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View Full Version : Can you braid your own hair?



UglyTresses
October 14th, 2011, 07:48 PM
I know, I know- a lot of you get pretty annoyed when people are surprised/shocked that you can braid your own hair.

Now, I can braid my own hair when it's a side braid or pigtails or if I'm doing someone else's hair... but if I had to braid my hair to the back of hair, I can't do it. I can't see myself so I get mixed up and gah :/

So I'm just curious- how many of you can braid or french-braid, and how'd you teach yourself? Any tips, or just pure perseverance?

MaryRose
October 14th, 2011, 07:55 PM
I learned how to french braid my hair by watching a tutorial on youtube. After a few attempts, I mastered the french braid.

Quixii
October 14th, 2011, 08:02 PM
I can braid my own hair, but I haven't yet figured out how to french braid. I can mostly french braid other people's hair.

wooliswonderful
October 14th, 2011, 08:03 PM
I can braid my own hair, however haven't lately due to not liking how my layers don't contain themselves well.
What first helped were the text and pic tutorials I found back in 1999ish when I grew very long hair and had to braid it in food service.
But now we have YouTube!!
Seeing what peoples hands are actually doing and how they are holding different sections helped me to branch out beyond a 4-strand. :)

Cainwen
October 14th, 2011, 08:13 PM
I can braid my own hair (including french) on the back of my head. What helped me was braiding other people's hair--my fingers got a 'feel' for it and I was able to transfer it to the back of my own head with a little practice.

Madora
October 14th, 2011, 08:15 PM
I started out learning simple braids and then bought braid books and the Karen Ribble dvd.

It pretty much boils down to practice, practice, practice. Over time your hands will become attuned to how to section, the angle with which you braid, the tension, and your muscles will adapt.

Diamond.Eyes
October 14th, 2011, 08:15 PM
I braid my hair very often. I fishtail braid, French braid, Dutch braid, French twist, and English braid it. I'm too lazy to learn how to do a 4+ strand braid though haha. :) I learned how to do every braid I know from my mom, but I know youtube has a lot of tutorials on how to do different braid variations. My advice is to practice and to get your fingers used to doing different kinds of braids. Once you accomplish this, you can do it with your eyes closed. :)

Zesty
October 14th, 2011, 08:26 PM
It's weird for me to do it on someone else's head, because I'm so used to doing my own. I haven't yet tried to do a fishtail on the back of my head (only on the side), but I do French, English, Dutch, and a box braid on the back of my own head. It's way more about feeling it and figuring out handholds than seeing it, for me.

littlenvy
October 14th, 2011, 08:30 PM
Alas, I can't braid. I'm totally hopeless at it. :(
Once I can see the hair I'm much better but the parts where I can't see turn out horrid.

Asche
October 14th, 2011, 08:38 PM
My mommy taught me to braid my own hair when I was pretty young (like 6 or so). English and french. You just gotta let your hands be your eyes and feel your way around. After a while you'll know what feels right and what doesn't.

Rosethorn
October 14th, 2011, 08:41 PM
I can do french braids on myself and other people. I learned by watching my mom. I can do crown braids and pretty much anything that pops into my head to try with french braids or twists in general. However, I am completely and totally helpless and hopeless when it comes to rope or fishtail braiding. I think it's just a matter of what you do and what you don't practice.

kamikaze hair
October 14th, 2011, 08:50 PM
Practice on other peoples hair, like others have probably suggested. What i found really helped me in learning to braid my own was NOT using a mirror. This makes my braids come out weird for some reason. I actually work better if I'm away from a mirror, and even better yet again if i'm walking around, while braiding (I know, its strange!) Anyway, goodluck, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. :) Practice makes perfect.

Honestwitness
October 14th, 2011, 08:56 PM
Youtube videos helped me do the only braid I can currently do...single English braid at the center of the back, starting at the nape. I'm too lazy to learn to French braid. Maybe someday, when my face-framing layers are longer.

rocket_surgeon
October 14th, 2011, 09:13 PM
Yes, I can braid my own hair. If I couldn't, there'd be no way my hair would make it past APL. :P

I learned to French braid by practicing on myself before bed. I started with an "upside down" French braid (where you flip your head over and braid from the nape of your neck to your forehead; much easier on the arms when you're learning) and progressed to Dutch braids and then French braids. It didn't really matter that my first attempts looked sloppy because I was only wearing them to sleep in, and I mastered it quickly because I was practicing every day.

