PDA

View Full Version : French-braiding my hair is becoming a nightmare...



*ReiKa*
July 1st, 2015, 07:24 AM
I'm seriously considering to stop french braiding my hair cos I'm tired of ripping through my hair everytime... it's painful to my head and it's painful to my heart...
Since my hair got longer than mid-back, french braiding has become trickier and trickier...
Now that my hair is at tailbone, it's even worse....
When I'm adding new strands of hair to the braid, I gotta separate the hair at the bottom, but boy, does it get tangly!??! It gets INCREDIBLY tangly at the bottom for no apparent reason (since I detangle my hair thoroughly prior to braiding and since I carefully separate the hair for every single strand I'm adding) and since one hand is busy holding the braid, I can only use the other one to untangle the ends, which is not enough, and to untangle all those hairs sticking to each other I end up ripping through it (tried grabbing my TT to detangle that but it's the same thing, the hair involved is so long and tangled that the TT rips through it).
I don't know anymore what to do, french braiding my hair is now so stressful and eventually DAMAGING to my hair that I'm considering just not making french braids anymore (although it's a style that I like, cos I often do different variations of it), but I end up breaking my hair everytime and I feel so guilty...:(

neko_kawaii
July 1st, 2015, 07:32 AM
The super tangly ends even after you have detangled prior to braiding makes me wonder if you need to clarify and/or chelate.

LadyLongLocks
July 1st, 2015, 07:37 AM
I can relate. Although I can't French Braid, even the regular English/3 strand is hard for me now. My hair is past floor and it all tangles at the bottom. One problem is simply the extreme length and not being able to reach it. I end up holding hair in my mouth or any way possible! I think this is a common problem! Another person with me would be helpful so they could separate it for me!

brickworld13
July 1st, 2015, 07:54 AM
There are some days where I cannot braid at all thanks to tangles. Other days are not a problem. It's annoyingly unpredictable. If I want a surefire way to make a braid, I put coney serum on the length. The only issue is that too much of it too often causes icky buildup. It's a balancing act of "do I want to deal with buildup from oily/coney braids or do I want to wear lots of buns".

gossamer
July 1st, 2015, 08:00 AM
Let me echo neko in suggesting that you clarify and remoisturize.

Last week, I filmed my failed attempt at a French braid, which is generally quite difficult for me but was even worse than usual.

Link to silly video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3wf60OXvoc

The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that it had been 2-3 months since I last clarified.

At my next wash, I did the following:
Wash: Neutrogena Anti-residue shampoo, full strength on scalp and also diluted in a bowl of water that I dipped my length into and swished around.
Condition: mix of SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque and Suave Ocean Breeze conditioner. (I like the Ocean Breeze conditioner because it has lactic acid in it and I think it helps smooth my hair)
Rinse: diluted white vinegar (95% water, 5% vinegar, roughly estimated)
Leave in: more Suave.

Yesterday, without tears and with only trimming out one untanglable knot (that was there before I started braiding, I suspect), I did a simple French braid (few divisions, maybe 4 per side) and then successfully tucked the length under, like so:

http://i.imgur.com/9djNcwtl.jpg

missrandie
July 1st, 2015, 08:22 AM
Gossamer, thank you for the giggles! Also, when I had BSL hair, I did the tucked french braid, but I felt like I ran out of room to tuck the braid. Btw, i was using a Pony Flip to try to get it woven in there and do as little damage as possible.

How did you manage to get all of your length tucked? And how many pins were required? Fascinated minds would like to know :)

gossamer
July 1st, 2015, 08:30 AM
Gossamer, thank you for the giggles! Also, when I had BSL hair, I did the tucked french braid, but I felt like I ran out of room to tuck the braid. Btw, i was using a Pony Flip to try to get it woven in there and do as little damage as possible.

