Tips/Advice for better braids?

[TiffanieJean]

I'm horrible at braiding my hair... I've been looking at the hairstyles on here and trying some of them out, but they never turn out looking presentable. I'm new at this getting pretty frustrated.

Every time I try to braid my hair it ends up messy. I cannot do a French braid to save my life. My hair is waist length and fine. It wont stay in an updo very well (because it's fine and a little slippery), so a lot of my problems stem from that. Is there any way to make a braid look fuller?

Any tips, links or whatever else would be greatly appreciated!

[door72067]

maybe try braiding a ribbon into it for added fullness?

[Trinka]

Have you tried braiding when your hair is wet? It tends to be more cooperative then.

[TiffanieJean]

Have you tried braiding when your hair is wet? It tends to be more cooperative then.

I'll try that. Would making it damp help?

[Hollyfire3]

I'll try that. Would making it damp help?


Yes, damp hair would work, just spray it with water a bit until damp, you don't want it dripping because it will make the braid look different.

[MandyBeth]

I'll try that. Would making it damp help?
Very much so! It might look a bit messy still, but starting with wet/damp hair makes it stick together more. So it's easier to learn with damp hair, then as you get better, you can practice going to dry hair.

However, as a fellow fine haired person, I braid my hair dry, I have it all fuzzy by the time I'm two turns down.

[Madora]

I'm horrible at braiding my hair... I've been looking at the hairstyles on here and trying some of them out, but they never turn out looking presentable. I'm new at this getting pretty frustrated.

Every time I try to braid my hair it ends up messy. I cannot do a French braid to save my life. My hair is waist length and fine. It wont stay in an updo very well (because it's fine and a little slippery), so a lot of my problems stem from that. Is there any way to make a braid look fuller?

Any tips, links or whatever else would be greatly appreciated!

Have you tried this one yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPHEzUr5bWQ

French braiding boils down to a lot of practicing to 1) section the strands correctly and 2) selecting the proper tension.

Also, it relies a great deal on how well you know how to do simple English braiding (the overhand braid) or dutch braiding (the underhand technique).

How and where you begin the French braid makes a difference too.

When braiding, you might try to dampen your hair slightly to help with the braiding.

To avoid tangles, always keep the 3 strands separated every time you do a cross over. You hold on to the braid with one hand and use the fingers of your other hand, spreading them open like a "rake" to gently rake down the strands in the braid to keep them apart. If you don't do this, the braid strands will begin to "self braid" at the ends, making braiding more difficult.

If French braiding is your goal, then you might want to practice doing it on the side of your head, rather than down the back of the head. Once you've mastered the technique, you can then try French braiding down the back of your head.

If you want to use ordinary braids, then you might want to look into simple Heidi braids, or the double braided bun, or the cameo bun. The Chinese braided bun is particularly easy to do and looks very elegant with a single hairstick.

Lastly, for an impressive "look" you might want to try the multi braid braid..which is simply ponytailing your hair, sectioning it into 9 mini braids, removing the ponytail holder, then grouping the 9 mini braids into sections of 3 braid per section, then braiding each 3 braid section as you would for a regular braid. Be sure and hold the braids slightly loose and flat next to each other for the full effect.

And always, always, always, detangle before starting braiding, and during braiding. Good luck!

[white.chocolate]

One advice I can give you that no one mentioned so far is to have yourself standing between two facing mirrors. That way, you can see exactly what you're doing. My French and Dutch braiding skills got better that way.

[Anje]

Really oily hair looks great braided, smooth and shiny, and it tends to not frizz as much. So if you've accidentally (or purposely) oiled your hair to the point where you look like a greaseball, it's a perfect time to practice your braiding skills until you wash it.

After every few rounds of braiding, run your hand down the length to untangle things and make sure the hair isn't braiding itself in the reverse direction at the bottom. The longer your hair, the more critical this becomes.

If you can do an English braid (standard basic braid) decently but French braids give you trouble, try a Dutch braid (aka "inside-out French braid" or "mohawk braid"). When I was first learning, I found these to be easier. Once I gained skill, French braids became more manageable. French braids, however, contain lots of layers a bit more adeptly than Dutch braids.

If you want to wear lots of English braids, you might find you want a blunt, straight hemline. You'll be able to braid farther down and have fewer sections or chunks sticking out than you will with layers, and it'll have less taper than other hemline shapes will. Do note that French/Dutch braids often taper more than English braids.

One more: Many people find they get totally messed up if they braid while looking in a mirror. (I'm not one, but everyone's different!) Try braiding with and without a mirror and see whether one works better for you.

[moxamoll]

Everyone's different, but I'm on who can't watch what I'm doing in the mirror - it totally screws me up, even though I braid really well by feel. I might glance into a mirror along the way to make sure it's smooth, but I can't watch the actual movement of the sections or it's a total do-over!

Really, in the end, I think it's just about practice, practice, practice!

[Kitsu]

I can only do English braids but I just watched how to go a fishtail braid ad it looks simple enough. You could try that, and it's supposed to look messyish so people wont know you are a learner :3

[torrilin]

You'll almost certainly learn faster than I did :). I could braid doll hair by age 8, and I learned to French braid my dolls by age 12. I didn't learn to do braids on myself until I was in high school. I couldn't do French braids on myself until I was about 25. But even if it takes longer than I did (and some of our member have taken longer), it's still ok. It's not a race, and it doesn't mean you're a failure as a longhair if you can't braid. I only did my first lace braid a month or so ago.

My hair is really slippery, and it was easiest at first to braid wet. Even now, I still am very likely to braid my hair for the day while it's wet and loaded with conditioner.

