upside down french braid

[saskia_madding]

I have finally figured out how to do a french and dutch braid on myself. They are not perfect - I'm too impatient to smooth it out every time I add more hair, or comb out all the tangles in the hair I add. But I have two main problems I was hoping to get help with:

a) how can I keep the braid at the bottom of my next tight up against my head? I've tried tightening the braid in a variety of different ways, but ultimately I can't figure out how to braid tightly against my head near the bottom of my neck.

b) I'd like to try french braiding the bottom half of my hair upwards towards the middle of my scalp, to join it into a ponytail with the hair on my crown. I am finding it difficult to figure out what strand goes where and how to add hair. Does anyone have a video tutorial or any general tips?

Thanks! I'm already tired of my boring french braid into a braided bun hairstyle!

[florenonite]

I do upside-down French braids ending in a bun at the crown, and the way I do it is as follows:

1) Bend over and brush hair in the direction you'll be braiding. I find it helps to do this first with my fingers, starting from the ends, so that I don't end up with tangles, and then taking my brush and brushing from the nape to the ends.

2) Starting at the nape, take a section of hair and cross the strands over, as you would for your ordinary French braid. Continue taking strands from either side until the braid reaches the crown of your head.

3) Add in the hair from the top of your head until you are holding it all in a ponytail.

4) Either tie it off as a ponytail or coil the hair into a bun of your choice.

I hope that helps! It's really quite simple once you get used to doing it upside down and not seeing what you're doing (but then I do French braids without a mirror all the time; I think a mirror would just confuse me!).

As far as your first question is concerned; I have no idea. I just leave it loose generally, because I'm lazy :p

[neon-dream]

TorrinPaige mentions this in one of her videos - for the french braid cross the two last sections over and resist the urge to look down!!
If you keep looking forwards the braid stays much tighter against your head :D!! Hope it works for you!

[Elphie]

Gee, I never thought of braiding upside-down. Thanks for the idea!

[heatherdazy]

Taking smaller sections of hair when you add the hair to your braid should tighten things up a bit. Also, make sure you aren't unconsciously going straight down... make sure you bring your hands in closer to the head once you get below the occipital bone.

As for the upside-down braid, make sure you have the hair you don't want in the braid sectioned away. Flip your head upside down and just go! I agree with the poster who said a mirror would add confusion and to be honest, I can never control whether it comes out as a french or a dutch when I'm braiding my own hair that way...

[amaiaisabella]

I'd love to see pictures of an upside-down french braid, if anyone is able to post them. I don't think I'm picturing it correctly, it seems like my fine hair would fall out instantly!

[Nyghtingale]

Awaiting pictures too.

[florenonite]

I'd love to see pictures of an upside-down french braid, if anyone is able to post them. I don't think I'm picturing it correctly, it seems like my fine hair would fall out instantly!


Awaiting pictures too.

Ask and you shall receive:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3288&pictureid=43467

And amaiaisabella, I've got fine hair, too, and it holds great! In this picture I did it on slightly damp hair, and preferred it to when I do it on totally dry hair.

ETA: Hey, I've got a mole on the back of my ear that I never noticed before! Taking pictures of the back of your head is officially good for your health; I can now monitor that mole to ensure it doesn't change :p

[keight425]

I haven't braided my own hair that much but I have braided DH's hair (tee hee!!!) and I've found that I just really have to make sure the strands I am joining towards the bottom get really locked into the rest of the strand it's going into to and I just tug it real tight. Also... when you get to the end... make sure you just keep braiding in the direction you want the braid to fall into. Don't get to the end of where you are adding sections and then pull the braid out and away from your body... as is the natural tendency, continue to braid very close to your neck/body even though you aren't continuing to add hair in. I've found that by doing this you are sort of forming the braid to where it will stay against you... instead of pulling it out, away from your body when you continue the braid, and then when you tie it and let go, you get that big poofy mess underneath it where there is all that dead space.

Anyway, I hope this made sense!

[amaiaisabella]

Ask and you shall receive:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3288&pictureid=43467

And amaiaisabella, I've got fine hair, too, and it holds great! In this picture I did it on slightly damp hair, and preferred it to when I do it on totally dry hair.

ETA: Hey, I've got a mole on the back of my ear that I never noticed before! Taking pictures of the back of your head is officially good for your health; I can now monitor that mole to ensure it doesn't change :p

It looks fabulous! I'd love to try that for school since it gets so hot here, and I usually have little tendrils hanging down- seems like this style would eliminate them! I'll have to try it the next time I wash :)

[saskia_madding]

Thanks for the tips, guys! I'll put them into practic tomorrow. Today I was trying to do a diagonal french braid. I still got a poofy bottom that I covered by making a braided bun (I'm such a cheater!), but now that I've read this thread and all your helpful tips, I'll try an upside down braid for volunteering tomorrow. I'll post pics on the weekend!

