Braiding long hair

[zsuper]

I'm attempting to braid my hair in a basic three strand braid, just for fun

It's going terribly. I learned that my hair is very fine, though, so at least I've gotten something out of it other than a headache.


My first problem is that I can't make three even sections. My hair is a bit poofy, very fine, and very soft. I've been trying to put one section over each soldier, with the third section left against my back. No matter how I try to do this, I end up with a lot of straggling hair that doesn't want to stay against my back, but doesnt want to come over my shoulder, either.

My second problem is that my hair is all the same length, including the bangs. Every video/instruction page I've watched or read doesn't tell me what to do with my bangs. It looks completely ridiculous because I find it next to impossible to get a grip anywhere above half way down the length of my side sections; when I try to braid it, the hair above where I'm holding hangs down and covers my ears.

My third problem is that I because my hair is so fine and puffy, I get straggling hairs that aren't part of sections, and I find it extremely easy for me to lose a few hairs when switching hands. These loose hairs force me to stop braiding, or else I'll end up yanking them out.


I find it hard to explain the problems I'm having, but any tips would be great. I'm sure it would be a lot easier to do while it's wet, but I'd prefer to do it dry.

[Yarn Muse]

I don't have very long hair...yet...but you could always put your hair in a pony tail holder and then braid the pony tail.

[pepperminttea]

I find practising braiding on hair that's about to be washed, which for me means natural oil at the roots, and coconut oil on the length, means the hair holds in strands a lot more easily, and the styles in general stay up more easily.

With the bangs, how long are they? Could you get them in a French braid? If it's not a sleep braid, could you just pin them back if they're in your way?

[zsuper]

I've also tried that to practice the weaving, but it's not practical for going out in. My hair cannot be put back in a ponytail without half a tube of gel to comb over my part, the sides 'resist' being pulled back, so the top sticks out at completely odd angles and refuses to be smoothed down.

Even with half a tube of gel, I can barely make it look decent.


I just managed to weave the sections 6 times before having to stop, but I'm also finding that because my hair is so fine/fluttery, I end up stealing pieces of other sections when I try to exchange hands. By the time I had 6 loops done, one section barely had anything left because the other two sections took all the hair from it.

[Paliele]

I don't have any particular advice, but keep practicing! My first few (ah, about a month's worth) braids were pretty awful, but they look pretty decent now. It will get better eventually!

[zsuper]

Alright, I'll keep at it.

I've gotten the whole three sections down, but after a few loops one of my sections reaches the end while the other two still have half the length hanging down :/

[Alun]

I don't have very long hair...yet...but you could always put your hair in a pony tail holder and then braid the pony tail.

I do that sometimes. It is slightly easier, although it shows all my neck hairs even more than a ponytail does. They show up least if I do braid before tying. That's more of a problem if you are dark haired, hairy (not just on top of your head) and especially male, LOL!

I have fine hair, and I can relate to the OP's problems, but the more you practice the easier it becomes.

[danacc]

You may find Dianyla's braiding technique helpful: http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=23652. She shows how she sections the hair, then drapes the sections over one hand to start. She also shows how to donate hair from one section to another if one of the sections is becoming skinnier than others.

The most important thing with braiding, though, is practice--practice--practice--practice--practice--

[zsuper]

I tried her method of sectioning my hair, but it has the same problem as pulling it back.

My hair doesn't like being moved that way, it's hard to explain. It's extremely straight at the moment, but when I try to pull it back it refuses to stay flat and curves in as if I were trying to bend something like plastic. Really hard to explain.

I've been at it for over 2.5 hours now, and I still have the same problem. After braiding maybe 1/6 of my hair, I only have two sections left, the third is completely gone. :/

[Quixii]

I learned to braid by using ribbons. Then I practiced on someone else's hair. And then I finally practiced on my own hair. Now I've got it pretty well, but it did take some time and a lot of funny looking braids.

[danacc]

I wonder if braiding some small "accent" braids that you then pull back into the main braid would help. A french braid might help, too, but it takes even more practice. :hmm:

[zsuper]

Yeah, I just gave up, I can't do this. Maybe it's my hair type or I'm just exceptionally bad or my fingers are too small.