If your hair is slippery when dry and sticky when wet, definitely try the conditioner thing. It makes it easier to section your hair, and it doesn't interfere with the wet hair tending to stick together. I have a hard time doing French braids on wet hair if I don't have conditioner in.

If you're having a ferociously difficult time dealing with your hair braiding itself while you work, it might be easier with shorter hair. Even a small trim might make it easier on you mentally.

Your braid probably isn't as thin as you're imagining. Really. And there aren't a lot of braided hairstyles where thicker is better. Mostly thicker braids means you need more length to do them. A lot more. I seem to recall some of the thicker iii's around here growing out past fingertip in order to do favorite styles braided.

[Hollyfire3]

You'll almost certainly learn faster than I did :). I could braid doll hair by age 8, and I learned to French braid my dolls by age 12. I didn't learn to do braids on myself until I was in high school. I couldn't do French braids on myself until I was about 25. But even if it takes longer than I did (and some of our member have taken longer), it's still ok. It's not a race, and it doesn't mean you're a failure as a longhair if you can't braid. I only did my first lace braid a month or so ago.

My hair is really slippery, and it was easiest at first to braid wet. Even now, I still am very likely to braid my hair for the day while it's wet and loaded with conditioner.

If your hair is slippery when dry and sticky when wet, definitely try the conditioner thing. It makes it easier to section your hair, and it doesn't interfere with the wet hair tending to stick together. I have a hard time doing French braids on wet hair if I don't have conditioner in.

If you're having a ferociously difficult time dealing with your hair braiding itself while you work, it might be easier with shorter hair. Even a small trim might make it easier on you mentally.

Your braid probably isn't as thin as you're imagining. Really. And there aren't a lot of braided hairstyles where thicker is better. Mostly thicker braids means you need more length to do them. A lot more. I seem to recall some of the thicker iii's around here growing out past fingertip in order to do favorite styles braided.


I agree with the thicker braids are not better, my hair is nearly BSl and the braid is maybe 3-4 bumps and i cannot even tie it into a bun because it is too thick...and trust me, i have seen iii's on here with braids that are not overally thick, just because you have a thick ponytail does not mean your braids are any better, besides, fine hair IMO looks good in a braid because there is usally alot of it and the braid shows this.

[MoreWhenNuh]

I thought id never be able to French braid my own hair and the idea that others could seeemed crazy to me! Then one day it just clicked. I'd recently learned to do a simple English braid without having to pull all my hair to one side. I think that was the trick for me. I needed to learn the basics of doing a simple braid with hands behind my head. After that i tried French braiding and it worked on my first try. I also dampen my hair a little and use some aloe vera gel.

[CrunchyMama]

Everyone's different, but I'm on who can't watch what I'm doing in the mirror - it totally screws me up, even though I braid really well by feel. I might glance into a mirror along the way to make sure it's smooth, but I can't watch the actual movement of the sections or it's a total do-over!

Really, in the end, I think it's just about practice, practice, practice!

^Me too! Any time I try to do it looking in the mirror I get all backward. I'm much better doing it by feel.

[blondie9912]

When French braiding the back of your head, make sure you use your thumbs to 'scrape' the sections that you'll be using to add to the braid. I'm sorry I can't offer more advice, I can't for the life of me figure out how to verbally explain French braiding. Everyone has offered awesome tips though!

Honestly, it comes down to practice in the end. Also try and see of you're better at braiding by feeling or seeing, and work with that. Good luck!

[Vanille_]

I walk around my house when I braid. It takes my focus off a little. I find when I'm not thinking too hard about it, it looks better. Also, don't just try once and give up or settle. I've taken my braids out and tried up to five or six times to make it look decent. You need to train your fingers and hands to store this in muscle memory (you can google this term if you are unfamiliar).

[lunalocks]

I learned on wet hair. Try after you have washed your hair and gently towel dried and detangled. I eventually was able to do this easily on dry hair. It just takes practice.

I do the thumb scoop for french braiding too. Start just in front of your ears and with your thumbs scoop the hair going straight up in a line to the top of your head. Rather than start with a center tail, I start by doing these 2 sides at once, then hold one side up with the other hand's index finger. Scoop up the opposit side and hook that hand's index finger around the other scoop of hair. continue to the nape, then english braid to the bottom.

I have the most success (and get the most appreciative comments) when my scoops are very thin.

I never use an elastic to secure a braid (at the beginning), but you might have luck starting with a pony and braiding to the end. If that is too much to start with, make pigtails and practice on them while your hands are in front of you (sort of).

Just keep working at it. I would do a video, but I still can't figure out how to get pics in here. Can someone do a video on that?

[jacqueline101]

A ribbon added is the only thing for volume.

[Kelikea]

Have you tried a rope braid? It only uses 2 strands, so is a little easier to learn than 3 strands. It doesn't hold well on its own, but looks great in a bun--which would then be called a rose bun. Rose buns are easier with fine hair, IMO, because I have to do two rope braids to make all of my hair twist into a bun. Start with a pony tail, divide into 2 equal sections, twist each section around the other, secure at the end. Twist into a bun and pin at all 4 directions (N-S-E-W)
Rose bun: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=117347&albumid=8987&dl=1319762290&thumb=1
Here is a picture showing a little rope braid going into the bun. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=117348&albumid=8987&dl=1319762290&thumb=1

[Madora]

For anyone interested, here is Torrin Paige's You Tube tutorial on the rope braid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImcPuruQMAw&list=PLF3508F6411A91FDE&index=64&feature=plpp_video

[MegaMystery]

I agree with braiding your hair damp to make it stay better. I usually do it dry, but my hair holds braids really well.
If you want a thicker looking braid you can try pulling the loops out a little once you're finished. I've seen people on youtube doing this quite often, especially with fishtail braids, and it makes them look thicker, but also messier, so it really depends on the look you want.