How did you manage to get all of your length tucked? And how many pins were required? Fascinated minds would like to know :)

I just filmed retucking it (left yesterday's braid in overnight to sleep in, little knowing how convenient that would be today) and am prepping the video for upload now. I'll come back here later this morning (probably, if uploading is fast enough) to share the video. :)

missrandie
July 1st, 2015, 08:37 AM
Thank you :) you rock!
It will be a couple years before I really have to start accommodating for length, but still :)

Anabell
July 1st, 2015, 09:35 AM
I'm seriously considering to stop french braiding my hair cos I'm tired of ripping through my hair everytime... it's painful to my head and it's painful to my heart...
Since my hair got longer than mid-back, french braiding has become trickier and trickier...
Now that my hair is at tailbone, it's even worse....
When I'm adding new strands of hair to the braid, I gotta separate the hair at the bottom, but boy, does it get tangly!??! It gets INCREDIBLY tangly at the bottom for no apparent reason (since I detangle my hair thoroughly prior to braiding and since I carefully separate the hair for every single strand I'm adding) and since one hand is busy holding the braid, I can only use the other one to untangle the ends, which is not enough, and to untangle all those hairs sticking to each other I end up ripping through it (tried grabbing my TT to detangle that but it's the same thing, the hair involved is so long and tangled that the TT rips through it).
I don't know anymore what to do, french braiding my hair is now so stressful and eventually DAMAGING to my hair that I'm considering just not making french braids anymore (although it's a style that I like, cos I often do different variations of it), but I end up breaking my hair everytime and I feel so guilty...:(

I had the same problem as you do. i didn't reap through, it just took me lots and lots of time to carefully separate the hair strands as my hair got longer. I cut it back to classic once (from FTL) and the very first thing I did is a french braid. It took me 5 minutes instead of 1 hour. Then I grew it back again (and eventually cut back to classic again because of other reasons... long story). At some point I gave up on french braiding. Sometimes I did a french braid with small section of my hair and it was easier. You can take some sections in front and braid only them, then incorporate into a bun or english braid.


Let me echo neko in suggesting that you clarify and remoisturize.

Last week, I filmed my failed attempt at a French braid, which is generally quite difficult for me but was even worse than usual.

Link to silly video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3wf60OXvoc

The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that it had been 2-3 months since I last clarified.

At my next wash, I did the following:
Wash: Neutrogena Anti-residue shampoo, full strength on scalp and also diluted in a bowl of water that I dipped my length into and swished around.
Condition: mix of SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque and Suave Ocean Breeze conditioner. (I like the Ocean Breeze conditioner because it has lactic acid in it and I think it helps smooth my hair)
Rinse: diluted white vinegar (95% water, 5% vinegar, roughly estimated)
Leave in: more Suave.

Yesterday, without tears and with only trimming out one untanglable knot (that was there before I started braiding, I suspect), I did a simple French braid (few divisions, maybe 4 per side) and then successfully tucked the length under, like so:

http://i.imgur.com/9djNcwtl.jpg

Thank you for the video. I need the proof it wasn't only me! I have the same hair type as you do and I get the very same tangles. I did try to clarify many times but it remains the same (by clarify I mean simply wash my hair with SLS shampoo or even just wash my length instead scalp only with my regular shampoo). Eventually I came to the conclusion that this is my hair type and that's it. It's not real tangles. I rarely see them anymore. It more like a clumps... like the ones that curly hair do, but instead of curls it just loose waves. So I treat my hair like a curly hair. I finger comb only, I let it clump to it's natural state and start not separate the individual clumps (hope it's make sense). I have to admit that I didn't try the whole clarifying routine you suggested here, but I'm pretty sure I'v done parts of it (wash with sls shampoo and than deep conditioner, or do the ACV rinse after clarify..). Anyway, I'm happy for you that you did manage to do a very nice french braid and since our hair type is the same I'm defiantly going to try your clarifying method.

Madora
July 1st, 2015, 10:03 AM
*ReiKa*, you wrote: When I'm adding new strands of hair to the braid, I gotta separate the hair at the bottom, but boy, does it get tangly!??! It gets INCREDIBLY tangly at the bottom for no apparent reason (since I detangle my hair thoroughly prior to braiding and since I carefully separate the hair for every single strand I'm adding) and since one hand is busy holding the braid, I can only use the other one to untangle the ends, which is not enough, and to untangle all those hairs sticking to each other I end up ripping through it (tried grabbing my TT to detangle that but it's the same thing, the hair involved is so long and tangled that the TT rips through it).

