Cannot french braid my own hair for the life of me!

[shutterpillar]

Does anyone have any tips or tricks that will help me french braid my own hair? A french braid is one of the few types that all of my hair will stay in. I have tried braiding it wet, dry, brushed, unbrushed... I have even attempted to teach my husband how to french braid so he can do it for me, but that was an unsuccessful adventure. lol.

My little girl runs around in french braids all the time, and I am pretty decent at making them. But for some reason I just cannot create a tight, decent looking french braid on my own hair!

Does anyone have any other braiding suggestions?

[spidermom]

Practice-practice-practice, like when you're sitting down watching a movie. If one is too hard, try two.

Since you can already do it for your little girl, I'm sure you will be able to do it on yourself with practice.

[elbow chic]

Try using it as a sleep braid, so it doesn't matter if it looks crappy. One night you will surprise yourself by making one that's actually presentable.

And don't look in the mirror while you are learning to do it. I think it confuses the fingers. You can start using the mirror again once you've developed enough muscle memory not to spazz at the reversed image.

[Tealpuffin]

I am exactly the same! give me anybody else's head i am absolutely fine doing it but on myself it looks rubbish x

[heidi w.]

I french braid the top and back of my head and then once I get down a little length in the back, I draw the rest of the length in front of me and continue down as that more just plain 3 strand braiding.

Also if you want the braid in a certain direction you have to braid it in that direction, such as if you want the braid to go back along the side of the head, you have to braid in that direction.

Each weave are you bringing in too much or too little hair? That may have something to do with a hair part issue.

You do not specifically state what you're having a problem with. I would break it down in some kind of steps and describe what part of the braid you have the hardest time with such as getting started, finishing, making sure the braid goes in the direction you want it to....that kind of thing. Is it tension of the braid, too loose, too tight? What exactly is your problem. Because you obviously can do it.

I do none of my hair updos or braids in the mirror. EVER. I find it confuses me because the image is reversed from the way things are oriented in actuality, and I get confused with fingers/hands. I have discovered that hair styling is more about where the hands are when, and not the shape of the hair so much. You place the hands right, and the like, the end result is then right. And because of this, it takes practice, practice, practice. It will come. It is harder to do updos and braids on oneself versus another person.

In braiding, I have found tension to be a big issue for people. They don't use the thumb to hold the tension in place, and come out all wonky instead. I let one girl at a party braid my hair, and the end result looked as though the girl was high -- you know that belief that it looks great. She made over 4 feet of hair look like maybe it was 2 feet long! So, I showed her how to braid. And it turned out she had a terrible time understanding tension of the weave. Braiding is a form of weaving. Some braid what I consider backwards, so it partly depends on how you do it, too.

Other than french braiding are you seeking a specific look and therefore reason for using a french braid.

A long time ago, I was at an afternoon long hair gathering and teaching this guy how to braid his wife's nearly floor length hair. Most of the way he weaved far too loose, and I kept emphasizing the thumb, and nearer the end he finally began to get that he had to hold the last weave in position, and hold the tension with his thumb. More practice, I'm sure by now he got it. But he was excited and confused working on someone else's head of hair, not his own. The idea/concept of tension management was foreign to him. He understood the concept eventually, but he just needed a lot more practice.

heidi w.

[Anje]

Try dutch braiding instead. Often one clicks when the other will not.

[annamoonfairy]

It took me a while but you will get it : ) My trick is to not use a mirror just go by touch.

[shutterpillar]

elbow chic, thats what I have been doing. Just sleeping in it at night... theres no way it would hold up throughout the day without gobs of hair spray and I REALLY hate putting that kind of stuff on my hair.

Heidi, sorry let me clarify that part. Tension is definitely my issue, and I end up with a very loose french braid, which would be fine if I didnt have my annoying top layer. I suppose I should practice more trying to "weave" it and using my thumbs for tension. It is just very awkward to me right now.

practice practice, I suppose. Thanks for the help, ladies!

[shutterpillar]

Anje, I will try that tonight! I've always loved the look of a dutch braid.

