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View Full Version : French braids bring out the worst in my hair



freznow
April 25th, 2008, 06:58 PM
I hear a lot of good comments about french braids. How they can last for a long time still looking decent, how they're so comfortable, how they look great. But honestly, they don't do a thing for me. All the little hairs are poking out immediately and it begins to look rough way before an english braid. If I don't do the braid exactly right, it is uncomfortable (though this is one thing that would probably improve with practice). They make my hair all tangly, and the early crossovers make the hair pulled from my face look funny (this could probably be cured by technique, but still)

I know it must work well for a lot of people, to be the style of choice when people are camping and stuff, but does any one else just have issues with this style?

Druid of Alba
April 25th, 2008, 07:01 PM
I can't say I do; I have never tried this style.

Mely
April 25th, 2008, 07:02 PM
I like it on other people, just not on me. It tends to look rather severe and unflattering on me. Plus my hair is frizzy and dark, so the French braid part doesn't look very pleasing. As you say, it can also be uncomfortable--it tends to pull.

I rarely do a French braid.

AprilElf
April 25th, 2008, 07:21 PM
My biggest issue with French braids is that I'm not proficient at them yet. I find them very difficult to do on myself.
The couple of attempts I have done brought up the other issue of pouffy hair on top, which does not flatter my long face. :rolleyes:

KaeleyAnne
April 25th, 2008, 07:58 PM
Unless I'm really lucky with the way my French braid turned out, I usually don't the way it looks when I start the braid near the top, front of my head (if that makes sense). I usually start my French braid near the back of the top of my head (or near the top of the back of my head, if that makes more sense), and that always works well for me.

spidermom
April 25th, 2008, 08:06 PM
The inside-out French braid (or Dutch braid) holds much longer for me, but it becomes messy with shorter hairs sticking out all over the place. So it's great for camping, not so good for an evening at the symphony.

AJoifulNoise
April 25th, 2008, 08:10 PM
I don't have any luck with the french braid, be it because of my fumbly fingers or my hair rebeling. I do much better with the dutch braid.

kwaniesiam
April 25th, 2008, 08:12 PM
I personally love french braids, but I had the same issues with them making my face look weird until I started them lower on the back of my head. Maybe thats your problem? Keep trying and once you perfect the technique, if it doesn't work no one ever said you had to wear them :)

It is a great skill to have though, braiding.

lyneya
April 25th, 2008, 08:23 PM
My mom used to do them on me when I was little. Because of the wave...she and my grandma always complained that as soon as they got done braiding me, I could walk across a room and have a halo of fuzzies sticking out.

Sadly, not something that has improved. So I don't do them often. And I agree...not flattering on everyone, including me. It just feels a bit severe.

mommy2one05
April 25th, 2008, 09:34 PM
I have just learned within the past week or two how to do a french braid and I love them especially with the warmer weather and it keeps my hair out of little one's hands.

Gumball
April 25th, 2008, 10:51 PM
No matter how my hair is braided or done usually I've got hairs sticking out so that bit wouldn't bother me too much. I've grown used to it. When I wear french braids usually they don't pull much. There can be tangles, but my hair does that whether I want it to or not. It tends to be easier for me to take out than a dutch braid just because of how my hair acts. It really is different for everyone. :)

LifeisAdventure
April 26th, 2008, 01:04 AM
French braids look great on me... when I don't make them. The braided pigtail look is a special favorite of mine, but I always have to ask a friend to do it for me.

My fingers simply don't understand the rhythm, and on top of that, my hair sticks together down the length and both my hands are too busy holding the braid strands to straighten the length out. If I leave the strands alone, essentially they get matted from being pulled in too many directions. :( Practice hasn't helped much and each time makes me a bit more discouraged... so don't worry, you're not alone freznow! :p

Masara
April 26th, 2008, 01:08 AM
I second (third?) the suggestion of starting lower down. If I start my braid on the top of my head, it makes my face look pointed and strange (plus from the side I look like one of the "fish people in stingray, to quote my sister) Starting just below the crown gives a much smoother look.

I get many more sticky out hairs when I do Dutch braid than a French braid.

granitbaby
April 26th, 2008, 03:43 AM
I love French braids, it's my everyday style at this length. My trick is to start the braid slightly to the side and not on the top of my head. I gives my head a more flattering shape. Until my hair reaches BSL I prefer them tucked in, and I have the hair sticking out problem with every up do so it's not something I think much about.

Katze
April 26th, 2008, 03:59 AM
I've given up on French braids because they get messy fast on me, too.

Then there is the tail issue - my ends are so thin, and light colored, and the tail really does look like a long rat tail. It tends to stay together while the nape hairs work themselves out if I turn my head at all, causing this poofy, kinky mess that can be seen from the front.

Frizz is also an issue with every updo for me - I have not yet found any way, except for some kind of twist held at the sides, front, and nape with bobby pins, to put my hair up and have it stay smooth.

