Mini Braids?

[CurlAhead]

Hello, I'm kinda new here so I'm sorry if this question has already been posted by another member.

Well, I'm intrested in "mini braids", all over my hair, while letting it grow so I don't have to use any heat to style it.

So I am wondering if any of you have some tips, experience or maybe pictures of YOUR braids? I don't have very long hair, so I am thinking of using extensions to make the braids longer, is it bad for the hair?

Thank you! :)

[Cheeks1206]

I haven't tried this yet so I don't have any experience with it. Sorry! However, I've mostly seen others here use minibraids as a way to get waves, not so much as a style to wear around. How small are you thinking you want your braids to be?

[CurlAhead]

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[Laylah]

Tips- Are you going to get your braids done by a professional or do them yourself? It will take a little figuring out, especially if you go with extensions, to do it by yourself. If you do go to a braiding salon, make sure that they don't braid too tight or it will damage your roots. Otherwise, braids are a very good protective style. Extensions shouldn't damage your hair, as long as they are braided in and not glued, but I don't have experience with them. I've only done braids with only my own hair.
Sorry, no pictures.

[squiggyflop]

i wish i could do this.. my hair is too straight to be able to do the braids all the way to the ends.. so i would have to use those little rubber bands

[CurlAhead]

Don't you have to use rubber bands even though your hair is curly?
I'm going to a woman who does braids, I don't know what experience she has, but I've heard she is good at it..

Thanks for the tips! :cheese:

[tcheney91]

Post pictures if you get it done!

[squiggyflop]

Don't you have to use rubber bands even though your hair is curly?
I'm going to a woman who does braids, I don't know what experience she has, but I've heard she is good at it..

Thanks for the tips! :cheese:
um all the girls at my school that have mini braids just have a little bit of wax on the ends (not visible though).. but they have hair in the 4 range.. so maybe it needs to be uber curly to not need elastics

[squiggyflop]

ok so you said to share experiences.. i just wasted 2 hours of the day giving myself mini-braids..
it looks so awful that im not even going to share the pics i took..

i think you would need a 5+ inch pony circumference to not look like how i look right now.. my hair has a 3.3 inch pony.. and i look like im going bald with all this scalp showing through and tiny braids.. its really awful

i see the OP has iii hair.. thats good.. because if you had ii hair it might look as bad as mine..

oh and about the little cornrow things you were also thinking of doing.. i have had awesome luck with these in the past.. they are very protective as long as you sleep on a silk/satin pillowcase..

[CurlAhead]

I have layered hair, (if that is what it is called.. layer.. layered), and the shortest part is like 3.93 inch, does that effect the appearance of the braids? I dont want to look like I'm going bald (lol, that sounded so funny when you said it :D ) but I am going to us extensions..
I think the pony circumference is 4.33 inch, :( I think I got all the hair in the pony tail..

[julliams]

Depending on how thin/light your hair is you could have alot of scalp showing through. I'm a teacher and every so often children who have been to Fiji or Bali come back to school with their hair all done. Sometimes it looks great but mostly it looks a little odd with all their scalp showing through. This could just be a kid hair thing but it's certainly something to look out for. It would suggest that the technique is very important.

Also, your fallen hairs have nowhere to go so when you take the braids out after a long period of time, be prepared to have a MASSIVE shed and don't think that all your hair has fallen out.

Finally, how does your hair cope if you sleep in braids? Does it stay in place or do the little flyaways gather like a halo around your head? This might also be something to consider.

[squiggyflop]

hmm i think your thickness may keep you from having so much scalp show through..

[HikerTrash]

I think AprilElf had a picture of microbraids in her profile. I was astounded when I read it took 40 hours to put them in and 5 hours to take them out

[CurlAhead]

Is there any way to avoid looking .. bald or having the scalp show alot? I don't like it either..

I can't se AprilEl's profile, I can't even go to Members List, guess I don't have enough posts.