When I'm holding two sections in one hand, it's literally impossible for me to take out one of them with my other hand. My hair puffs out too much, so it seems like the two sections are just one big section except where my finger separates them :/

[krn2891]

Don't give up, Practice, practice, practice. See if you can find a friend who will let you practice on her hair and that will help your fingers know how to keep the strands seperate. Eventually your fingers will figure out how to take one strand from the other hand without mixing up the strands. Don't worry at the start if you can't get all the way down your hair. You'll get better at dividing your hair as you go. Although I've been braiding my hair for 15 years when I'm in a hurry I still mess up my sections and have a lot left over.

[Xanthippe]

It's much easier for me to braid my hair when it's got some aloe vera gel in it or it's been a few days of not shampooing it. It helps me with my puffy ends. Maybe you could try a head band to help make sure you 'catch' all the wispy hairs at the beginning?

[Medievalhair]

My hair is on the fine side, and I find that adding some hair from another strand helps with running out of hair, I don't often english braid.

[Vanya]

I don't have any imput on the strand that suddenly disappears, other than relating - that's a tough little bugger, and annoying, too, now isn't it?

For the poufiness... have you tried twisting the sections a bit, like you were twisting for a bun? It would help you keep the hair apart, and not mix it all together. I did terrible braids at the beginning as well, but I'm a lot better now. Practice, practice, practise. Don't give up!

One last suggestion... If your braid is loose on top, I found that it helps to tilt your hair forward when braiding. Keeps my hands closer to the nape, and I can do the braid tighter that way. HTH!

[natt i nord]

Take your hair over your shoulder and begin to braid that way - make your braid on one side. That's easier for the beginning. :)

That helped me a lot in learning how to braid my own hair.

[Tressie]

I can sympathize with you! I remember when I was a child, a long time ago, my friends and I could braid hair like magic. I remember crooking fingers and fast english braiding. Now I am clumsy and I don't do a very good job. It does help that my hair is not very fluffy, and I do usually put my hair in a high pony and then braid the length. Then I coil the braid or loop it and clip it with my favorite ficcare. It gives me a break from twisting my hair into a bun. It stays pretty well and doesn't pull. Good luck!

[rags]

I have baby fine hair and can sympathize. I've been English braiding since I was a kid, and still sometimes if I hurry end up with some of these same problems.

My advice: Use a headband to get all of your hair back towards the nape (you can remove it after you're done, or just leave it). Then oil you hair fairly well. It makes for sleeker braids which stay better anyways! If you have to, make the sections with a comb, clip up the first one while you make the other two. Just make sure all the hair is separated. Then every time you make a cross over, run your fingers down to make sure all the hairs are still in their correct sections (if that makes any sense). And besides that - practice, practice, practice! Good luck!

[LaurelSpring]

My sections are never even and I always have little flyaways around. I think it looks kind of cute that way...less severe.

My advice is to close your eyes, relax and just feel your way through it. I could never do a french braid until I closed my eyes. If I think about it too much its a disaster.

[zsuper]

Thanks, everyone.

I just tried it after getting out of the shower, and it was amazingly easy with wet hair. Now I just need to get better at making even sections.

I had one really good attempt, but eventually it got too far down and I had to put it over my shoulder to finish it. At which point I completely lost track of which strand was supposed to be crossed over which and destroyed it. :(

It's just a matter of time.

[KaeleyAnne]

Sometimes doing pigtail braids helps. Then your hair is already over your shoulder, so you can see what you are doing and you don't have to pull the braid over your shoulder to finish it.

[DARKMARTIAN]

Hmmmmmm....I read alot of familiar types of problems here. Quite awhile ago....I couldnt braid my own hair....so I would always have someone who could do it......do it. I found myself wanting it braided but being around no one that could do it for me at times so I said ...okay im gonna learn to do it myself. So basically I forced myself to get good at it. Now, after many years of braiding on my own I can sometimes just whiz through it. Coz as im sure alot of you know that when you get good at braiding, your fingers actually start working in a rythem and a rope just starts forming before your very eyes......
However I still sometimes have the problem of getting one of the braid locks uneven and that kinda messes it up....:mad:

[Anje]

I haven't read everything yet, but I just wanted to throw out a few things.

1) Sectioning hair by putting parts over the shoulders doesn't tend to work. Better is to gather it in one hand and stick 2 fingers through it, trying to get the sections roughly equal. Ponytailing it first might help.

