How do you fasten braids?

[Annibelle]

Since coming to LHC, I've banished elastics from my hair inventory. But when I went to braid my hair today, I realized that I really have no way of fastening the braid! Scrunchies are too big for my itty bitty ends and I'm afraid of damaging my ends with an elastic. What do you hair gurus do? :)

[Sundial]

spidermom has a method of fastening braids where she first wraps a small length of ribbon around the ends before she ties it off with a regular elastic so that the ribbon comes between the hair and the elastic to provide some buffer.

Some people also use pantyhose to make more hair friendly elastics. Just cut a section of the pantyhose leg and roll

[shikara]

I am one of the ones who used a cut piece of silky pantyhose - I just wrap it around a couple times and do a gentle knot!! Works great and I think it's so very gentle on my hair.

[Kyla]

I have been using a metal-free elastic....you mean that's bad for my hair?! Oh dear....

[Dragon]

I also use a metal-free elastic.

[Brianna]

I tend to use very small hair-friendly elastics. I don't know what they're called, but they look like these:

http://www.glitz4girlz.com/user/products/main/pur016.jpg


I can't use them for a ponytail or anything, but I've never had an issue with having them in my hair.:)

[Loreley]

I tend to use very small hair-friendly elastics. I don't know what they're called, but they look like these:

http://www.glitz4girlz.com/user/products/main/pur016.jpg


I can't use them for a ponytail or anything, but I've never had an issue with having them in my hair.:)

I use these too! :D

[Mountaingrrl]

Are those polyurethane? I just got some of those and use them for braids also.

[Madora]

I use the tiny black "slip off" elastic bands too. For some braided styles I forgo elastics entirely and just slip the last 2 to 3 inches of hair under braids already in place and hide the ends with 3 inch crimped hairpins.

[Ishje]

I have a ribbon the length of the braid and I braid that together with the braid.
on the bottom I wrap the ends around it with a knot and that holds it very well.

[gthlvrmx]

dun leave them down usually, at home a scrunchie. i bun my braid when i go out. if i do wear them down, a small elastic, those ouchless ones.

[pepperminttea]

I fail at using the little silicone hair ties, they always catch my hair in the bad way. I've yet to try Spidermom's ribbon-buffer method with them though, I'll have to give that a shot. :)

I recently switched from metal-free hair ties to nylon ones - much prefer the nylon, they're much softer. I'd definitely recommend them. :D

[owlathena]

scrunchies

[caiti42]

For day time I use a tiny butterfly/claw clip. Fits perfectly. For sleeping I use thick cotton hair bands.

[Oksana]

I use mini donut bands. They are really soft and cause no damage :)

[Dars]

I use "softies (http://www.ladyjayne.com.au/bmz_cache/b/b2a14b6d2b0025b631be623becaf08a9.image.200x175.jpg )" hair bands.

[Dark Queen]

Goody makes some nice soft, metal-free hair things. They're thicker, but much softer than elastic (though I'm not sure what they're made of). They feel pretty much like nylon and they're pretty cheap. I think I paid about $2 for 10 of them. Very gentle on the hair.

[Hiriel]

I use scrunchies at home, they overwhelm the braid a bit (though my braid is pretty thick), but no one sees it anyway. When I go out I use small terrycloth elastics, like the ones on the left in this picture (http://dollarstorecrafts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/rings-supplies.jpg) (but with slightly more neutral colours ;) ). They feel very gentle to me :)

[Hairfreaky]

I use very soft small metal-free cloth elastics, they are very gentle to the hair and as easy to use as normal elastics.

[Night_Kitten]

At home I use those colorful soft cloth hairties, very similar to those Hiriel talked about. Mine are too soft to hold a ponytale and sometimes slip off the end of the braid, but they have never got tangled or damaged my ends, so I'm very very happy with them :D
Outside I usually wear buns, but I do have several black ones in case I deside to wear a braid outside...

[Annibelle]

All of your suggestions are great! I'll probably try them all at some point... :)


I have a ribbon the length of the braid and I braid that together with the braid.
on the bottom I wrap the ends around it with a knot and that holds it very well.

This sounds really pretty! But how do you get the ribbon started? Do you just hold it with one section of hair? How do you keep the top of the ribbon from poking out?

[GRU]

I have been using a metal-free elastic....you mean that's bad for my hair?! Oh dear....

Kyla - a metal-free elastic is fine, as long as you don't notice yourself getting it tangled and breaking/yanking out hairs as you put it on and take it off.

An actual "rubber band" type of elastic is damaging because it will pull on hair every time -- that's just the nature of the material.

The "ouchless" elastics that Brianna posted a picture of aren't actually rubber bands -- they are made of a slick silicone product.

