mini braid advice?

[aililiú]

i *love* wearing a couple mini braids in my hair.. but to secure them ive always used those teensy rubber elastics! and you have to wrap them fairly tightly! i have quite a history of hair abuse :doh:so i never really noticed/cared before but they break the hairs when i take the elastics out!! (obviously! hah)

any suggestions for more hair-friendly fastening methods, so i dont have to give up my elf braids?

:o

[Anje]

Silicone rubber bands might be better, and it's worth trying to find those elastics that go on orthodontics/braces/etc. Then you don't have to do so many wraps to secure them, which is damaging for me, at least. Avoiding actual rubber bands makes a difference.

Another thing that might be worth trying is tying them with a few wraps of thread. I have no idea whether it would be less damaging, but it's worth a try.

[tralalalara]

I used to use the bands from my orthodontist too! they gave me a new baggie every time and I never used them all.
But after a while(a few years) they got stale and fell apart, so now I just bobby-pin them if I wear them pulled back.
I still use rubber elastics if they're hanging down, but I found elastics that are very very small and tight so I only have to wrap twice.

If it's thin enough, you can use your own spit as a hair gel to keep the ends together. I would do that in grade school all the time in class.

[Merewen]

I find spit works well on small braids as well.

You also could maybe wrap the place where the band goes with a small piece of ribbon before securing.

[aililiú]

hey, all good suggestions, thanks!
although i must admit the spit one made me chuckle a bit :p
i have a non-alcohol based, herbal hair gel as well that i use every once in a while, maybe that would work too?

i dont know if the damage comes from how many wraps there are, or just how tight it is. but when i pull them out theres always one or two broken hairs tangled up in the elastic- no good!

alright, thanks again ladies, i'll try these methods out :)

[nytquill]

I find if I make my mini-braids "mini" enough (and snug enough), they hold up quite well without any kind of tying off, but maybe it's just my particular hair that works that way!

Maybe look for those "ouchless" hairties, the metal-free ones. I think they come in smaller sizes now so you wouldn't have to wrap it around a ton of times...or like others have said, some ribbon or string, even maybe one of your own shed hairs if you want it to be really unnoticeable (and assuming your shed hairs are workable for that purpose!)