Braiding hair-how much tension to scalp is nothing to worry about?

[shikara]

The only two ways I seem to be able to wear my hair without feeling any tension are loose (which I don't want to do) and two braids (which I think is only suitable at home - I think it may look funny on someone my age?!) I'm not talking about significant pulling or hurting, but it seems I can tell that there are hairs or groups of hair that end up a little tighter than the rest, regardless of how loose or tight the entire braid is. I'm not sure how to best explain it. I know that I am very sensitive to 'feeling' things. Two lone hairs on my neck can drive me up the wall!! I know that some weight can strengthen follicles but I'm not sure in what circumstances this is relevant. Do you ever feel this when you braid your hair!

[Madora]

It is normal to feel frustration when beginning to braid. The tension aspect can drive you nuts at times.

To help in the braiding process, you might want to lightly mist your hair with water (to make the tiny ends cling to its neighbor and thus be able to braid more easily).

As far as tension...it does play a great role in successful braiding. Tension is learned over time. It is best not to braid too tightly..nor too loosely (unless you're going for the "loose braid" effect). Practice, practice, practice!

How you want to wear your braids is entirely up to you.

Also, another aspect in braiding is the actual angle of your head when you are braiding (at least, for crown braids). The angle, combined with the tension, helps make or break the braided pattern.

If you're still in the early stages of learning to braid, then I recommend the DVD made by Karen Ribble.

Good luck!

[torrilin]

At your length and thickness, you should be able to comfortably pin up twin braids into "Heidi braids". Looks a bit like a crown braid and is a fairly comfortable updo. Another choice would be something like Casey's romantic braided updo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HKWx47RD20&feature=player_embedded#at=389). Yes, she uses hairspray and other potentially damaging techniques in the video, but it doesn't need hairspray to stay up or look nice. Just hairpins and nicely done twin braids. Madora's advice about not braiding too tightly is critical to making both updos work. Tight braids won't take any sort of hairpin or claw clip, and then you can't get them out of the way.

IMO the best thing for comfort is to build on things that you know work well for you. The next best thing is practice. LOTS of practice. My last pixie cut was when I was 15, and my hair has not been super-short since... not super long either, since for a long time I was uncomfortable with hair longer than BSL. But that means manymanymany days of just throwing my hair into a braid or a cinnabun because it was comfortable and easy. After all, I'm almost 34 and have superfine, super tangly hair. If I stayed updo challenged, I woulda ended up with a shaved head by now :D.

I couldn't braid my own hair when I got that last pixie. I couldn't put it in any kind of bun either. All I could do was ponytails. And I'm a total klutz. But I managed to learn a braid and a cinnabun by the time I first hit BSL and got pissed off by chairs trying to eat my ponytail. You will learn too.