Gumball
October 14th, 2011, 09:27 PM
I can braid my own hair into a regular three strand or rope braid. Anything more than that, such as French, or Dutch, or any more strands than that, I'll need help. :silly: I can do an okay job with those on other people's hair at least. :lol:

thelittlestdoc
October 14th, 2011, 09:29 PM
I can do a decent braid now that my hair is back to BSL, but I have never been able to French Braid my own hair (even if it's two, one on each side). I think it takes a LOT of practice to master self-braiding, and length can definitely help out.

mallorykay13
October 14th, 2011, 09:41 PM
I learned from torrin paige's "back to basics" part 2 when she shows braiding over her shoulder. I couldn't do it until I watched that vid.

Lady Neeva
October 14th, 2011, 09:44 PM
I can do some of the braids (english, dutch, fishtail, boxbraid, rope, etc.) but I just cannot master the French Braid! I usually put my hair up in a five-strand english braid for convience.

gthlvrmx
October 14th, 2011, 09:50 PM
Of course of course my horse!
I just keep the strands comfortably between my fingers and keep track of where they are in my mind.
I have trouble with anything more than 3 strands because of my curly hair, but it's ok, i can braid other people's hair up to 6 strands i think? Haven't done it in a while.

LornaDoone
October 14th, 2011, 10:06 PM
I can french braid my own hair easily in just a few minutes. It took years of practice to get to this point though. :)

GlassWidow
October 14th, 2011, 10:13 PM
I can french braid my own hair, but for the life of me cannot figure out a dutch braid. I also have a hard time doing a peacock twist toward the left - I always twist to the right.

StealthyBunny
October 14th, 2011, 10:24 PM
I've recently started doing crown braids on myself and can get it to look like this except I have a bunch of smaller braids incorporated into the crown:
http://cdn.sheknows.com/lovingyou/filter/l/gallery/dutch_crown_braid.jpg

It'll be awhile before I can actually make it look smooth:
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQp0ZJwJXz-ct6jao3-IowQNif2Q8klK-nophuZUgkCil2pwbUcPA

I might try to learn a waterfall braid next:
http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/phillydiamond/default/waterfall-braid--large-msg-131385183818.jpg

WinterButterfly
October 14th, 2011, 10:34 PM
I only really know the english braid and rope braid. I am trying to learn others. But it makes me nervous with all the strands that go snap. I probably just need more practice. But I don't want to rip all my hair out in the process. My mom never taught me any updos even though I never had a haircut till I was 12. My grandma taught me the english braid. I was amazed as a child to see her whip up a braid so quick. I still pony my hair before a braid. It makes it easier. But I'm trying to learn how to to it without a pont tail first. (This applies to the back of my head.) At least I learned the rope braid! And I learned that one about a month and a half ago!

racrane
October 14th, 2011, 10:53 PM
I just know the english braid, really. I am trying very hard to get the french down but my hair has a mind of its own and it frustrates me when sections that are not supposed to be in another section migrate there. Ugh.

AnqeIicDemise
October 14th, 2011, 10:54 PM
I stopped looking at the mirror. I got confused when doing crowd braids with them.

I have to look away and blank my head out (or at least repeat the pattern a few times while I go on the back of the head) .

oktobergoud
October 14th, 2011, 10:55 PM
I can Dutch & French braid my own hair. I have no idea if I can make a normal braid since I still have super super short hair, so at the moment I can only Dutch braid it :P My hair has never been long enough to make a real English braid. And I can make a fishtail braid but again, not on my own head yet, simply because my hair is too short.

darklyndsea
October 14th, 2011, 11:08 PM
I only learned how to english braid my own hair a few years ago, and do everything else in the past few months, mostly from YouTube. Well, except fishtail, which I somehow learned from the one time my mom did it on me, and actually did for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

The advice to watch YouTube videos to learn how to braid your own hair are repeated so much because it works. Yeah, it might now work on the first video you watch, or the fifth, but eventually (assuming you try to duplicate the hairstyle, not just watch passively, although sometimes that works, too) something in your brain goes "oh, so that's how it works!". Which is a very odd feeling on a hairstyle you've been trying to learn for weeks.

Loreley
October 14th, 2011, 11:33 PM
I'm too lazy to practise so I can't do those gorgeous complicated braids like many other members. :p What I can do on myself:
- english braid
- french braid (but no dutch :()
- herringbone braid
- french herringbone braid
- rope braid
- 4 strand braid

CaityBear
October 14th, 2011, 11:44 PM
I just ... practiced? I can't remember exactly how I learned to french braid...I knew the process for a very long time and then one time just tried to apply that process onto my own hair. It only took a few times then I was pretty good at it.