[tinti]

I tried doing it on myself some weeks ago. It was fine when I started, but when my shortest layers went into the longer layers I got like a little gap in the ends, kind of like when your bangs are growing out and all your hair is long. I didn't wanted to look like that, so I just took them out halfway done with my head. But I'd certainly like to have a professional do mini braids on me, I've allways loved the look of them, and dreads and cornrows and mini twists as well.

[squiggyflop]

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg69/squiggyflop/th_minibraidsclosupAUG2010.jpg (http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg69/squiggyflop/?action=view&current=minibraidsclosupAUG2010.jpg)
this is the braids after sleeping on them
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this is how bald i looked due to scalp showing
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg69/squiggyflop/th_minibraidsscalpAUG2010.jpg (http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg69/squiggyflop/?action=view&current=minibraidsscalpAUG2010.jpg)
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and here is me tilting my head with mini braids..
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg69/squiggyflop/th_minibraidstiltAUG2010.jpg (http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg69/squiggyflop/?action=view&current=minibraidstiltAUG2010.jpg)

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i dont understand how people can say they are protective. i got massive breakage and tangles taking them out.. the ends got fairy knots that had to be cut out.. not worth it in my opinion..

images are clickable

[CurlAhead]

i dont understand how people can say they are protective. i got massive breakage and tangles taking them out.. the ends got fairy knots that had to be cut out.. not worth it in my opinion..


Pretty cool that you did them yourself, I once tried it and I looked bald aswell, and one time my mom did it for me, but I can't remember how it looked..

However, did you take out one braids at the time? I think there is a certain way to take all the braids out to avoid as much damage as possible..

[Cinnamoon]

I did them on my sister, and they turned out great. I didn't do them for the whole head, just the front, but it was enough to tell what it would have looked like. Her hair is iii like mine, and you couldn't really see any scalp at all. They were very easy to take out, no knots, etc, after having them in for a week or so. We used the little elastics that you put on braces, because I had a ton left over from having braces, and those stayed in nicely.

[squiggyflop]

Pretty cool that you did them yourself, I once tried it and I looked bald aswell, and one time my mom did it for me, but I can't remember how it looked..

However, did you take out one braids at the time? I think there is a certain way to take all the braids out to avoid as much damage as possible..
i carefully unwound them spending like -3-5 minutes unwinding each braid.. i unwound them from the bottom up.. howver i think i made them too mini.. it was the teeny tiny ones (like 20-30 hairs) that got the most damaged..

[Drynwhyl]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?p=1184128#post1184128
Mine, did them myself during a boring afternoon. You have to have loads of patience,and you will get bored, so watch a movie or something during. I oiled them frequently and lots, I had silicone bands on the ends, they have lasted less than a week. Could have kept them in longer, but they became really frizzy around the scalp, as I have lots of baby hairs.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[SpeakingEZ]

Does anyone have instructions for braiding in extensions? Or know of a good site with instructions, or maybe a youtube video? I can't seem to find one anywhere.

I imagine it's done like yarn braids? I was considering posting a thread asking how to do this, but saw this thread first. Go, search function!!

[CurlAhead]

Nice braids! :)

SpeakingEZ, I have no idea, I can try google it and see what I find.

[emmebean]

I spent 3 1/2 hours last Sunday braiding my daughters hair for camp. It's way too thick and long for her to take care of by herself (she's 9). They're still in, today is Monday, a little fuzzy, I think I'll redo the top ones in the morning. A whole week at camp and they've held up. It will take a couple of hours to undo them I know. :)

[emmebean]

I left Emme's braids in for 2 weeks. Bean and I spent 3 hours taking them out, then another hour combing and brushing, we're going to save washing for tomorrow, my fingers hurt!
Thank goodness camp only comes once a year :)

[Capybara]

I think this is doable :) I did mini braids in my hair at the beginning of July (I think - it could have been the end of June), and they looked fine, and held great for as long as I wanted them to :)

I think the main thing is to make sure the sections are all even. I made each braid with a square base. That way, even if your scalp shows through, it looks ordered and nice :)