2) Hold it close to where you're crossing hair over at the time. You don't need to restrain the ends, but you do need to keep the crossed-over parts close together.

3) Before your next wash, try oiling it up really heavily, and attempt braiding it then. It might not be something you want to wear out of the house, but it could give you some practice braiding your own hair, behind your head, and the oil will help the sections stay need and minimize the puffiness.

[Carolyn]

I'd suggest that you practice braiding with 3 ribbons. Practice until you can do it without thinking about it. Then practice braiding your hair and visualize braiding the ribbons.

Has someone else braided your hair and been successful at it? I'm having trouble understanding if your problems are your braiding technique or if its your hair type that's just difficult to handle.

[JamieLeigh]

My hair is on the fine end of the "medium" spectrum in places, and I have trouble keeping all my hairs together when braiding also, as there are a lot of fly-aways. :p

You don't have to soak your hair to braid, but you could dampen it slightly. You might try mixing a little conditioner with some water in a spritzer bottle and just give a couple of sprays to your length before trying. It might help rein in those stubborn fly-aways, without making your hair feel wet. :flower:

ETA: Try standing in front of a mirror for the part of the process when you have to pull it over your shoulder. That might help you keep track of which strand comes next...and the more practice you get, the easier it will be without a mirror eventually. :)

Just so you know, I'm not aware of any people who make a perfect braid every single time. ;)

[ericthegreat]

Zsuper, like everything in life practice makes perfect. Braiding is actually a very easy task if your are doing the simple 3 strand standard technique. You simply cross over both the left and right strands over the middle strand and repeat in the same pattern all the way down. Trust me once you get the hang of it, you'll be braiding in your sleep!

[frodolaughs]

Just keep practicing and you'll get it. If it's easier to braid wet, do it that way. My hair is very fine. The flyaways stay in place better and my braids come out smoother when I braid it wet.

[RecklessCharlie]

If you prefer not to braid it when it is completely wet you could
try putting just a bit of water on your hands and smoothing that over each section once you've got them evened out. It calms the flyaways without making your hair totally wet.

Good luck with the braiding! Braids a loads of fun once you get it down.

[Calista]

For practising purposes, try the following:

1) Make three sections as well as you can, securing each section with an elastic at the top/nape. You will now have three ponytails next to each other.

2) Secure each ponytail with an elastic in the middle and at the end. You will now have three ponytail sausages with three elastics each. That way there will be no hair getting "transferred" to one of the other strands while braiding.

3) Try braiding your hair like that. Don´t look in the mirror, just go by the feel of your hands. Don´t bring your hair over your shoulder, but once you´ve run our of "arm length" let the part that´s already braided hang down in a "loop". Your braiding hands and the part of your hair that is being braided stay in the same position all the time, and the "loop" between your nape and your hand gets longer and more loopy, if that makes sense.

4) When you braid, think of the word "snug". That is how you want your braid to feel like. Not tight, but snug. The strands should go from left to right (and vice versa) rather than down.

5) Once you´ve mastered the moves, try braiding without some or all of those elastics. Damp hair and oiled hair are good for braiding, as others before me pointed out.

6) Practice makes perfect. Good luck! :)

[Rivanariko]

It took me FOREVER to learn to braid my own hair. My roommate actually used to make fun of me for my "franken-braids". It takes a lot of practice, and not just in one session, so don't give up yet! Once you've got the hang of working with your hands behind your head and how to handle your hair, things get easier. Braids of any kind took me years to learn, then another eternity while I tried to figure out french braiding, and suddenly it clicked. I'm still no expert, but I can do english, french, dutch, or rope braids almost without thinking now.

I also have very fine hair, and I have the problem of getting the sections even. I still can't get it with an english braid, and when I braid my hair for bed it's not uncommon for me to have a 6" tassle at the end because that's when the shorter strand ran out. I try not to worry about it too much. I find that I can keep things a lot more even with a french braid because I can just add more or less to one strand if I feel like things are getting uneven.

[katha]

"franken-braids".


:rolling:
awesome!


My mother taught me how to do french braids for her when I was little. She couldn't do it on her on her own so I did it. When I had my hair long enough, I tried to do it on my own hair and it worked without having to relearn everything, so maybe learning on someone else's head will work?