Though it's probably easier to french braid someone else's hair or practice with string or something.

battles
October 15th, 2011, 12:23 AM
I can barely manage standard pigtail braids on myself at shoulder length. :(

ddiana1979
October 15th, 2011, 12:41 AM
I can braid my own hair. English, French, and Dutch, though I'm much better at the others than Dutch. Since I've known how to French braid since I was a young teenager, Dutch braiding seems "backwards" to me, and I have to really concentrate. I know it's really odd, but when I was learning how to French braid, it was very helpful for me to have someone braid my hair so I could literally feel what was happening while they were doing it. . . for some reason, watching it on someone else & then feeling it on my own head made it "click" for me.

ETA: Oh, and rope braids, which are very,very easy but look nice, so for some reason "normal people" are impressed. I can also do a crown braid, but it's a PITA, so I don't bother.

CariadA
October 15th, 2011, 01:01 AM
I taught myself how to french and dutch braid as a child. My mom never knew how. I've never learned any braids that require more than three strands though. I don't wear braids often as the thinness of my braids makes me self-conscience.

MinderMutsig
October 15th, 2011, 02:11 AM
It's just looking at video's or watching someone do it and then try on yourself.
I can't braid on other people. Their head is in the wrong spot.

milagro
October 15th, 2011, 02:48 AM
My mommy taught me to braid my own hair when I was pretty young (like 6 or so). English and french. You just gotta let your hands be your eyes and feel your way around. After a while you'll know what feels right and what doesn't.
Same here.
I wish I had someone to braid my hair for me sometimes, though :D

tigereye
October 15th, 2011, 04:10 AM
I braid on my own head. I tried A French braid a couple of times on someone else, and it turns out looking nice but my goodness does it feel strange. I can do lots of braids on my own head though.

Sahar24
October 15th, 2011, 04:13 AM
I can dutch braid, but not french braid my own hair. My fingers seem to only do things one way! It's very odd, but I like the dutch better and it seems more secure and looks nicer when I crown braid it. Best advice I got (probably from these forums) was to stop looking in the mirror and try to learn to get a feel for it. It really helped me!

Starlight1986
October 15th, 2011, 06:09 AM
I've learned braiding my own hair in multiple variations for about six weeks now and I'm getting better at it. It often turns out lopsided but sometimes it looks very nice. So all it takes is really just practice. :)
I started learning on myself first, so braiding on other people is more difficult for me. But I want to learn that, too.

silverstars
October 15th, 2011, 06:28 AM
Mine is usually in some kind of braid. I taught myself how to do them. A lot of trial and error. It took me months to learn how to place my fingers when I was trying to figure out 5 strand braids and crown braids.

Masara
October 15th, 2011, 06:32 AM
I learnt to braid (plait) as a child on bits of wool or bread. I don't think I ever braided my own hair at that time. As a teenager, I desperately wanted to have French braids, so my mum and I worked out how to do them (through peering at people's heads and a bit of guesswork) Mum would do them for me, but when I went away to uni, I didn't have her available so I worked on doing them myself.

The important thing was understanding the prinicple and visualising what my fingers were doing and where the hair was going. I learnt very quickly to look in a mirror to check that the first part was smooth and then to turn my back on the mirror and just see the braid in my mind (when my pupils ask how I manage to do braids I always reply "I close my eyes." They think I'm joking!) French braiding has become something I don't even need to think about; my fingers just do it for themselves.

LHC has taught me Dutch braids, 4 and 5 strand braids, rope braids, fishtail braids... I still need to think about what I'm doing and visuablise the movements (when I do 5 strand braid, you can even hear me muttering "under, over, stop" to myself) An most times when I'm doing a braid, I still close my eyes to do it.

I've got the principle of crown braids, but I still can't manage the braiding towards the face part very well. I tend to use a mirror, maybe that's my mistake.

Sweet Beat
October 15th, 2011, 06:37 AM
I can. I learnt it by having three mirrors while doing it, so That I'm able to see my hair from different angles.

ingvild
October 15th, 2011, 06:39 AM
I can do English, French and Dutch, rope & herringbone (with varying success, the first 3 being the nicest looking) on the back of my head, and on the side of my head add 4-strand box braid.

