Do you braid yourself? Help!

[YesitsReal]

So, I love braids. Even the fact that I have layered hair that is not nearly long enough for a lot of braided styles does not prevent me from trying.

What might prevent me from trying is the ::snap, crackle, pop:: of my strands as I try to weave them into a lovely style, the handfuls of severed hair that come out when I take the braids out, and the endless loops and badly-placed sections all over.

Do any of you braid lovers have these problems? I love the way braids look, but I'm starting to think I'm going to have to give up doing anything besides vertical French braids!

[TXbarbie]

I LOVE the look of braids, too. Unfortunately I guess I'm not flexible enough to braid all of my hair in one central braid, so I can never wear my hair that way :( Good luck!

[Brat]

I just can't do it... my fingers fumble around so much that I lose where I am with it. Good luck!

[Carolyn]

Are you talking about doing a plain single english braid or something more complicated? I don't know why you'd be getting handfuls of severed hair when you take a braid out. What do you secure the end with?

[akurah]

Are you detangling your hair prior? Is your brush hair friendly? Are you wearing watches or rings? Do you have cracks or snags in your fingernails that the hair is catching on? Do you use hair friendly ties?

The problems you're reporting for your hair seem odd, as hair shouldn't be making those sounds from simply braiding unless it's related to one of the questions I've asked above.

Also, the handfuls of hair may not be severed hair, it may be shed hair. I wear my hair in a braid most days, sometimes several days in a row, and I shed small kittens when I take them down because the braid kept them from falling freely.

[yellowchariot]

I get a few snap, crackle, pops, but not too big of a deal. IMO the best time to braid is when your hair is semi-oily. Also you might want to watch how much pull/tension as your are crossing over your sections.

[ohwhataday03]

Everytime I finger comb my hair I have some sheds. Even after a braid. I think some people lose more than others.

[manderly]

I can only manage a little side braid or pigtails ;) I can't make my hands work backwards to do them properly. And I agree, they work better when they're nicely lubed and combed.

[Dementia1013]

How I battle the 'snap, crackle and pop' of the strands is to take my time with the braid and comb out the tails everytime I finish a plait. It's painstaking, I know, but it certainly helps to make a nice, smooth braid. :D

[Heavenly Locks]

When I do a plait (single set of crossovers) I run my hands down the tails to 'clean' each section up so that I don't have single hairs that want to cling to the wrong section. If I feel like I am getting tangles, I will also comb them if I can. It also helps to take off my rings or any bracelets I might be wearing too. HTH!

[Keildra]

How I battle the 'snap, crackle and pop' of the strands is to take my time with the braid and comb out the tails everytime I finish a plait. It's painstaking, I know, but it certainly helps to make a nice, smooth braid. :D
Agreed
I do that and yes it is painstaking at first but then one day you end up with huge girl power biceps :boxer:

[tralalalara]

Agreed
I do that and yes it is painstaking at first but then one day you end up with huge girl power biceps :boxer:

My mom made fun of me when I said that french braiding my hair was a shoulder work out!

I'm still working on even tension between plaits as well. It takes a little work to get it right every time.

[Ravenne]

I wear braids most days. A decent french braid takes me about five minutes. English even less. And I sleep in french braids. And yeah, a very thorough combing and detangling is what will keep your hair from snapping.. or at least that's what works for me. You may try a very light oiling on the ends to keep them separated.

[nytquill]

I used to get a lot of snapping hairs too, especially when I'm trying a new style or braid that my fingers aren't used to. The clumsier I am, the rougher it is on my hair. Not on purpose, but if for example I miss a handoff then things tend to go wonky while I try to gather it all back up and there's always a few little hairs that go wandering off on their own, get tangled in my fingers or another strand, and get snapped. With practice not only do you learn the style but you get better at handling your own hair, learning the kind of stresses it can take, and sensing that moment when you might be about to break hairs and slowing down, smoothing it out and stopping again.

But I have to agree with the detangling and the smoothing as you go, that's probably the most important thing for getting a clean braid with minimal breakage. If I can keep all the strands cleanly separated as a single unit, it's almost like braiding rope and there's no single strands getting broken off in the middle of everything. That's why oiling/braiding slightly "dirty" hair makes it easier too, I think.

I break hairs when I'm in a hurry too (like when I'm late for work) because I don't take the time to stop and smooth everything out or redo the style if I'm getting flyaway hairs that are likely to break.

[natt i nord]

If you can't braid your hair in the middle of your back start to brad on the left/right shoulder. As soon as those braids look good, let them slowly wander to the middle of your back. That helped me :)

[BrightEyes7]

I'm a pro braider! I can do any braid! I'm known for it. All my friends always say "braid my hair pleeeeaassse!!!"

I find that my hair breaks a lot more when I try to braid my hair wet. But my hair tends to be very stringy when wet. I agree with everyone else about oiling before braiding.

I have hip length hair and I always braid behind my head. I will never even start the braid and the pull it to the side because I think it makes it like twist which I don't like. My arms get so tired by the time I finish, especially french braids.