I have three friends with BSl to waist, straight, long hair, and all of them can put their hair in a ponytail, bun, braid, and have it look smooth and stay put throughout the day. Mine doesn't. Ever.

Saranne772
April 26th, 2008, 04:02 AM
My only problem is I can only do them on other people (and then not well!). My Aunty does them for me but she lives the other side of the country so I dont get to have them very often :(

blue_nant
April 26th, 2008, 10:15 AM
I like it on other people, just not on me. It tends to look rather severe and unflattering on me. Plus my hair is frizzy and dark, so the French braid part doesn't look very pleasing. As you say, it can also be uncomfortable--it tends to pull.

I rarely do a French braid.

Gee, I have really straight hair, and I'd presume that curlier hair would be more flattering/softer than mine, which is a. smooth and when it loosens b. just sticks out.

On the other hand, if it were aloed or gelled or wet when you braid it, would it stay smooth better? Mine sticks out, and since it's straight ... it just looks like hell after I sleep in it.

I'll wear it two days, but not longer.


My fingers simply don't understand the rhythm, and on top of that, my hair sticks together down the length and both my hands are too busy holding the braid strands to straighten the length out. If I leave the strands alone, essentially they get matted from being pulled in too many directions. Practice hasn't helped much and each time makes me a bit more discouraged.

I was like this for a long time because the instructions for the French braid are always for a different person to do it on your head, not yourownself doing it. But please keep trying.

At some point, after being annoyed and frustrated several times, some mental shift or *something* happened, and it seemed like I slowly (or my fingers slowly) learned how it was to be. Is it because you have to sortof *imagine* how it looks or is ... or something. It's still hard on the arms! lol

I straighten the length after two fold-overs, so that the matting doesn't happen ... much.

j4zzin
April 26th, 2008, 11:33 AM
I wish I was even capable of french braiding. I can do them on other people kind of okay, but every time I've tried it on myself (heck, I can barely do a straight english braid on myself), the result is disasterous. It hurts my arms a lot, and it's impossible for me to get each added on section parted nicely from the rest of the strands.

soobie
April 26th, 2008, 11:44 AM
A french braid is my go-to style of choice. I wear one nearly every day (though in the past year I've been wearing buns more, as my hair grows and since discovering THLC. Hairfork, yay!).

I think it just takes practice to make them even and looking good (if your hairtype is cooperative I mean)- after making a braid nearly daily for 15+years, my fingers pretty much know what to do!

Isilme
April 26th, 2008, 12:16 PM
one day this last month my fingers just knew how to do it very well, before I had known how but it took a long time and the result wasn't very pretty. So the past weeks have been pretty much all in a dutch braid. But I can't do a french one to save my life!;)

Ella
April 28th, 2008, 05:15 PM
I think there is a right length. I have a friend whos hair is almost waist length and she doesn't have thestrength in her arms to braid the whole lot

FrayedFire
December 11th, 2019, 06:07 AM
I don't like the way they look, so I never bothered to learn. They're ok on some other people, but I'm just not a fan of the style. Unfortunately I think the technique used for french braiding is also used in some other styles that I do like and don't know how to do yet.

leayellena
December 11th, 2019, 07:07 AM
French braids look better on my either freshly washed hair (but I use it to tuck the entire braid into elling woman bun for sleep) or when my scalp is oily.

giraff
December 11th, 2019, 07:10 AM
I don't know if it's because of my length or hair type or both, but the first English braid part of my braids always flips out. Like a lot! Can't figure out how to achieve the straight braids just yet..

MusicalSpoons
December 11th, 2019, 10:10 AM
Not flattering on me either, and a literal pain to try to do. I don't so much mind wispies and frizz but when it's allllllll the way down, it exposes a lot of hair to damage that in a bun would be contained and safe. The nape hairs start to escape within about half an hour too.

I actually learned to do a French braid on myself first and took a very long time to be able to do it on another person, much to my sister's chagrin. I think I prefer the look of a Dutch braid but I find it more difficult, especially on another person.

I don't often braid anyway, because my hair hates them and they kill my arms. Useful skill to have when it's either a Very Special occasion or is a necessity (like having dental work done - a bun works for a checkup but anything more than a filling and a braid is the only practical option).

Edit: oh and sectioning at the scalp is a surefire way to make my hair look greasy even if it's not - it can be freshly washed but at the end of the day it will look oily :rolleyes: my scalp is not a fan of sectioning anyway.

Zesty
December 11th, 2019, 10:22 AM
I like the way they look from the back but pulling my hair back like that exposes my many, many hairline wispies. It looks crazy if my hair is freshly washed and they're floaty, or greasy later in my wash cycle. I don't do them even as a base for updos for that reason, and I never wear a "down" braid for more than a few hours at a time because I don't think it's super protective. Anyway -- I'd rather just do an English braid.