'Too slippery' for braids?

[Delilah]

I had a co-worker who is skilled in all manner of braids do my hair today.

While she has had no issue doing double dutch or rope braids on other people mine was just too fine and slippery to stay. She tried to do a rope first, then a dutch, and both times even with a firm grip the hair slid very loose in the start of the braid by the time she reached the nape.

She had to double french braid it so that the start was semi-hidden. Do you other fine-straight hairs have this problem?

[Curlsgirl]

I am not fine or straight haired but I would try waiting until your hair is a little dirty and/or misting with water before braiding. You could add some aloe gel or even another kind of stronger holding gel also that should help. I used to know a girl that wore a french braid all the time and she had the same problem and did what I suggested above. If all else fails you could always do a half up with a small barrette and then french braid the rest. That is what I did when I was learning.

[Caldonia Sun]

I did have a problem with braids not staying put. My hair is extremely slippery and works itself out of every style I attempt. And if I waited for it to be a little dirty, then it would separate and look nasty. The only way braids really worked for me was to start with clean, damp hair, comb with a very fine tooth comb and then braid carefully. Even then, within four hours, pieces would be hanging out. My length was short of BSL, though, and that probably didn't help.

[Ash]

I have to braid my hair after it is just washed and lightly oiled or it is impossible. Even then, after a few hours it starts to rearrange itself. I consider it a sign of healthy hair because when my hair was damaged I could braid it dry and I guess all the split ends velcroed the braid in place but now I can't do a dry braid at all. Oh, I also cannot bun my dry hair either, which is aggravating when I am at home.

[freznow]

I'm not sure if I have this problem. My braids always look farther back than other people's, so I'm going to assume yes, but I've never braided someone else's hair so I don't know.

[Unnamed]

Raising hand...mine always 'loosen' up, and other people were never able to braid my hair. Let's just say I never even had braids as a child, as mum couldn't braid it. It took a lot of practice to even get decent ones, and they're still loose. Fine, sliiick hair.

I can't do tight braids, no mater how hard I try. I've even braided, gone back and tightened everything (and braid a few more inches), and it still loosens! :lol: They want to loosen and drape a bit...especially, yeah, at the nape, although the same will happen with any kind of braid I do (and not just at the nape). The nicest braids I get are done on clean, damp/wet hair, and they don't stay 'nice' long...before hairs start working their way out, etc. Dirty, and scalp shows (and it can still be too slick, so then it's just piecey and sagging, which is sooo not pretty).

Just random, but I tend to start french/dutch braids with all the front hair, rather than 'properly', but a lot of that is because I don't like scalp showing. That, and when it starts loosening/draping, it looks a bit nicer, it seems.

I haven't braided too many other people's hair, but let's just say chin length, courser, wavier hair was sooo easy compared to mine. And it stayed put, too. :rolleyes:

[eadwine]

Oh, I also cannot bun my dry hair either, which is aggravating when I am at home.

Have you given my 10sec bun in the articles section a shot? I can't do a cinnamon bun for the life of me, it slides right out, hence my needing a different thing that worked. I started trying various things and that bun holds with all my toys. And it's like getting a face lift so tight when using a fork (wiggle the bun). Might be something to try. :)

[spidermom]

I've braided a lot of people's hair, and I find that straight hair that won't hold a curl won't accept a braid easily, either.

[Blueglass]

I cannot do french herring bone as it will not stay. But as you can see in my avator, I can do Dutch and french. I try to start relatively small, and keep hold of of it. I don't how to do 4 or more. My hair has to be washed everyday, and needs to be totally dry before I can work with it. Otherwise it clumps and look like it hasn't been washed in a week.

[heidihug]

My hair is quite straight, and thin and fine. I don't have much of a problem getting it to stay in braids, but I think it's because I have no layers, and I only braid "dirty" hair - I never braid the first day after I wash, and by then it always has some hair spray in it (as well as my after-wash products, such as leave-ins and oils). I can't do my hair without hairspray, or it ends up a flat straight mess.

If hair spray is not anethema to you, I'd suggest that you brush it out, spritz it all over with a light hold hair spray, and brush again before you try to braid.

[Finoriel]

Not fine but straight and slippery here.
When I do french or dutch braids I never even try it with fresh hair, because of this phenomenon. The french part does not stay and sags down before the rest of the braid is finished. Drove me crazy until I realized that it´s my hair which is too slippery to braid when freshly washed and not me who suddenly lost all braiding&updo-skills :p. Normal braids work on those days and braided updos too, but they are a lot harder to do decently with fresh hair... and no rope braids for me in the first days after washing either, fuzzing in seconds.
Damp hands while braiding help... somehow.

[FrannyG]

My hair is fine, straight, doesn't like to hold a curl and for about 50% of the time after COing, is extremely slippery. There was a time when my hair slipped out of all of my buns, and I couldn't braid it without a lot of time and patience , but I've learned to handle it I guess, because now I can bun and braid at any time.

[Morag]

It sounds like you have nice healthy hair - slippery, shiny, no splits, kinks, or tangles. You avatar reminds me of my sister's hair. It's straight and slippy like that, and she almost always wears it in a simple half-up. She does have some trouble with the barrette or elastic sliding out over time, but it's worth the occasional adjustment because her hair is just so shiny and pretty.

While my hair is also very straight, it's much finer than hers. Curls are difficult to keep in, but I have found that if I use a setting gel and set my hair on medium-large rollers after washing, I end up with a lot more body and am able to do updoes, braids, etc. a lot more easily after it is dry. I would really prefer not to use much of anything on my hair, but when I skip that step I end up not being able to do anything with it, plus it completely creeps me out with the "spiderwebs sticking to my face" effect, LOL! (That's usually why I cut it.) Letting it get a little dirty sometimes works out okay, but most often makes it bunch up and leave scalp showing everywhere - not pretty. So I am currently using Aussie Awesome Volume Styling Mousse after I wash, which gives more body and makes a pretty decent detangler, too. I also use hair spray to encourage it to stay in place once I've gotten it up. I don't really like the idea that I'm putting alcohol on my hair, since it's naturally a bit dry, but I haven't found an equally effective alternative. One of these days I'm going to try aloe gel, if I can find some - that sounds like something I'd be happy with, and it would help the dryness, too.

Update 4/13: Aloe gel works! It gives just a little more weight and controllability (I don't have to use much) and it doesn't dry out my hair. Now I can't wait until I get the layers grown out so I don't have to spray to keep them in place!

[Ash]

Thanks for the tip, eadwine! I broke my last hairstick the other day but that does look like a bun I will be able to keep in my hair once I get some more sticks.