[heidi w.]

elbow chic, thats what I have been doing. Just sleeping in it at night... theres no way it would hold up throughout the day without gobs of hair spray and I REALLY hate putting that kind of stuff on my hair.

Heidi, sorry let me clarify that part. Tension is definitely my issue, and I end up with a very loose french braid, which would be fine if I didnt have my annoying top layer. I suppose I should practice more trying to "weave" it and using my thumbs for tension. It is just very awkward to me right now.

practice practice, I suppose. Thanks for the help, ladies!

One assumes you can braid a 3 strand braid just fine. Do you have the same problem with tension in a 3 strand braid? If not, it's the same way of managing tension in a 3 strand as in a french braid.

After each weave, you hold that weave in place by pressing the thumb on it or just below the most recent weave. This both holds the tension AND holds the hair that's been braided thus far from coming out. I sometimes braid a little tighter or looser, depending on how I want the braid to look (sometimes I want a fatter look to the braid). For tighter, I tend to kind of tighten the weave by taking the length under the braided section and pulling on it somewhat to tighten the weave. In French Braiding the tension is slightly more problematic because you're weaving in new bits of hair each time you fold a section of hair over, and that section can be too loose very easily because we're holding the main braid sometimes too far away from the head or the direction we hope to be braiding in.

I don't know if that helps. This is hard to explain in writing, far easier to show in picture form. I believe there are all manner of youtube hair video tutorials. Different ones are more or less better. I find too many are too fast, and don't show well enough what one is doing from one step to another, and also can not display well the step one is actually conducting. There can be light issues, framing issues as in too small a frame to capture the entire image of the step. But there are good ones out there. There is Torrin Paige (I think that's how it's spelled.) People here tend to like her videos on youtube, so maybe one of hers might be helpful?

I hope this helps,
heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Here' a lady french braiding short, layered hair. It doesn't appear overly layered to me, and the beginning her hands show no HOW-TO because she's all clumped up in her hands as she proceeds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmoQKAZfrp8

But maybe you'll find it useful.

This person has even longer hair, a bit longer than BSL (maybe mid-back) and she has some kind of bangs going on. She is doing a few no-no's to her hair. One she's wearing long hair when she's wearing a knit top; Two she dies or blow dries her hair and it shows.

But she does show how to start really well. It's a lot clear than the short-haired lady above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvqjFiDUIwE&feature=fvst

I would get down how to do a basic, simple french braid instead of doing fancy stuff such as braiding along the side of the head.

Also a French Braid can ended in a braid all the way down the length and tied off; or you can tuck the rest of the length under the braided hair for a kind of updo.

I can't find a video that well describes the issue of tension that is elemental to any braiding whatsoever, but it certainly gives me an idea for a youtube video!!

heidi w.

[Criosdan]

I practised without a mirror. It worked.

[dulce]

Heidi's last link[woman with bangs and BSL hair]is the one that helped me.I studied it till I memorized it and practised daily[no mirror-it confuses me]I used my sense of touch,closed my eyes and envisioned what I was doing as I did it.The other utube clips keep telling you where to put your fingers which confused me,this clip only shows the technique and I found with just practising the technique my fingers figured it out automatically along the way.At 60 I can finally french braid!!You can do it!Don't give up.

[pes3108]

Practice!! Last summer I stayed on campus and had a lot of free time on my hands. While watching tv or whatever I was doing, I would sit there and practice french braiding my hair and then run and have one of my roommates take a picture of it for me. They were terrible! uneven, lumpy, and falling out. However, each time I practiced it got a little better (and I gained some stamina in my arms haha). Now it isn't perfect by any means and I will sometimes redo it about 3 or 4 times before I am satisfied, but it is WAY better than when I first started.

Also, don't use a mirror. Let your fingers get accustomed to how the braid feels and the movements that you need to make. Mirrors make it hard because everything you see in them is opposite of what you are really doing so its hard on your mind to make that switch quickly when braiding.