Because of the material, they don't have very much "stretch" to them, which is why most people can't use them for a ponytail -- they either don't stretch enough to be able to get all the hair through (for ii/iii types) or they don't stretch enough to be able to twist them and pull the hair through a second time (for i types). Because of this issue, they are used mostly for braid ends, which don't need a huge amount of stretch in order to fit through after twisting. The ouchless kind also don't have much "re-stretch" to them -- they don't shrink down much once they've been stretched, so most folks use them as a "one time use" product and throw them away after removing them.

The ouchless elastics are so slick that they don't grab hair, and they are so small and thin that they don't need to be wrapped a bazillion times around a tiny tapered braid end, so that's what I usually use when I have a braid. They also come in a clear color, so they are almost invisible in your hair.

[Firefly]

I use "softies (http://www.ladyjayne.com.au/bmz_cache/b/b2a14b6d2b0025b631be623becaf08a9.image.200x175.jpg )" hair bands.

I use these too; they are great!

[AspenSong]

I scout the thrift stores for new looking childs tights....find the softest or most colorful ones there and get them and cut them up the legs into hair ties. It works great, you can get tons of colors and once they get too stretched out, go get a new set! I can usually find them for under $1.00 for a pair....and I get 20-30 + out of them. They work well for me. :)

[NotInPortland]

I just use metal free brown elastics, I've never had them pull any hair out or anything so I think they're perfectly fine to use :)

[Spiffyhink]

I like the idea of using a ribbon braided into your hair, but I'm curious how it would be secured at the top (when it's not in a ponytail). For my braids, though, I found some elastics at my local dollar store that look like they're made out of t-shirt material. I suppose they're like the softies, though I don't think I've ever seen those in person. They work wonderfully, though, especially since I used to use the ouchless silicone ones and they caused all sorts of damage in my hair :(

[schweedie]

I like the idea of using a ribbon braided into your hair, but I'm curious how it would be secured at the top (when it's not in a ponytail).
I use the braiding-with-ribbon method quite often, and it's not that complicated once you get the hang of it! I use a rather long ribbon and fold it in half, so to speak - I add one end to, say, the rightmost piece of hair, and the other end to the middle or left piece of hair, and just go on braiding as you normally would. No need to secure the ribbon any other way. :) I'm sure there are tutorials to be found in the articles section on here or on YouTube.

If I don't feel like using a ribbon I go with the silicone ouchless band pictured earlier, or bits that I've cut off old tights. Works just as a regular elastic would, but is much softer.

[luthein]

I use scrunchies, or I take soft children's socks and cut them into little donuts. The stretchier the fiber, the better.

[torrilin]

I use hair elastics. I don't worry tons about it since my hair is split prone no matter what, and keeping my hair in a braid is noticeably better at preventing tangles than wearing my hair loose. Tangles have a very obvious bad effect on my hair.

This is one of those YMMV things tho... not everyone's hair will respond in precisely the same way.

[danacc]

I don't fasten the end of my braid at all.

It becomes looser at the bottom, but it doesn't unravel more than a few inches from the very end. I'm sure different hair textures will behave differently when just left unfastened.

[All Natural Mom]

I am so glad I read this I always use the metal-free elastic, but it always manages to break at least one hair.

I have had a pair of pantyhose on my sewing table just trying to find a project that needed them, hair-ties here I come!

[spidermom]

Those poly bands shown on the first page are what I use over my ribbon, but I could even use a small rubber band in a pinch because the ribbon totally protects my ends plus gives the poly band something to grip, else it would either slide off the end of my hair or leave a weird bend in my ends. I like to wear braid waves, so no weird ends or abrupt change in texture for me.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/tools.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/agedbraid.jpg

[spidermom]

P.S. I also use those really small scrunchie-thingies. I don't know what they're made of, but they look fluffy, are really cheap for a pack of 100, and get stretched out of shape very quickly.

[Dark Queen]

Those poly bands shown on the first page are what I use over my ribbon, but I could even use a small rubber band in a pinch because the ribbon totally protects my ends plus gives the poly band something to grip, else it would either slide off the end of my hair or leave a weird bend in my ends. I like to wear braid waves, so no weird ends or abrupt change in texture for me.


That looks pretty awesome! I'll have to try that sometime :D.


P.S. I also use those really small scrunchie-thingies. I don't know what they're made of, but they look fluffy, are really cheap for a pack of 100, and get stretched out of shape very quickly.

Yes, those do look just like the Goody things I was talking about. I haven't seen 100 packs, but I do know they're very cheap. I've recently seen them at the dollar store a few times.

[Pierre]

I use a mini Flexi, or more often put the braid up, either in two buns or with each braid secured to the base of the other.

[ReadHeadGirl]

I use hair ties of all kinds,it's fine with my hair or I use these ones which I love a lot:

http://www.cookieskids.com/cImages/Website_0/type_500/ALM01241_66888.jpg