My first french braid! ...Or something like it.

[Miss Catrina]

I finally managed to do a french braid tonight... Not that it looks like anything approaching good (I don't even understand what's going on back there), but I"m hoping for some nice waves in the morning.

http://i55.tinypic.com/2qkk046.jpg

Basically, I'm just posting to share my excitement. :cheese:

[jil]

Congratulations! It does look good. I hope you get the waves you that want :)

[spidermom]

Hooray; you're getting it!

The thing to remember about french/dutch braiding is to always go to the edge of the hairline next to your face/neck and pick up all the hair from that point inward toward the braid. Think of going down in even stripes of hair. I see that sometimes you picked up hair next to the braid and other times further out near the hairline, so you have hair crossing over hair that's already in the braid.

[Quezie]

I just recently learned how to french braid as well, and I LOVE it.
I can get allll of my hair into one braid, including my shorter bangs, if I start the braid very closer to my forehead.

I used this site to learn, which was very helpful.
http://www.dreamweaverbraiding.com/braids/french.htm

[EricaLee83]

Hoooray!! I share in your excitement because I only recently did a french braid on my own hair last week :) It took me a million tries, but I finally think I got it. Congrats!! On to bigger and better braids :D

[Slinks]

hope you get the waves you want :-) it's a well done braid tho ..

[ElvenArchess]

Yay for you! ;)

[Firefox7275]

That is a pretty impressive prototype!

[Dragon]

Congrats :)

[silkheart]

It turned out a lot better than my first try. :doh:

[Phexlyn]

It turned out a lot better than my first try. :doh:
I was so going to say this! :D Congrats, and you will get even better with a little practice!

[Miss Catrina]

Okay... I think I need some advice.

My 2nd try looks like this:

http://i55.tinypic.com/2dcg2l1.jpg

It looks.... just as wonky as the first, and I'm not sure what it is I'm doing wrong. Is it partially a consequence of working in the shorter, face-framing sections of my hair? Am I just not being consistent enough in what size sections I add? I'm getting really confused...

[vlhxo]

i'm definitely no expert french braider, but it seems as though you aren't grabbing enough hair from the back of your head. like when you reach for the sections on the side you need to put more hair in the section than just the piece from the side. the motion is almost like you are making a horizontal part with your finger so you have a wide, flat section of hair.

does this make sense? idk. anyways, as a beginning french braider i think it looks pretty good. i can't french braid on myself hardly at all. you are definitely on the right track!

[spidermom]

Maybe you missed my earlier post? As you add in new sections, you always go out to the edge (where hair meets face or neck) and scoop up all the hair from that point toward the braid. When I do it, I use one finger, and it's like I'm drawing a line from the outer edge inward toward the braid with my finger tip. Then I add all that hair in one section.

Think of adding in even stripes of hair as you go down.
A visual:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/nautilus.jpg

Oops; that doesn't show the sections as well as I thought.

[Aud200]

As you add in new sections, you always go out to the edge (where hair meets face or neck) and scoop up all the hair from that point toward the braid. When I do it, I use one finger, and it's like I'm drawing a line from the outer edge inward toward the braid with my finger tip. Then I add all that hair in one section.

Think of adding in even stripes of hair as you go down.


This!!

In both pictures there are points where you only grab hair from the hairline. Think about "using up" all of your hair as you go down the braid..as you are halfway down your scalp, the hair on the top of the head should already be incorporated, and the hair below the level of the braid should still be loose. Otherwise you get a hybrid between a French and English braid.

Hope this helps! Looking good for the first few attempts!! :)

[Miss Catrina]

Thanks, everyone. :) I think it's getting better:

http://i55.tinypic.com/1p9cv4.jpg

[soni92]

That looks really good!! Congrats! :cheese:

[Ciridae]

Your 3rd try was beautiful! It looks like you're definitely getting the hang of it! :)

[Sunshineliz]

Getting better and better! Listen to spidermom she's explained it well and has some serious braiding skills!

Remember, horizontal stripes of hair from hairline ALL the way to braid. You're gonna have it down flat in no time!