight you made them.

[DreamSheep]

DreamSheep I think you have one of the most beautiful manes I've ever seen, online or offline.
Thank you, that is so sweet of you to say! >.<!

I tried this, based on your amazing results, and it still didn't work :( My hair just ended up with strange looking bends in it instead of gorgeous wurlies like you got. Do you think it's because I'm a 1a? Or thinner hair? How tightly did you do the rope braids? Mine were pretty tight.

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that! Indeed, maybe just one braid would work better than two. I don't like the feeling of hair down my back when asleep so I usually opt for two.
I braided tight, but because rope braids always unravel very quickly, and they did become quite loose. For looser curls, I expect if you braided in some long fabric of sorts with your hair, it would plump out the waves.


Agreed!


I haven't tried it myself, but I have practiced rope braiding in the last few days and upon inspection of the braids I can't see how they could produce the same kind of curl. I think it's because DreamSheep has a super full iii mane. I'm wondering if doing one braid instead of two might help us with thinner hair.

DreamSheep, if you end up trying this again, could you post a picture of your braid before you took it down? Just curious how thick the braids are and how tight you made them.

Aww, thank you!

I did take a picture actually, just that it was on my phone and my phone and my laptop don't always get on that well.
I will try and transfer it and post it up on here.
They did get pretty loose and braidshredded by the end of the night though.

[oceantyler]

Your hair is SO pretty I can't get over it! :eek:

[FallingDarkness]

DreamSheep I think you have one of the most beautiful manes I've ever seen, online or offline.

Completely concur with that statement. I'm always jealous when I see your hair LOLz :P

And OMG those curls are sooo gorgeous. Next time I wear my hair down I might have to try it, even though IDK if my hair is long enough to make it work yet. :/ Stupid hair. Grow! *glares at hair in impatience*

[yogagirl]

I take it all back! It was a success!! I was really surprised this morning, because I figured the rope braids would have to be "fluffier" or fuller or whatever, but it really worked pretty well even with my skinny/flat braids.

It wasn't a lot of work at all and the braids didn't bother me while sleeping, so I might actually do this again! I'm usually way too lazy to do anything with my hair :D Thank you again for sharing DreamSheep!

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15367&d=1421845563

[RapunzelKat]

I take it all back! It was a success!! I was really surprised this morning, because I figured the rope braids would have to be "fluffier" or fuller or whatever, but it really worked pretty well even with my skinny/flat braids.

It wasn't a lot of work at all and the braids didn't bother me while sleeping, so I might actually do this again! I'm usually way too lazy to do anything with my hair :D Thank you again for sharing DreamSheep!

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15367&d=1421845563

That looks great yogagirl! :D Did you twist both braids in the same direction, or do opposite on opposite sides? (Umm, I hope that makes sense :lol:)

[DreamSheep]

Looks awesome yogagirl, glad it worked out! It's just like Faery hair! :)

I will post my morning braid photos later this evening.
I would suspect on smaller braids the effect would be curlier, and with more hair more wurly waves. If next time I'm less lazy, I'll try making 4 or 6 braids to see if there is any difference.

[yogagirl]

That looks great yogagirl! :D Did you twist both braids in the same direction, or do opposite on opposite sides? (Umm, I hope that makes sense :lol:)
Thank you! I'm thoroughly enjoying my curly hair today, I absolutely LOVE curls and waves! I should take another picture tonight or tomorrow morning to see how it held up.
Ok, so I'm hoping this will make sense. I didn't actually pay attention while braiding, but looking at the "in the morning" picture I figured out:
- looking in the mirror I separated my hair into two sections and put one over each shoulder.
- right side: twisted individual strands away from mirror. Twisted rope toward mirror.
- left side: twisted individual strands toward mirror. Twisted rope away from mirror.
- today when I put both sections on my back, all the curls go in the same direction.


Looks awesome yogagirl, glad it worked out! It's just like Faery hair! :)

I will post my morning braid photos later this evening.
I would suspect on smaller braids the effect would be curlier, and with more hair more wurly waves. If next time I'm less lazy, I'll try making 4 or 6 braids to see if there is any difference.
Thank you! Faery hair, I love it! I love any type of curls and wurls and waves :)
I have to say, this method was so so easy and I prefer the results over the standard three strand braid waves. I will definitely do this again. Good stuff!

[yogagirl]

I tried the rope braid curls again! I like it, but not as much as the first time. For some reason it's more wavy this time, less actual curls/wurls. Anyway, here's the result:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15759&d=1422992907

[jupiterinleo]

Ohh that is so pretty! I love it with the bow.

[spidermom]

I do that, too; love it!
Yours are exceptionally pretty.