So point being, to help you de-tangle thoroughly before and during braiding and oil before!!

Hope I helped!:cheese:

[Alia]

The Klutz braiding book is a really good one for learning to braid your own hair. Most styles have two sets of directions: one simpler set to be repeated and a second, more detailed set if needed. I still have my original one from the nineties :crush: .

[guccixx]

Braids can get difficult when doing complicated styles (or complicated to me at least.) For example, a single french braid is hard for me as I go down the length because my hair is too long to stretch my hands all the way down my back. So I find that I have to re-braid a few times so that it will lay straight instead of getting those poofs at the nape of my neck.

I also find that I sometimes break hairs when I braid. Mostly it's because of my ends that are rougher/more damaged than the rest of my hair. They get tangled easily. The only way to combat hair breakage is to comb beforehand and make sure you separate each strand after each plait. This gets tiresome so sometimes I take a little break and rest my elbows :-P What may help is detangling the ends with some conditioner/oil/etc.

[IndigoAsh]

I'm with the above post. I try to finger comb my hair though to try and get as many tangles out as possible and than separate front from back, a part from ear to ear, and work from the top, and than add the bottom. I get tired shoulders to and just rest during the braid. My issue is braiding the bottom part. I always end up with a twist where you can see I finished my brain in the front cause my arms couldn't twist behind me. lol. Maybe you're pulling your braid too tight and that's what's causing damage?

[Tyrinaniel]

The best way to combat this is, when you bring it to the front, look in the mirror and pay attention to how you had it in the back and keep the strands in the same order in the front. Usually you can tell where you ended with English style braids. One strand sets further apart and that's the one to be turned next. I have the same trouble braiding from the back. I think it's very common to bring it to the front.

[curlylocks85]

So, I love braids. Even the fact that I have layered hair that is not nearly long enough for a lot of braided styles does not prevent me from trying.

What might prevent me from trying is the ::snap, crackle, pop:: of my strands as I try to weave them into a lovely style, the handfuls of severed hair that come out when I take the braids out, and the endless loops and badly-placed sections all over.

Do any of you braid lovers have these problems? I love the way braids look, but I'm starting to think I'm going to have to give up doing anything besides vertical French braids!

I find that oiling my hair from scalp to the bottom works best. I finger comb the oil through to make sure I get the bits in between.

I also braid slowly. I am working on the Classic Dutch Braid; you know the one with two braids on the side of your head. It is easier for me if I separate the strand before braiding and smoothing the sections helps. If I do not do this, my hair tangles and I get many knots - not good.

Practice and patience is key. Just keep trying and one day you will have it down and wonder why you had such trouble in the first place.

[Capybara]

If it's just a case of not being able to do the braid in the back, maybe try it on the side first? I learned how to do french braids on myself by first making two at a time, one on each side - this got rid of the "arms behind the back in an unnatural position" problem. Then, when I get used to it, I learned to do one. :) And don't worry, if there are weird loops and bumps, you can always smooth them down with some gel or bobby pins :D No one will notice
Good luck!!

[MrsGuther]

So, I love braids. Even the fact that I have layered hair that is not nearly long enough for a lot of braided styles does not prevent me from trying.

What might prevent me from trying is the ::snap, crackle, pop:: of my strands as I try to weave them into a lovely style, the handfuls of severed hair that come out when I take the braids out, and the endless loops and badly-placed sections all over.

Do any of you braid lovers have these problems? I love the way braids look, but I'm starting to think I'm going to have to give up doing anything besides vertical French braids!

I could only do a simple english braid until recently when I decided to look into learning other types of braids. I have gotten the hang of a rope braid, and I am trying to work on a herringbone braid (I have been unsuccessful thus far with the herringbone though). I feel like sections get tangled if I don't seperate the sections well enough or if a hair from one section gets caught in another section mid braid.

[MrsGuther]

If it's just a case of not being able to do the braid in the back, maybe try it on the side first? I learned how to do french braids on myself by first making two at a time, one on each side - this got rid of the "arms behind the back in an unnatural position" problem. Then, when I get used to it, I learned to do one. :) And don't worry, if there are weird loops and bumps, you can always smooth them down with some gel or bobby pins :D No one will notice
Good luck!!

I still can't seem to do one single braid to the back. I always braid to the side generally. I have shoulder problems and it hurts to practice the to-the-back braid. :( I wish I could figure out a solution to this problem. *Stupid bum shoulders... ughhh*

[Capybara]

I still can't seem to do one single braid to the back. I always braid to the side generally. I have shoulder problems and it hurts to practice the to-the-back braid. :( I wish I could figure out a solution to this problem. *Stupid bum shoulders... ughhh*

Aw, that's too bad about your shoulders. I think that side braids look cute too, they're more youthful and chic than down the back braids, at least on me :) I like them better than down-the-back braids actually, at least in the winter, because they don't get scrunched up in the collar of my coat and make my neck itch.