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View Full Version : does anyone braid their braids?



RachelRain
June 26th, 2010, 04:14 AM
Okay, that sounds stupid when actually put down in text. Like, incredibly stupid. Ugh.

Anyways. When I braid my hair - especially when it's wet, as it seems to minimize frizz except at the nape of my neck, since I have to pull it over one shoulder - I braid three or four individual small braids and then braid those into one big one. It actually comes out looking pretty cool, even if you mess up somewhere (and all the bumps makes it less obvious for most people to realize you messed up!)

Does anyone else do this, or am I just weird?

I ask mostly because I saw the 6 strand braid on that list of updos, and immediately I thought oooh, I could turn little braids into one big round braid... yay! (Yes, I am a total geek. I've accepted it.)




Oh, in other news, I called my mom to ask what kind of olive oil she had (I have that combo yuck stuff) and when she asked why and I told her she FLIPPED. "Oh, that's frickin' revolting, if you do that I swear to God your hair will be disgusting, blah blah blah." And then she went on to tell me that I could do store bought hot oil treatments... Um, why BUY them at the store when the oil is right at home? I don't understand.

FrannyG
June 26th, 2010, 04:26 AM
I have braided my braids before, so in essence it's a 3 strand braid containing 9 strands. I like it best when it doesn't come out looking perfect.

My hair is a bit short for this right now, but I did it more when it was longer.


As to the olive oil, I would strongly suggest that you keep your hair care secrets to yourself, and share them only here at LHC. I learned very early on after joining LHC that many people have opinions on these matters just because they don't understand. If I have a question about olive oil, I would ask it here on the forums rather than discussing it in real life.

RachelRain
June 26th, 2010, 04:33 AM
Well she used to have long hair, and do all kinds of stuff to it - tea rinses and everything, so I figured she'd understand. Obviously I was wrong, and I don't intend to mention anything else to anyone about it for a while...

You should've heard her when I mentioned honey afterwards, and I didn't even mention that I wanted to use it in my hair. It annoyed me then, but it's kind of funny now after my blood pressure went down.

And I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one, I think it looks prettier than the regular braids. Not sure why, though, it just does.

Granted, it doesn't cut down on frizz much, but anything is better than nothing when it comes to really humid weather and all that, you know?

Loreley
June 26th, 2010, 06:23 AM
Sometimes I wear my hair like that! :)

chopandchange
June 26th, 2010, 06:27 AM
As to the olive oil, I would strongly suggest that you keep your hair care secrets to yourself, and share them only here at LHC.

This is very good advice!

A lady felt my hair the other day and commented: "It's so soft! What do you do to it?"

I simply said: "I use lots of conditioner."

If I had said: "I only use conditioner, and no longer use shampoo" the lady might have jumped away from my hair in sudden disgust. ;)

People in RL don't understand LHC things. Franny is right that you should keep them to yourself!

Finoriel
June 26th, 2010, 06:36 AM
:wink: You are not the only one. Not with braiding braids and not with the olive oil "allergy" of your mom ... and I did not even tell her that I wash it with eggs :wacko:.

I used to braid braids a lot, most times it´s just three English braids into one English braid (sometimes called beaver-tail braid) or three loose rope braids into a gigantic rope braid (not sure if that has an own name). Both is pretty time consuming on my length, so while I love the look of it, I still don´t wear it that often. :p Just not a morning person.

Another one of the popular multi-braid updos is the "Arwen braid". People disagree how many small braids the style requires, but it´s either 7 or 9. I did the 9 braids version once and liked it a lot.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=33554&albumid=2628&dl=1236448359&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=2628&pictureid=33554)

Merlin
June 26th, 2010, 07:06 AM
Years ago a friend of mine told me that when whe was young (and had very long hair) occasionally her mum would do 27 braids >> into 9 braids >> into 3 braids >> into one braid for special occasions.

Bear in mind I have no pictorial evidence for this ever having happened, though I'd count her as a reliable source!

RachelRain
June 26th, 2010, 07:19 AM
I did something like that for halloween when I was in college. I don't remember how many braids it was, but I remember seeing a ton of them in the mirror and joking about how I should start dreads.

I know when my roomate was done I had the thickest weirdest braid ever, but I doubt I had as many as 27 in there! that must have taken forever. :)

spidermom
June 26th, 2010, 09:43 AM
Yes, but not often because it's time consuming. There's a picture in my album "spidermom tames the web"; it's like Finoriel's picture.

wonhwa
June 26th, 2010, 11:43 AM
Absolutely; I braid my braids. If you do two rope braids into one, that's a hawser. If you do two hawsers into one, that's a cable. Looks SO complicated, and it's so easy. And it takes up about 5 inches of length, if you want to look shorter for a while.
And I braid 3 English braids, one below the other, then all three together.
I am so going to do the one from 27! I can braid and stretch and read all at the same time.