[Madora]

The tension aspect of braiding is something that comes with practice.

Ditto, adding in sections smoothly on each side.

Personally, I learned by speaking out loud each step involved. The mirror approach didn't work at all -- too confusing.

At the onset, just braid and try and wing it as best you can. Over time, your "muscle memory" will kick in and you'll find that the repetitions become easier and the tension gets better.

I always found French "Dutch" braiding (the underhand technique) easier to do than the French "English" braiding (overhand technique).

And be sure to always, always keep the 3 strands separate after each cross over!

[whitedove]

I french braid with my eyes closed - I learned by remembering how a hairdresser did my first ever french braid back in the 80's :). I use my thumbs to gather hair from the sides and my fingers keep strands and tension in centre.

[heidi w.]

And be sure to always, always keep the 3 strands separate after each cross over![/COLOR]

That is true. A lot of people with longer hair have a harder time braiding because the length down lower becomes a bit tangly or messed up. But don't worry. As you proceed down things will get organized, as you proceed. I have to at times, now that I'm a bit more advanced, somewhat smooth things down before braiding by holding the whole thing on one hand, round front, so I can see what I'm doing.

Thanks Madora for clarifying what Dutch braiding is. The underhanded method, which some people find more comfortable, but to me is kind of upside down. I do both though. Just depends on what I'm doing, such if I bring the braid round front I have to proceed underhanded because I'm now looking at the back of the hair braid that I began. Or another way to think of it is I'm reversing because my hair is now in front of me, not behind me.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Remember, a French Braid is quite simply still a 3 strand braid, you're simply adding in elements of hair as you proceed in each part of the weave, but you are still keeping to the 3 strand braid idea overall. All the videos show that if they do this down the back of the head, they only take up a chunk of hair as far into the hair (in back) only as far as the center line, on either side of the center line.

heidi w.

[augustashes]

I used to practice for hours and hours and I could never figure out how to make a french braid look good. Then my mom taught me that it's all about where you place your hand and now I get an almost perfect braid everytime. I wish I knew how to explain it better. Basically, instead of trying to braid your own hair as you would braid another persons, you just hold the strands with one hand separated by your fingers, using your other hand to move the strands over eachother (to make the braid) then add to the section that you have just moved. This way you keep your hands closer to your scalp in turn keeping your braid tighter and closer to your scalp.

What I always struggled with was that I thought I had to hold my hands the way I did to braid other peoples hair, but it's a completely different technique to braid one's own hair versus braiding other's hair.

sorry if I'm just rambling.

[augustashes]

Sorry I can't edit my posts yet...If you like I can try to upload pictures showing how I braid.

[Tealpuffin]

I just find it awkward to braid down the back of my head. I can sort of do a double french braid on my own head if i redo it several times.

When i do a normal braid i use my fingers as hooks and using the thumbs to pass the hair from Finger to Finger. the closer the fingers are to the roots, the tighter the braid. It is quite hard to explain.

[Mrsbaybeegurl]

I'm another one who is all for avoiding the mirror! I actually just learned to french braid not to long ago and I still just usually do it to sleep in so I have nice braidwaves in the morning. For YEARS I tried using the mirror and ended up with a huge mess, lots of frustration and winding and unwinding the same hair over and over again. You just gotta get used to the feel of it and the pattern, eventually your fingers and hands just know what to do lol

Like others said...practice, practice, practice!! You can watch tutorials which may help but since you know how to do them already, just not on yourself, it's just a matter of patience and practice ;)

[julliams]

I taught myself to french braid in the dark! Weird I know, but I was about 13 and had my own room. I found that by not looking , I was able to feel my way through the process. I think this is the key. I couldn't dutch braid so I tried this method only recently and now I have no problem with that either. I visualise the move before it happens and then my hands just seem to do what's needed.

Now slitting in the dark playing with your hair as an adult might seem a little wierd, so try it out while you are watching tv and see if you are able to be successful.

[augustashes]

I made a video about how I do it. Hope it helps!

http://youtu.be/Tbu2Q3gPvPU