I was pretty hopeless for a long time at doing the back of my head. It takes practice. First, I started braiding pig tails, then French/Dutch braiding them (on the side of my head). Getting the technique in. Then, a lot of bad looking braids on the back of my head (might have something to do with my length). Just, a lot of braiding! Braid, braid, braid, and then suddenly you'll have a decent looking one.

Kindredraeven
October 15th, 2011, 06:51 AM
You tube is the best place (for me) to learn braids I would like to do. It takes a while to get it right, but so worth it. :)

I love learning new braids, my arms on the other hand do not , haha!!!

Toiréasa
October 15th, 2011, 07:11 AM
I learned to braid on my horses tails many years ago.
I can do the english and dutch braid but I'm hopeless at the french on myself, I can do the french on OP. What I find interesting is that some of us can do french and not dutch and vice versa. I'm working on learning other braids watching youtube and lots of practice, I have yet to master any other braids as of yet.

NotInPortland
October 15th, 2011, 08:26 AM
I can only do side braids-at the moment only english, fishtail and rope braids (the only ones I've learnt) but I can never do them at the back of my head properly because I can't see what I'm doing and my arms get tired!

jadys
October 15th, 2011, 08:33 AM
My hair is "shoulder length", and quite close, if not APL. I can French braid it, but it looks uneven in pigtails. I can't do a single one. I think my friend and I practiced on each other, so I got the feel for it.
I heard braiding before bed may help with growth, so I hope i'm doing the right thing. :)

Immera
October 15th, 2011, 09:13 AM
I can only braid straight back. One braid or two, those are the options.
I learned to french braid in middle school, taught myself using a book from the library.
I recently learned how to Dutch braid from Torrin Paige on Youtube. Now when I do pigtails, it's my go to.

I like the rope braid, but I have to start from a pony tail.
I've also learned the boxbraid and a four-strand flat braid from Youtube, but they are a bit of a bother.

I have a mirror on my bathroom door that when open faces my medicine cabinet mirror. I can adjust them to an angle so I can see somewhat what I am doing. It's one of the few perks of living in this tiny apartment.

Crown braiding was a disaster. I felt I was doing so much damage in the tangling of the mess, I gave it up.
But for me dutch and french braiding are doable, if I pay attention and watch out for those pesky lumps and missed strands.
I think the most important part is keeping the strands separated and not letting the ends tangle back in on themselves. Every few turns I run my hair along the active strand because otherwise I get a mess.

BabyFirefly
October 15th, 2011, 09:23 AM
I can braid my own hair, both english braid and french braid. I practiced braiding on my self when I was very young so I feel as if I have always been able to do it. I think that all you need is to practice, give it a couple of nights a week and soon you'll get it.
I must say that I'm impressed with people who can braid anyone else's hair, I'm rubbish at that.

Jing
October 15th, 2011, 09:48 AM
I can't remember ever braiding anyone else's hair. I learned to french braid by watching someone do it on YouTube once, then I learned to dutch braid after finally wrapping my mind around the idea of braiding "upside down." Both kinds were hard the first time I tried, but all it seems to take is me understanding what I'm doing. I haven't tried any other kinds because I haven't found any I like the look of.

nobeltonya
October 15th, 2011, 09:48 AM
I can FINALLY french braid my own hair moderately well wet or oiled [works best/turns out neater]. Just took a lot of patience/practice.. I can english braid, 4-strand [until I have to bring it over my shoulder to finish it, then the middle turns out like crap], fishtail/herringbone, hawser/rope braid. All single in the back, or single side, because double ones don't turn out even..

Ryanne
October 15th, 2011, 10:17 AM
I can do an English braid only. Lots of practise. Now I've been trying to learn how to French braid, but that ends in frustration every time.

Yozhik
October 15th, 2011, 10:32 AM
I learned how to English braid when I was a child. When I was a preteen, I had a lot of spare time on my hands in the summer, and I taught myself how to make a 4-strand braid (flat, not box). I later taught myself as an older teen how to French braid. Dutch braiding took me a bit of time because I had to wrap my mind around the concept.

LHC introduced me to rope braids and crown braids (which I had always dreamed of doing and now can! :cheese:), as well as box braids, herringbones, and 5 strand braids. Perimeter braids are also some of my favorite ones. :love:

I still have not mastered waterfall braids and 6+ strand braids, but I'm content with my current expertise. :)

I can do all of the braids I am capable of on other people, but I am more confident and quicker on myself.

