Help Me Make Better Braids!

[Vanille_]

So, I love braids. I love messy looks. But sometimes, I want my braid to not look messy. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to make my braids look sleeker and smoother. Is there anything I can do to tame breakage? Completely wet hair in a braid like this isn't really feasible. It's really hard for me to braid my hair wet. If you tell me I have to suck it up and get better at braiding it wet though, I will.

Do you have any secrets to a tidy braid?

*Completely unrelated, I think it's odd that the patch at the bottom of my head looks so bright. I have dark brown hair and I didn't dye that part on purpose. I guess it's a trick of the light. My hair is pretty translucent in the sun, which is why the red stands out so well even though my hair is dark.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z252/onexmorexgirl/Hair/DSC02398-1.jpg

ETA: I tried coconut oil and misting and am a lot happier about the braid.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z252/onexmorexgirl/Hair/DSC02410-1.jpg

[shutterpillar]

Have you tried oiling your length before you braid it? Or using a bit of pure aloe?

[lapushka]

So, I love braids. I love messy looks. But sometimes, I want my braid to not look messy. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to make my braids look sleeker and smoother. Is there anything I can do to tame breakage? Completely wet hair in a braid like this isn't really feasible. It's really hard for me to braid my hair wet. If you tell me I have to suck it up and get better at braiding it wet though, I will.


As far as I'm concerned, that's a perfect braid right there. Looks like you don't exactly need lessons in how to braid. :)

[Vanille_]

Have you tried oiling your length before you braid it? Or using a bit of pure aloe?

I don't have any aloe (though I should probably buy some). Would coconut oil work?

[shutterpillar]

I think coconut oil would work just fine. That is what I do when I dont want my frizzies and flyaways to poke through the length of my braid.

[Bedhead]

Since you have layers, I'd have to agree with the oil to get that non-stocky-outy thing, although I agree - great braid right there! I personally use olive oil, as my hair can't stand coconut oil. But if your hair likes coconut oil, I can't see why it wouldn't work well, and you don't have to have wet hair per say, but a misting helps.

I don't put water on my hair very often though, and as far as dry braids are concerned, I find the looser my braid the less my layers stick out, and the smoother the braid.

My 2¢... from a novice braider. :)

ETA: I just wanted to add that sebum also helps with the frizzies, so "dirty" hair could be helpful too.

[spidermom]

Aloe vera gel or styling gel do help give a neater result, although your braid is already about as neat as I can achieve. Coconut oil does nothing for my hair as far as braiding is concerned, other than making my messy braid oily, plus encouraging lint and dust to cling to it.

[Xi]

Sometimes damp braiding helps for me (when the hair is kind of medium damp -- past the dripping/tangling wet stage, and before the almost-dry/tangling frizzy stage).

I agree with the others, though -- your braid looks beautiful! I think pretty much all braids look a bit imperfect in direct sunlight. A few poking-out hairs are just part of the nature of real hair.:)

[Vanille_]

Well, I tried misting and coconut oil and I like the results. I over oiled my hair for sure, I couldn't wear it down with this much oil in it. But I tried to put as little as possible on the tail of the braid and on the hair outside the braided part.

[1nuitblanche]

Honestly, your braid is already tidier than mine ever is. As others said, oil or aloe gel might help. Maybe try to just oil the middle section of your hair since you want the part near your scalp and your tassle to be fairly dry/ungreasy looking?

[Bedhead]

I'm glad you're happy with it. Those are two very different braids, with two very different expressions! :cheer:

[henné]

Your braid looks absolutely amazing already. :)

What do you do to make your hair so insanely shiny? I know it's OTP, but maybe you can message me the answer? :o

[Vanille_]

Your braid looks absolutely amazing already. :)

What do you do to make your hair so insanely shiny? I know it's OTP, but maybe you can message me the answer? :o

I'm not really sure. It could be a trick of the camera? I don't really do anything. The second picture has oil in it. But the first doesn't have anything. I swear the camera makes my hair look shinier. I can't prove it cause I can't see the back of my head, but yeah - I think it does. I think the sun just reflects on it too and makes it look shinier.

Sorry, I wish I had some good tips!

[Seeshami]

I gave up on the idea of neat braids. Aloe gel, Pure of course, would be the BEST thing, but I have tried the palmade stuff (sticky), a spray gel (crunchy) and then gel I love yet always forget at my mom's house. If I ever recover the gel that is awesome I will let every one know what it is but it's lost to me currently.

[Vanilla]

I find my best braids are when my hair is a bit dirty, has a little oil in it and when I've smoothed down each braided section with a BBB before incorporating. It takes me way longer to do a braid this way, and it's more tiring to smooth out each section, but it's the only way for me to get a smooth looking braid. I'll try to post pictures in a few days of my braid if I use a BBB. The ones in my album are when I haven't used one.

[shutterpillar]

Looks great! And I agree - you have amazing braiding skills! I still cant figure out a dutch braid and am even struggling with the french braid, though I think that has a lot to do with having layers.

[Vanille_]

Looks great! And I agree - you have amazing braiding skills! I still cant figure out a dutch braid and am even struggling with the french braid, though I think that has a lot to do with having layers.

All I can say is don't give up. It took me a couple of weeks to make a good looking Dutch braid. I simply did a braid everyday and if it turned out terrible, I took it out and tried again until I got a somewhat decent looking one. Also, I find it's helpful to walk around while I braid. Standing in front of a mirror seems to not help me at all. I need to lose a bit of focus and make it more of an automatic thing I don't think too much about.

[Thenolegirl]

I think the braid is lovely! A perfect Katniss braid =)

Can someone enlighten me on "misting"? Because I'd like to make my braids tidier too =)

[Vanille_]

I think the braid is lovely! A perfect Katniss braid =)

Can someone enlighten me on "misting"? Because I'd like to make my braids tidier too =)

I just used water in my mister :) But I know some people put stuff like oils and aloe in there.

[terpentyna]

Looks awesome. My hair would never behave that way. What I do though is I lightly oil my fingers as I'm braiding, that way only the braided hair is slick and the rest can be less oily.