"Can you teach me to French braid?"

**florenonite** · July 1st, 2009, 12:57 PM

My 15-year-old sister asked me this yesterday. She's leaving this weekend for a five-week canoe trip, and wants to be able to plait her fringe back like mine (I plait along the hairline from my side-part to the opposite ear). I was surprised to hear she couldn't French braid herself, and even more surprised to hear she can barely braid her hair! Now, I know there are quite a lot of people out there who can't braid very well, and I can understand it if it's someone who's not been exposed to braiding much, but we all were as children. My mum used to braid our hair when we were wee, and we used to make bracelets by braiding and knotting embroidery floss. Before even coming to LHC I could English, French, Dutch, rope and fishtail braid both my own hair and others, so I suppose I kind of took it for granted that most women who had been exposed to hair braiding as children had some working knowledge of it. This incident just reminded me that there are a lot of things I think are fairly well-known with regards to hair but that really aren't, like that one shouldn't brush curly hair unless it's about to be washed.

This thread, then, is for those surprise moments when you realise that what you thought to be common knowledge regarding hair is not so common at all. I'm sure it will be enlightening, and help us to understand others' approaches to hair, whilst being amusing at the same time.

**natt i nord** · July 1st, 2009, 01:14 PM

I didn't have a feeling aka 'Uh? She doesn't know THAT!?", but I was very surprised a few months ago.
I had a Rope braid, and after the maths lesson the girl behind me asked me how I'd get this to hold. I explained it to her and showed her, as the braid anyway was a bit loose. The next morning she came with a rope-braided hairstrand

I thought that was so hilarious.

Another day we came upon the topic braiding. I said I could braid English, Dutch and French. And the others asked me: "Please show us a Dutch braid!" Well, I had to braid then...

**swanns** · July 1st, 2009, 01:28 PM

I posted a video on YouTube of myself French braiding my hair, linked it to a fellow long haired friend just for fun and she goes "Oh yay, now I might finally get how that works!" I was really surprised!

**enfys** · July 1st, 2009, 01:33 PM

I can't do it because I get sore arms, but at least I know how. I could, and have, done them on other people.

A lot of people think long hair is so hard to deal with and style they think we work miracles and don't realise a lot of methods are far simpler than they look.

**natt i nord** · July 1st, 2009, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by enfys

I can't do it because I get sore arms, but at least I know how.

Put the elbows before your head so you can see them. Then you can put them on your knees when your arms get sore and take a break. That was my idea, I can't braid that long as well, and it works

**patience** · July 1st, 2009, 01:39 PM

I'm always surprised when I go out with my hair in a french braid and someone goes "Wow, did you do that yourself?"...I answer with "uh? yeah"

**enfys** · July 1st, 2009, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by natt i nord

Put the elbows before your head so you can see them. Then you can put them on your knees when your arms get sore and take a break. That was my idea, I can't braid that long as well, and it works

Ooh thanks, I'll try that. In 21 years (well, 21 years on Friday) I don't think I've ever done my hair sat down other than fixing it if it comes loose. That's why I never had anywhere to rest my arms!

French braids here I come

**florenonite** · July 1st, 2009, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by enfys

I can't do it because I get sore arms, but at least I know how. I could, and have, done them on other people.

A lot of people think long hair is so hard to deal with and style they think we work miracles and don't realise a lot of methods are far simpler than they look.

Practice! Or lift weights to gain muscle

I can do a single French braid no problem now. Two is a bit tiring, and a fishtail/herringbone is ZOMGmyarmsaregonnafalloff sore, but doable. What I do when my arms hurt is take all the strands in one hand and let the other arm hang to give it a break, then repeat on the other side.

**Moonstruck** · July 1st, 2009, 06:44 PM

Haha, not going to lie, I can't French braid to save my life. Actually, I can't do any braid except for a normal English one, and poorly, at that. Loose with tons of hairs sticking out, and inevitably a huge chunk that I failed to braid in, period. =P

However, I AM surprised when people say something along the lines of.... blowdrying's bad for your hair?!
...Um, yes. Have you ever smelled the burning hair scent? I'm sure it's great for parts of your body to be burnt to a crisp. =P

**Quixii** · July 1st, 2009, 07:05 PM

I only know how to do the simple three strand braid. (I believe that's an English braid?) I want to know how to do a French braid, let alone all the other ones, but don't know how to teach myself, as I'm a very visual person, and can't see the back of my head. Once I figure out how to do it initially, I should be able to do it, but...