Thanks for the ideas!
Wonhwa

DakarNick
June 26th, 2010, 11:51 AM
Like my fiance's hair? These were almost like cornrows.

http://inlinethumb16.webshots.com/44111/2295721530064685427S425x425Q85.jpg (http://family.webshots.com/photo/2295721530064685427flhxJP)

Coffeebug
June 26th, 2010, 12:10 PM
I did the nine braid Arwen braid (there is no pleasing way to write that, is there?!) too - I really liked it, but it took a while. Then I got all paranoid about how uncombable it was gonna be once it set itself into waves and undid it LOL

RachelRain
June 26th, 2010, 01:19 PM
oh I like your fiance's braids. I've never been able to manage the french or dutch ones though... so all mine start at ear level or my jawline. kinda bites, but oh well.

an added bonus is that it eats up more length than a regular braid - not enough, sometimes, mind you, but generally if it's tight I can make a good additional 3" disappear :) makes me happy for a while.

I like that arwen braid too...

Juneii
June 26th, 2010, 01:34 PM
I have done that before although it really wasn't my style :) plus too time consuming for little impatient me.

I do keep all the hair stuff to LHC though. Mostly at least, I talk about some to DBF but that's about it. I am fairly certain if I tell anyone else about it they would be freaked out. I regularly pull out my hair scissors when I am doing nothing and snip off my split ends. My friends and family are already freaked out by that, no need to add fuel to the fire.
It is surprising how your mom would be okay with pouring tea in her hair but totally object to soaking your hair with olive oil.

RachelRain
June 26th, 2010, 02:04 PM
I know, I totally was all 'huh?' when she freaked. lol.

The last time I 'trimmed' my hair was about a year ago, I think. I could be off, my days tend to run together now that I stay up nights. Anyways... I was warming wax for my eyebrows and thought my hair was over my other shoulder and all of a sudden I heard a 'THWACK' ... and it was my hair in the hot wax. Nothing took it out so I ended up having to cut eight... inches... of hair off. I cried. And my mom screwed it up hardcore, by cutting a huge chunk out of one part instead of cutting evenly. So I got home and immediately handed scissors to my boyfriend and demanded he fix it.

I'm still not quite where I was before I had to cut it but I'm close. I'm within an inch or two, I think. It was getting caught in the buttons and zipper of my jeans before, now it's just caught in the buttons occasionally. Close, though!

I haven't seen any split ends in my hair (I check every time I get out of the shower as I brush it) but my ends are straggly and crunchy. Should I snip them anyways?

RachelRain
June 26th, 2010, 02:06 PM
Oh, and since I only do simple braids, I can whip one together within a minute. Really my only issue is the separating, because I don't want it to look too stupid, so I try to make the pieces even. It doesn't take away from the frizz or the fact that I kinda suck at it, but it makes me feel a little better about it. :)

It took me a couple months to do a decent job, but now I'm like lightning when I put one up. My mother in law is amazed at it, but I can't imagine that I do it much faster than anyone else on here...

DakarNick
June 26th, 2010, 03:41 PM
They did take a while to do, and I got a little sloppy with making them all the same size. Oh well, not like she goes out in public with the hairstyles I give her, haha.

Merewen
June 26th, 2010, 06:49 PM
I used to. And I just did, having read this a little while ago. I haven't looked in a mirror, but I like to think it looks awesome. In any case, it feels pretty cool in my hand.

Schefflera
June 26th, 2010, 07:30 PM
Absolutely; I braid my braids. If you do two rope braids into one, that's a hawser. If you do two hawsers into one, that's a cable. Looks SO complicated, and it's so easy.


It doesn't sound easy! I have trouble twisting my hair in the opposite direction from what I usually do, so even "level one" rope braids give me fits. I should practice them, though, because I think I like the look.

RachelRain
June 26th, 2010, 11:28 PM
I like the way rope braids look, but I've never tried them so I know my first few attempts will just be horrible. lol.

And I love the way it feels in my hand too. My boyfriend is always telling me to stop touching it or i'll ruin it. lol.

Yozhik
June 26th, 2010, 11:41 PM
I love rope braids, too -- they look so cool!

If you want to watch a cool tutorial about braiding braids, check out TorrinPaige on youtube -- she has a really informative video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U3oHm8I-gs) on it :)

Arctic_Mama
June 27th, 2010, 12:27 AM
I don't think I have ever done it, but I bet it is pretty.

In other news, this is my 1000th post. Woohoo!