Tips for learning a crown braid?

[AZDesertRose]

I want to learn to do a crown braid. I know how to French and Dutch braid, but I've never mastered a crown braid. I know how to do one in theory but not in practice. I looked at Torrinpaige's crown braid tutorial, and I also read a thread here about how to do it without a part, which instructions I really liked because they seemed helpful. (The thread from LHC is right here: Partless Crown Braid (Pic Heavy) (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=78600&highlight=crown+braid+tutorial))

I was thinking it would be a good idea to learn to do it on someone else's hair before trying it on my own head; I was going to practice on my daughter's hair (hers is a little shy of BSL). Does anyone have any tips (aside practice, practice, practice, LOL) for learning to do a crown braid?

Thanks in advance! :)

[LauraLongLocks]

I like Madora's faux crown (inversion) braid the best of all my attempts. It's the only one that I have felt good about wearing in public. I don't know of any video demonstrating it, but Madora has shared her instructions in several places on the forum. I'm sure if you do a search for it you will find it. Good luck to you.

[pamrlyn]

here is the link to Madora's tutorial. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=126929

[Nique1202]

I'm not sure that practicing on someone else's head will help so much with the crown braid, just because of the angle you have to hold your hands and arms at to get all the way around. Braiding the back of your head sideways is something you might not be able to prepare for, because even if your hands understand how to do it, it gets very awkward. Best of luck, though!

[Madora]

AZDesertRose, here's a link to Lilith Moon's lace crown braid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPHEzUr5bWQ

I used this general idea when I created my faux crown braid.

While practicing on another person is fine for understanding the basic concept of crown braiding, doing it on yourself is mostly a question of lots and lots of practice.

One tip: start with your hair thoroughly detangled, and be sure to "rake" through each strand for every cross over that you do. Keeping the strands separate is half the battle in braiding! Good luck!

Here is my tutorial on how to do the inverted faux lace crown braid ("faux" because only the front is lace braided): http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=126977

[Squiggy]

There are lots of different tutorials on youtube; what worked for me was just to practice practice practice! I started doing a regular dutch crown braid, and after several weeks of practicing at night while watching TV I finally got it to look decent enough to wear out of the house. After that I tried a few different versions to see which looked best on my head - I like a dutch lace crown braid best. I have found that doing a regular dutch braid all the way around results in the braid by one ear being much larger than the braid by the other ear. For some reason I can minimize the size disparity by doing a lace braid. But, you have to find what works for you!

I agree with Nique, that practicing on someone else won't necessarily help you learn how to do it on your own head. As you braid across the back of your head you will have to switch the way your hands are holding the braid, and figure out how to lean your head to incorporate the last bits of hair along your hairline/face/above the second ear. This can really only be learned by practicing on yourself.

Good luck, and if you don't like the look or technique of one braid, be sure to try another! I think there is probably a way out there for everyone, you just have to put in the effort to find the one that works best for you.

[TaterTot]

I taught myself how to do it after 2 days of standing in front of the mirror, holding up my arms as long as possible. Mine has a part. It is probably the crown braid for dummies.

What I ended up doing was 1 English braid in a rubber band on the top and bottom up close to the front of the right side of my head, and 1 English braid on the left side toward the back. When I would braid them, I'd braid them in the direction of where they were gonna go.

Run the back braid around first, tuck it into the rubber band close to scalp on the front braid. Run the front braid across forehead and tuck into the rubber band on bottom right.

http://imgur.com/r4W1GA5

http://i.imgur.com/zLwdBHC.jpg

It's the perfect hairdo for stretching washes but looking fancy!

[TaterTot]

The first photo didn't show D:

http://i.imgur.com/MOzZrPt.jpg

[velorutionista]

I've had really good luck with this tutorial, too: Yulia Tymoshenko Tutorial for Shorter Hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=65871)

[meteor]

Coronet braid is a lot easier than the true crown braid, but requires significant length.

I can't do something as fussy and complicated as the true crown braid, but I do something like this woven braided crown (from Luana braids) (https://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/luana-braids-woven-crown-variation/), but instead of pushing my braids under (which is hard to do if your braids are thick and grabby), I place them over and use claw-clips to secure them in place.

I also do this, but with English braids instead of Dutch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlwnlfDYzk8