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Feydementia
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Ritalin
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Caitlin
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Paul
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KQ
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Sonja
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Bridie
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Putra
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Sol
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Braids are an easy and relatively cheap way to extend your hair. They're also
one of the easiest styles to DIY - all you need is strong arms, several packets
of synthetic hair, and time! You might need a chum to help you with the ones
round the back...
Before you start:
Hair length: Your natural hair needs to be at least 3" long before you
can add braids to it. This is because hair tends to shorten as you braid with
it, and you need a decent length of braid that incorporates your own hair for
it to hold on, and not slip out in just a few days.
Holding the braid in at the top: You shouldn't need glue at the top of the
braids - if you braid firmly enough, that will hold it. Glue is hard to get
out of a braid, even with remover - avoid if you can! If you're doing it on
your own and are finding that the braids slip at the top while you're putting
them in, consider using some of those small 'ouchless' elastic bands at the
top while you are plaiting. You can always snip them off later.
You can also try divinding your real hair into three, and dividing the synthetic
hair into three, and matching up each piece of real hair with a piece of synthetic
hair, so that each 'stalk' of the braid is made up of both real and synthetic
hair. In this way, you can get your own hair more 'involved' in the braid and
it holds very well. You can also start the top of the braid with a 4-way
box-braid for the first inch or so, then swap to a 3-way braid further down
- 4-way braids tend to grip hair better than 3-way braids do.
If you really feel the need for glue, use spirit gum, which does at least rinse
out over the course of a few weeks. Just dab a little bit on where your real
hair meets the synthetic, at the top.
Size of braids: Smaller braids hold hair better that fat braids do, so if
your braids have a tendency to slip, make them a bit thinner. 4-way plaits (box
braids) slip less than the basic 3-way plaits. I've added a little guide to
box braiding here. Also consider the texture
of your hair - if your hair is very fine, fat braids will leave more scalp exposed
than thinner braids will.
Amount of synthetic hair needed: You'll need about 6-9 bags of 'jumbo braid'
hair to do a full head of braids - less if you have an undercut. Jumbo braid
is ideal for braiding, and unlike loose hair, it doesn't really matter how crappy
the quality of the jumbo braid is, since it'll be all tucked away in the braids.
Nicer, more expensive hair looks about the same in braids as cheaper hair does,
so you might as well save your money. Expensive monofibre hair is wasted in
braids!
Where
to start:
Whether
you start your braiding at the front or the back of your head is up to you.
Whenever I've had extensions put in professionally, they've always started at
the nape of my neck and worked forwards, but if you're doing this on your own,
at home, you might wish to get the front part done which you can see better,
while you get a feel for what you're doing.
The other advantage of getting the front done first is that if you only get
half a head of braids done after a whole day of braiding, at least it'll look
semi-OK until you finish it off.
I think salons start at the back because it's easier for them to work that way
- they can clip undone hair up, whilst finished extensions hang down and out
of the way.
If you're trying to braid your own hair round the back, I advise using two mirrors
so you can see the back of your head. Try to section your hair using the mirrors,
but you don't have to watch what you're doing for the actual braiding, if you
can get it right 'by feel'. I just get confused watching myself braid in reverse,
and it was a lot easier for me if I didn't watch!
Sectioning:
One of the most important things to do when putting in braids is section your
hair off neatly. If you just grab random chunks of hair, not only will your
braids vary in size and distribution, but it's very likely that you'll get lots
of wispy little bits of hair caught in the braids, which will pull and which
will hurt. Use a rat-tail comb if you have one to make clean horizontal sections
in your hair, and try to use chunks of hair of roughly the same size as you
go along each row. Use a load of clips and barettes to hold other bits of hair
out of the way if you have to. Reducing the amount of stray hair also reduces
the 'halo of fuzz' that braids tend to develop with time.
The thickness of your hair may make a difference to the way you section it off,
too. If you've got fine hair, it's better to stagger the sections of hair in
more of a 'brickwork' than a 'chessboard' pattern, so that less of your scalp
shows through.
3-way plait method
The basic DIY method of braiding is quite simple. A braid has 3 strands, and
if you're adding synthetic hair into your own, two of these strands are synthetic,
while the remaining strand is real hair. Try not to use too much synthetic hair
- each 'stalk' of the braid should be about the same thickness, which then avoids
putting too much weight on each section of hair.
Synthetic hair for braiding is cheap (about $1-2/£1-2) per packet and
comes in many colours. You can buy all the bits and pieces you need for braids
from Afro/ethnic hair shops - if you're not sure where there are any in your
area, look in the yellow pages under 'beauty supplies'. When you remove synthetic
hair from the bag, it'll be looped over at the top and secured with a rubber
band - this top loop forms the top of your braid where it meets the hair.
I tried to draw the method, but everytime I did, it came out wrong! So I borrowed
the following image from "How
to upbraid your friends" which details different methods of braiding normal
long hair:
(If you imagine the grey strand to be your real hair, and the blue strands to
be top loop of synthetic hair...)
Use small sections of hair for thin braids, and larger section for chunky ones.
It helps to stagger the braids around your head so that you don't have large
patches of exposed scalp.
When you start to run out of real hair, divide the two strands of synth hair
into 3, then split the last inch or two of the real hair strand between the
3 synthetic strands, then keep going. Dividing the ends of your real hair between
the continuing synthetic strands like this stop the ends of your real hair poking
out of the braids.
Sealing the braids:
You can fix the end with a rubber band or snag-free elastic, or by dipping into
boiling water and rolling smooth, or even by melting with a lighter and rolling
smooth (but beware of big black blobs of molten plastic. You do not want
to roll those between your hands).
You could also use latex-based hair glue, or superglue at the end.
If you do a lot of braids, you can also invest in a braid
end sealer - a little electric hot iron which seals braids of various sizes
at the end and then snips off the excess. They cost about $30, and make very
neat ends. Dr Locks sells
them. Europeans should remember that US appliances will not work on the European
power supply - a travel plug adapter will enable you to plug the tool in, but
the much higher power rating will promptly blow up the tool and probably your
power circuit too. Well, maybe... play it safe and buy the appropriate step-down
transformer - they cost about £20 at a power rating of 100W (the braid
sealer tools are 75W). Having said all that, I've seen one report from someone
in Australia (with the same higher-voltage power supply as Europe) who said
that their braid sealer claimed to have dual voltage and worked fine just with
a travel plug adapter - maybe the dual voltage kicks in automatically, I just
don't know. I didn't want to risk it myself so I bought a transformer!
4-way braids (Box braids)
I gave them their own little section - find out how to do them here
Pokies
Sometimes you'll get little bits of hair poking out along the length of
your braids - these are called 'pokies'. If you sleep with your braids wrapped
up, you should get fewer pokies, and if you do wash your hair, wash them gently
rather than scrubbing them together. Once you get them, there are a couple of
things you can do to make them look a bit better: spray them down with hairsrpray
or flatten them with gel, snip them off (if there aren't too many - you'll end
up with many unintentional layers in your hair afterwards if you get too snip-happy!),
wrap small pieces of thread round the offending 'poky' to cover it up, or use
small dabs of spirit gum to 'glue' the poky bits down.
What
about Cornrows?
Cornrows work quite well on shorter hair, especially hair that's too short
to go into normal braids. There's an excellent how-to with diagrams on how to
put in cornrows here.
You can loop (or 'latch-hook) premade braids underneath cornrows if you want
a longer head of braids, a popular technique on afro hair.
Finding
a braider.
Look in your yellow pages for local salons who do braids - you're more likely
to find braiders at more ethnic salons, and they'll be cheaper there too. Ring
them up and explain what type of hair you have, and ask if they would be willing
to do braids for you. Some places will, and some won't - but these places are
the experts in doing braids, so it's well worth doing some legwork to get good
braids at a low price. Salons tend to charge per hour, so the more hair you
have, and the longer you want the braids to be, the more it will cost you. If
you want weird and wonderful colours, you can always buy the hair and take it
along with you, which will be cheaper - ask the braider how many packets you'll
need (and expect to need at least 6 packets).
Shops that sell products for afro hair often carry advertisments for people
who will braid from home - they often do a good job and are much cheaper than
salons. And of course, there's a lot to be said for asking someone whose braids
you like, where they got theirs done.
Taking care of your braids.
Braids will be quite tight for a week or so, until they've loosened up slightly
and your own hair has grown a bit. You will not need to wash braids as often
as normal hair - once a week at the most would be fine. The only part that really
needs to be washed is at the scalp, so it's best to run a dilute shampoo solution
through the scalp, then let the lather rinse through the braids themselves.
Julia gives this
advice on looking after your braids:
Shampooing:
"If
you can't get Dr. Bronners peppermint shampoo [Ed's note - which is what Bridget
thinks is the best thing for washing extensions with], try any minty shampoo
or one with tea tree oil (The Body Shop tea tree shampoo works great, just get
one of the bitty travel bottles). So, what I do is first gently rub my scalp
with the pads of my fingers to ease the urge to itch, and to losen any, um,
scruff. Then, squirt a little shampoo in my hand then dilute it with some water.
Apply to part of your hair concentrating it all on your scalp. Apply to your
head in sections until you seem to have it all covered. Then, rinse like crazy.
A shower or one of those shower head attachments are really helpful at this
moment. Rinse for several minutes. Really. Sometimes itchiness is left over
shampoo on your poor scalp.
Drying:
Squeeze out as much water as you can while in the shower. Then, grab a towel
and gently squeeze out more water. Grab another towel, since the first is probably
soaked, and gently squeeze some more. Your hair will be really heavy right now,
so try to support it with your hands as much as possible. Definitely, don't
pile your hair on top of your head using a towel as turban. I tend to sit on
the sofa with my hair piled on a towel on top of the sofa back. My hair is supported
by the back of the sofa, and the towel beneath it is keeping the sofa dry while
also helping to dry out my hair. You can use a hair dryer on low temperature
to help your hair dry faster.
Funkiness:
Developing a bit of a funk in your braids/dreads is a definite possiblity. I
think thoroughly rinsing, and getting as much water out of them as quickly as
possible will probably help with that.
Fighting the itch:
I usually apply a little light oil to my scalp. Operative words are "little"
and "light." Weleeda makes a great rosemary scalp oil that helps with itchies.
Sweet almond oil (w/ rosemary or tea tree essential oil added if you have them)
works great. So, I pour a little into my palm and dip my fingers in the oil,
then I gently rub my scalp with the slightly oily fingers. This helps if the
itching is from dry scalp. A braid spray that is basically glycerine rather
than oil will also help itching. Too much will leave icky build up. You can
also try a spray on leave in conditioner.
How often to wash:
As far as frequency of washing, this is really individual. I tend to wait at
least a week between scrubbing up. Sometimes 2 or so. I give myself a gentle
scalp massage with some oil and spray leave in conditioner if I think my head
is being sad. "
Preventing fuzz:
In
between washes, you can apply scalp sprays and dry shampoos which will keep
the itchiness down. Sheen/braid sprays will keep your braids looking nice, and
prevent fuzziness. If you wrap your braids in a scarf while sleeping, and change
over to satin pillowcases, you'll find that your braids won't get too fuzzy.
