What went wrong?

[Katze]

OK, from the front I am really satisfied with this hairdo. The two little side braids (barely visible) coming into the back braid turned out well, and the back braid is smoother than I have ever been able to get a "half-up" braid.

All of this required about a half an hour, coconut oil, and LOTS of brushing and looking at the back of my head in the mirror.

The problem was the sides: I didn't know what to do with the "rest" of my hair. It is too greasy (day 4) to wear down, but I am still not able to do a satisfactory bun (though I like the look of many braided buns).

My ends are thin, despite trimming, trimming, trimming. Hair that is oiled and brushed enough to lie smoothly is, thus, even thinner-looking. The back braid is the thickest, while the two hanging down side braids are about as thick as your average pen.

In order to get my hair smooth enough for braids to stay, I had to brush it flat - hence the terrible, terrible scalp cleavage. When I looked in the mirror after each attempt, this was by FAR the best I could get it.

Would you wear this hairdo out of the house? :silly: Or would you try to find SOMETHING to do with the "rest" of the hair.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=218&pictureid=23912

I may take the side braids at least out and try to get SOMETHING to work before I go run errands with mother-out-law...

advice? help? And yes, I DID comb. A LOT.

[Duchess of Erat]

Have you tried making a bun of the two smaller braids around the middle one? Like a sort of rosestem do? Not sure if that would fall under your 'no buns possible' restriction.

Otherwise, braid the three braids together?

[Arctic]

I don't think the scalp looks bad in your photo at all! And look at how shiny your hair is! Also your braids look really nice and not thin at all.

If it would be me I would propably braid the 3 braids together or pin them all up, say 3 figure 8s, most certainly wouldn't look like knobs. ETA: Or I would position the two side braids nearer the main braid and leave them down.

[Dolly]

I think it looks fine. Your braids are very neat!

I think if it were me, I would leave all of the braids hanging down, just to be different. Or you could take all the braids and pin them up in some kind of neat thing on top of your head to hide the cleavage, if it bothers you (I get scalp cleavage all the time, so I know how you feel).

Good job on the braids!

[Calista]

Personally I think that greasy hair looks even greasier in a complicated updo. E.g. I cannot do a French braid on greasy days, it looks terrible. I would strongly recommend sticking to the simpler dos.

Although I must say your hair doesn´t look very greasy in the picture, but it´s hard to tell because it´s so blurred.

[Melisande]

I wrote a comment under the picture. You can try to braid the three braids to one big one, flip it up, and you'll have a lovely 'do. It looks beautiful also as it is. The crack that you so dislike looks like a curved parting, it goes really well with the whole thing.

Continue with your experiments, this is really a cute idea.

[aisling]

Calista, I agree on that, complicated braiding systems with greasy hair might not hide the greasiness at all. My hair tends to turn really piece-y when greasy and I get those awful comb marks. I rarely go long enough for that between washes, I have to add that.

That said, I don't think your hair look that bad at all, Katze. I'd probably pin down those braids around each other somehow, flop a Ficcare on top of it to keep it secured and go out :) Wrap the smaller around the bigger one first, like somebody suggested.

[GlassEyes]

I'd braid them together, but beyond that, it looks perfectly fine to me. Doesn't look greasy at all, at least from the picture. I could be wrong though, as it is quite blurry.

People on LHC tend to be more critical of their hair, leading them to believeit looks terrible when others think it looks great/fine. For instance, I dont' reall see scalp cleavage. It looks like you have a part but that's it. o-o;;

[Periwinkle]

That looks beautiful! You have really lovely hair, especially the colour :)

I think that I would probably take the two side braids and pin them underneath the middle one, round the back of your head, and possibly tuck them into each other's 'pockets'. That would leave the middle braid hanging down, and you'd still be able to see the others, but they wouldn't be the same as the middle one :)

I think that braiding all 3 would look good too, but I just know that if it were me, that would drive me up the wall (I can't stand the feel of side braids).

[Katze]

thanks everyone. Braiding the braids together would have been a good idea - but I didn't trust myself! Next time, though!

Looking at the pic I realize my hair wasn't really greasy - just too greasy to wear down. It was actually quite sleek, something I have lately been aiming for when I try to do updos. Because I have been wearing my hair down, getting it ready to wear it up is an entirely different story - all the body and volume I like for showing my hair off doesn't work for the logistics of getting frizzy hair into an updo.

I ended up doing the best "cinnamon bun" I could (mother-out-law was waiting, so I did it without a mirror) and putting chopsticks into it.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=218&pictureid=23985

Next I WILL accomplish a braided bun. Normal buns look so pathetically small, and braids help contain my hair better than anything else, plus I like the look of them!

[Ursula]

I'm going to point you to my "Braid 911" article. It looks as if you're having a few of the issues I address there. In particular, try to fit in more "twists" of the hair before moving your hands downward, and on folding the hair so the coils move more sideways through the braid, rather than up and down. You want to have a dense arrangement of wide, flat "V" shapes, rather than fewer, deeper "V" shapes over the same amount of length. This should help stabilize the braided part a bit.

[Isblå]

I think the middle braid looks excellent, what I would try to do from where you were in the picture is to pin the ends of the two side braids under the center braid, that way you would have nice accent braids on each side. Just a suggestion.

[Calista]

The bun doesn´t look bad at all, but the chopsticks are humongous! :bigeyes: Why don´t you get some nice small sticks suitable for your hair length? I think it makes all the difference in the world to have a right-sized hairtool.

At the moment I am trying to stretch my washes more and more. Today I´m on day 9, and I got a hair compliment! I really did a doubletake. It seems other people just view our hair differently.

[Katze]

Calista, hairsticks are something I haven't really gotten into. I have a Ketylo stick somewhere, but it's red, and doesn't always go with my outfit. Like the chopsticks, it falls out just as often.

I got chopsticks because I didn't know where to find hairsticks (besides ordering online...) and they are cheap, durable, and the color good. Somehow I thought people did use them as hairsticks...

Ursula, I am going to go read your article now.

[Calista]

Yes, I think people do use them as hairsticks. There´s nothing wrong with chopsticks per se, only they are so long, they look out of proportion.

Incidentally I´m also not terribly into sticks; I prefer forks - much easier to just pop them into your hair, and they stay! I always have trouble with sticks.

[sneakybea]

I think your hair looks nice in both those styles, and I had to look at the picture twice to see what you meant by "scalp cleavage." In other words, it's not obvious at all.
I think the chopsticks are pretty, but they might stay in better if you put them in the other direction. That is, with the thick ends on the top, and the pointy on the bottom. Seems like gravity might favor that position better--but I could be wrong.