Mythica
October 15th, 2011, 10:40 AM
I learned how to french braid my hair by looking up instructions and teaching myself. So when I finally got around to doing it myself, it was a case of going, "Ohhhh, you work in layers" and working by touch. Seemed relatively easy once I understood the process.
I'm waiting til my hair is a bit longer to learn anything fancier, though. :cheese:

archel
October 15th, 2011, 11:28 AM
I can do English, French, Dutch, waterfall, etc - it just takes lots of practice and for me to learn the waterfall I had to use a youtube video.

EvaSimone
October 15th, 2011, 11:45 AM
I can braid my hair really easily, I've done french rope braids, fishtail braids, dutch braids etc. etc.

Ask me to braid someone else's hair? Nope, can't do it. I can never figure out the tension with other people's hair...

KatjicaMjau
October 15th, 2011, 11:46 AM
I can do English, French, Dutch, waterfall, etc - it just takes lots of practice and for me to learn the waterfall I had to use a youtube video.

Same here. But I don't do often French braid on me because my hair gets really tangled.

But I really like to do all kind of braids on others :D

Justy
October 15th, 2011, 04:05 PM
I can do English, Fench, & Dutch braids on myself and others.

My hair is at a really awkward stage though, the top part of my french braid stays very neat & tight but it starts to partially fall out of the braid below the nape. I've even done the cross-over for the last side bits added. The cross-over got rid of the poof but I still have strands escaping. Hopefully this will go away once my hair is longer.

Kayla Nyx
October 15th, 2011, 04:07 PM
yup, I can braid. It took me a while to be able to english braid behind my head, I'd always have to pull one half over my shoulder and have to pony tail braids (my mom HATED those) Now I can do it, and I learned how to french braid by having my mom sit in front of me and show me how she does it.


http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/217564_1513437616513_1851617055_907425_115830_n.jp g

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=8314&pictureid=116242

neko_kawaii
October 15th, 2011, 05:36 PM
It took me many years of practice to get a single centered english braid to hang perfectly straight, but then I didn't start braiding my hair with much regularity until college, so maybe it just seems like it took that long. I do, however, remember my father in law asking me if I braided my own hair because he thought it was perfect.

Two things I can think of that affect an English braid 1) make sure the three sections are equal. 2) braid behind your head as far down as you can reach and when you pull it over your shoulder to finish the braid make sure you aren't pulling on the part that has already been braided as this will cause the braid to "readjust" your work and your braid will hang to that side.

When I wanted to learn to Dutch and French braid my own hair I had to walk away from the mirror and I practiced while watching TV until my fingers knew what they were doing and then I could do it while looking in the mirror with no problems.

Keep trying, you'll get it!

Modarunner
October 15th, 2011, 06:47 PM
Well I finally figured out how to do a French braid oneself after wanting to learn how since a child. I got all ambitious and tried to do a crown braid for the first time and while it was hideously ugly I do give myself points for at least trying. With practice I think I will be able to make it presentable.

FrozenBritannia
October 15th, 2011, 07:05 PM
I can french braid, rope braid, english braid, dutch braid and lace braid. I could probable do the fishtail one too, but not on my hair currently so I haven't attempted it. :)

SilentGuardian
October 15th, 2011, 08:07 PM
I can do a simple braid. I would love to learn how to french braid, but I'm not sure if I could do it because of the layers.

Keildra
October 16th, 2011, 08:38 PM
I watched youtube videos and practiced eventually I got the technique. I still need to work on the refineing

Buddaphlyy
October 16th, 2011, 09:10 PM
Yes I can. I do my own braid extensions and cornrows.

Cassie 123
October 16th, 2011, 09:28 PM
Not so well yet. Only a single English braid in back comes easily. My French braids lack finesse, my Dutch braids look shabby, and my two-strand rope braids unravel.

Slinks
October 16th, 2011, 10:14 PM
Cassie, I think the trick to the rope braids is to twist the 2 strands that you want to braid anti clockwise and then twist them together clockwise ?? I think that is right .. I could be wrong but that's the idea I got from watching a youtube clip ..

I can english braid well, my french braids need lots of work and the rest forget it !! lol ..

Cassie 123
October 16th, 2011, 10:21 PM
Cassie, I think the trick to the rope braids is to twist the 2 strands that you want to braid anti clockwise and then twist them together clockwise ?? I think that is right .. I could be wrong but that's the idea I got from watching a youtube clip ..

Yes, I learned it that way from Torrin on YouTube, too. Maybe my hands/brain get confused sometimes though. I am quite a klutz. :o