When you are adding hair at each crossover, do you slowly rake your fingers down each section down and thru the tips as you make each crossover? Granted, this becomes a bit of a problem when your hair becomes longer because you begin to run out of arms.

I gave up crown braiding the back of my head over a year ago because those blasted bottom of the hair tangles drove me nuts. I still crown braid my hair around my head but I cheat...I start in the front (inverted position) then crown braid from ear to ear. Once I reach my ear, I just divide the remaining hair in 3 sections and braid to the end, then wind the braid around my head and tuck in the ends.

@Gossamer...You are a brave, brave soul to tackle a crown braid with your fantastic length! I enjoyed the video (and your pretty tuxedo kitty).

gossamer
July 1st, 2015, 10:07 AM
@Madora: Oh, not a crown braid! I haven't done one of those since knee length!


Here's the video for the tucked french braid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHP-n7YJghs

alexis917
July 1st, 2015, 10:08 AM
Have you tried braiding damp? It made sectioning my hair much easier, and cut down on frizz.

endlessly
July 1st, 2015, 10:30 AM
I think it's fairly normal for some hair to tangle while French braiding, but certainly not like you're describing and it definitely shouldn't be causing breaking or damage. To echo what others have said, I'd recommend doing a clarifying treatment just to make sure the tangling isn't a result of buildup, then try to braid again. ACV rinses work really well for me when I'm noticing my hair is sticking, so I'd suggest giving that a try. When I French braid, I typically have to glide my hand through to the ends to make sure it doesn't braid itself together on the bottom, too, which like I said, is pretty normal from everything I've seen on Youtube tutorials, but it shouldn't be tangling the way you've described, so hopefully you can get that sorted out with some of the suggestions you've been given. Best of luck!

Anje
July 1st, 2015, 10:44 AM
Just echoing the calls to clarify or maybe chelate and moisturize well afterward. For me with my picky hair, protein is another culprit -- if I get overloaded on it (e.g. by using a protein-containing product every wash instead of only on rare occasions), I'll start by getting tangly ends and it'll worsen until the hair feels rough/sticky and is actively tangling even as I try to detangle it.

missrandie
July 1st, 2015, 11:24 AM
Here's the video for the tucked french braid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHP-n7YJghs

Thank you for this! Now I know what I was doing wrong on mine back in the day :) in fact, this was the style I wanted to do for my wedding, but couldn't figure out. It made me so mad...

Rest of the thread, carry on :)

meteor
July 1st, 2015, 02:32 PM
Gossamer, thank you so much for sharing the French-braiding and the French Braid Tuck videos with us. It's gorgeous! :applause And it's incredible that you can control and tuck all that hair so efficiently! :thud:

*ReiKa*, I experience the same with French-braiding, so honestly, I've just given up :( , because the process of trying caused way too many tangles and snapped hairs. However, I think gossamer's claryfing tips are awesome, and I'll be trying them just to make hair more manageable for other (simpler) braids. :)
Some "simpler" braids for grippy hair that are still fun to do are things like 5-strand or even 7-strand braids and braid-in-braid (Luana braid), which can look a bit like a Dutch/French braid but doesn't require all that sectioning. I'm OK with sectioning, as long as it's not constantly changing all over the scalp, but stays the same throughout.

TrapperCreekD
July 1st, 2015, 02:49 PM
Seconding, thirding, whatever number-ing the suggestion to clarify/chelate and moisturize a lot if you have issues with dryness. Hair can be grippy, but it shouldn't be that grippy.

I feel your pain, my hair used to be like that, and to make matters worse, I was just learning to how to french braid and it makes it ten times harder when your hair is so tangly. Turns out my hair was just super thirsty! Now, if I'm short on time and want to do a french braid, I can just lightly fingercomb and not have any ripping/pulling/tangles/frustration.

*trots off to learn the secret of a graceful tucked braid with floor length iii hair*

Aderyn
July 1st, 2015, 04:55 PM
I must also agree with moisturizing your hair and maybe even oiling it prior to braiding.