[Raederle]

...

a) how can I keep the braid at the bottom of my next tight up against my head? I've tried tightening the braid in a variety of different ways, but ultimately I can't figure out how to braid tightly against my head near the bottom of my neck.

I haven't done this for a long time, but I know what you mean. You need to hold your fingers very close to the scalp, in addition to gently tugging the ends. It was also easier for me when I spritzed my hair, though I started out with dry hair.


...

Thanks! I'm already tired of my boring french braid into a braided bun hairstyle!

Have you done the Princess Anne Braid (http://2good2lose.com/braid-princessanne.shtml)?

[saskia_madding]

I tried that without any instructions and it came out a garbled mess. I'll try again though, so thanks for the link. :)

I find that french and dutch braiding is something I only get right the fifth time I try it.

[saskia_madding]

Okay, I totally suck. I've tried all sorts of of things, but I still can't do it. Does anyone know of a video that demonstrates upside down french braiding? I learn visually, and I think seeing it would really help.

[saskia_madding]

With a few more helpful tips and 4 tries, I managed to get this:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=3599&pictureid=46269

It still needs work, obviously, but I'm feeling optimistic about eventually being able to do the hairstyle I've been dreaming of doing - a four quadrant, diagonally french braided high ponytail!

Thanks for the help guys!

[klcqtee]

I was just thinking about how to do an upside down french braid for sleeping on. This is an awesome idea!

[Raederle]

Great job :thumbsup:

[nicolina]

Thanks for this. I hadn't thought of braiding upside down, but it's definitely something to try. Especially for sleeping on - I find the shorter layers near the top of my head fall out of a normal braid or braids, and this is probably not helping them to catch up with the rest of my hair.

[Newniepg]

Ask and you shall receive:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3288&pictureid=43467


That is really, really beautiful. Unfortunately I can't manage a normal french braid let alone an 'upside down finish it in a bun' french braid. I really admire that style though. I shall just have to learn do do one and hope it is good enough by the time I get to your length.

[Rentlle]

looks great both simone_rodrigue and florenonite..
gotto start practicing this one!! :D

[saskia_madding]

Ugh, I tried again this morning and I was all cocky from doing it much better than normal yesterday, and I TOTALLY botched it. I'll have to keep practicing.

I'm noticing that for me, the key is to make sure I braid nice and tight.

[florenonite]

That is really, really beautiful. Unfortunately I can't manage a normal french braid let alone an 'upside down finish it in a bun' french braid. I really admire that style though. I shall just have to learn do do one and hope it is good enough by the time I get to your length.


looks great both simone_rodrigue and florenonite..
gotto start practicing this one!! :D

Thanks :)

Newniepg: Is your hair long enough to do two French braids for bed? I find bed is a good time to practice a lot of braided styles, because you can do it for bed, no one's going to see it if it's rubbish (other than an SO), and you get to practice it every day.

[kdaniels8811]

What a GREAT idea! I am adding this to my list of buns, I love it!

[saskia_madding]

I just posed in another forum (the hair poll and projects one) regarding a spin off of this style that I did today by accident -

I wrapped the bottom braid around the top braid, trying to keep the bun slightly flat on my head. this left me with a braided bun with a long dangling braid coming out of the middle. It's awesome.

[Newniepg]

Newniepg: Is your hair long enough to do two French braids for bed? I find bed is a good time to practice a lot of braided styles, because you can do it for bed, no one's going to see it if it's rubbish (other than an SO), and you get to practice it every day.

My hair is at APL so I don't see why I shouldn't practice at night- I am a spot defeatist about it I guess. I will go look up a tutorial I think. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm not worried about DH seeing my hair in a mess...he has after all seen my hair after it has been loose all night! :eek:

[saskia_madding]

Oh my god, if you find a tutorial for an upside down French braid, please share it. I've been looking all over for one!

[Newniepg]

I found this one (http://www.ehow.com/how_4425842_braid-upside-down-french-braid.html) that seems to be intended for someone else to do on another head, but I guess you could work out how to do it on your own.

[JCFantasy23]

I asked a long while back on this type of hair style, but the thread title was more about the book it showed it in. Thought I would post the thread for you, since it has a members picture and some directions and thoughts on upside down braids. HTH

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3822