Are you making sure to separate the section of hair all the way down the length for each crossover? Not just the section you're adding, but for all of the hair in the section of the braid (this applies to pretty much any style of braid, even a simple english braid)? Maybe try detangling the ends at every crossover, too?

spidermom
July 1st, 2015, 06:17 PM
Sometimes I have to hold my braid with one hand and comb through the ends with the other hand because the ends tangle up. This is usually my clue to clarify. My hair is only just above tailbone length.

Gossamer, that's so pretty!

WannabeViking
July 1st, 2015, 09:01 PM
Let me echo neko in suggesting that you clarify and remoisturize.

Last week, I filmed my failed attempt at a French braid, which is generally quite difficult for me but was even worse than usual.

Link to silly video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3wf60OXvoc

[...]

I really love how your kitty was watching you at the start and then was like "eh, boring". :D

gossamer
July 5th, 2015, 08:27 AM
I really love how your kitty was watching you at the start and then was like "eh, boring". :D

Haha, yeah he's so uninterested in my hair. It's just a really long tail to him that I spend too much time on when I should be doing more important things - like petting him. :D

*ReiKa*
July 5th, 2015, 09:14 AM
So, little update!
I followed pretty much all your advices:
-I clarified and re-moisturized
-I applied a few drops of oil in my ends before braiding
-And I did make sure that every single crossover was been detangled with my hand

Results? Well, my ends are indeed less tangly than before, braiding was easier, even though I still caught some little tiny knots while adding new strands (that is the trickiest part of braiding for me, when I'm picking up a new strand and I'm separating it from the rest of the loose hair, I encounter knots at the bottom), but definitely not as bad as it was before.
So yes, reminder to myself: please do clarify at least once every 2 months (or maybe every 4-6 weeks since I'm reintroducing cones little by little).
Thanks everyone!

brickworld13
July 6th, 2015, 09:17 AM
If you're still having issues, you might consider a trim. I can only limp damage along for a limited period of time before I can't really do much with my hair because the ends are too grabby no matter what I do to minimize grabbyness.

Dragon Faery
July 6th, 2015, 06:58 PM
Haha, yeah he's so uninterested in my hair. It's just a really long tail to him that I spend too much time on when I should be doing more important things - like petting him. :DThat's a good thing! Eowyn is convinced my braid is her personal plaything and chew toy.

Aderyn
July 6th, 2015, 07:06 PM
That's a good thing! Eowyn is convinced my braid is her personal plaything and chew toy.

I'll admit, when I first read this I thought you had taken Eowyn from LotR and made her your human pet/slave and was quite amused..

Dragon Faery
July 6th, 2015, 07:11 PM
I'll admit, when I first read this I thought you had taken Eowyn from LotR and made her your human pet/slave and was quite amused..:rollin: Haha! I should have specified that she's an overgrown kitten! :D (However, as far as she's concerned she's definitely a warrior princess. I named her well.) ;)

gossamer
July 6th, 2015, 07:44 PM
:rollin: Haha! I should have specified that she's an overgrown kitten! :D (However, as far as she's concerned she's definitely a warrior princess. I named her well.) ;)

:rollin: Total topic derail: Is Eowyn still a teenager? My cats are almost 9 years old and are really calm 98% of the day. Now, that other 2%... :evil:

nicolezoie
July 6th, 2015, 08:08 PM
I can't even French braid my hair anymore. By the time I am done weaving the hair on my scalp, the back braiding is so bad that detangling takes more time then the actual braid weaving itself takes. And if I manage to succeed in actually completing a French braid, when I try to detangle after I take it out, it's an even worse nightmare and excruciatingly painful to deal with. This includes preparing my hair in advance with some measure of jojoba oil or dampness or something to make it more piecy-textured and slippy at the same time. For me clarification doesn't seem to matter.

WannabeViking
July 6th, 2015, 08:32 PM
Haha, yeah he's so uninterested in my hair. It's just a really long tail to him that I spend too much time on when I should be doing more important things - like petting him. :D

"The humans have all their priorities wrong"

said every cat ever. :cool:

eira
July 7th, 2015, 03:01 AM
I have the same problem. My hair is around tailbone length with lots of layers, and it simply drives me crazy. I stick to ordinary, English braids nowadays -- and two fishtails now and then.