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ladies that can't or couldn't braid as an adult

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brg240

brg240

Well-Known Member
*i meant cornrow

How did you learn and how long did it take? How long is your hair?

I am so so frustrated. I've been trying to learn for a while now and my hands always get mixed up and then my hair will get tangled and after a couple hours of that I get so frustrated I'm like forget this and pull it into a bun or pigtails. :ohwell:

I wish i'd learned as a kid but my mom never let me touch her hair and my friends weren't ones to play in hair. tbh i don't think i've ever done another's person hair. :|

i just suck overall when it comes to hair, i find making parts vexing.
 
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yeah i cant cornrow for squat.

the most i can do is some banging french braids. when i try to do small cornrows everything starts looking crazy.

and i have too much hair to practice on myself and no one around that i can practice on.
 
empressri I saw your icon and thought you were my cousin. ya'll look so much alike.

I can't even do french braids, wish I could.

I think i might have too much hair to practice on myself with, I don't know any one to practice on besides my mom but she won't let me do her hair so. :/
 
Get a mannequin or a doll and practice on that. I had to really pay close attention to my aunt who taught me a few years ago.

I could never get it right but she came in one day and it clicked. Don't worry about the parting, you can get that later.

When my aunt showed me how she talked me through what she was doing and I was able to see what I was doing wrong.

She told me that everytime you go pull a big piece of hair, you should also pull a little piece and then twist. Somehow that finally made sense to me and I was able to use one of my cousin's dolls to finally get it.

It's just something that you have to keep trying.
 
I'm a guilty party. I couldn't grasp the mechanics of cornrowing until I got older. Now, I can make a braid, "you know, the one that sticks to your head", but none of the fancy stuff. Not even straight lines back. :/ I think the concept began to take hold when I was randomly braiding some scarf or something. With anything, practice makes perfect.
 
I can't braid either. I do wear my hair in one single plait, but that's not hard to do, a fishtail braid. I cannot do any cornrows, etc. to my scalp. I wish I knew how, especially now that my hair is longer. it would be a cute summer style.
 
I can flat twist. I can plait. I can twist. I can make bantu knots. I can part with the most mediocre of them (I use the tail end of a rat tail comb. My mom is the only woman that can part my hair pin straight with an afro comb.)


BUT I. Can't. Cornrow. For. Hell. *sigh* :nono:


There. I feel better.
 
Just two months ago, I couldn't cornrow. I started off learning how to flat twist and perfected that. One day I just thought, "Hey! What the difference from adding one more piece of hair?" So I tried it. It didn't turn out perfect but it was still good. Once I get this down pact maybe I can move onto learning how to do simple designs with the braids, like swirls or such. But it really is something you have to practice often otherwise, you'll never learn.
 
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Actually, I had to learn to braid on my own head....my mother wouldn't let me play in hers until i actually got good at it :rolleyes:. My hair was medium length when I started braiding, but I'm BSL/MBL now. It took me years actually, because my fingers would pull hair from over the sides and form an overbraid (like the type of braid you normally wear down the middle, in as a single braid).

First thing is to start practicing in front of a mirror. Using your forehead and the distance between your eyes or nose as a guide, create a slightly off center part at the middle of your head by dragging a dressing comb from your hairline to your nape. Make sure to never lift the comb from your scalp. I personally find rattail combs cumbersome and I never part correctly with those.

After you create your part, secure the section with a rubberband or tie tightly so that the hair won't invade your braid as you're catching the hair. Go to the other side a start the part in the same way, creating about an inch of distance between the two parts- and secure that section so that the only hair that is loose is the hair you plan to braid . When you're first learning, its easier to work with larger tracks of hair and it will tangle less. It's only important that you learn how braiding should feel when you're doing it correctly.

Detangle the section of hair your intend to braid. Starting from the hairline, take your index finger, and make a horizontal part in the section of hair, about 1/2" or less from your hairline. Part that section of hair into 3 pieces. The left hand should be holding the leftmost piece and the middle piece, the right should be grasping the right piece. Keep the left piece and middle piece separated in your left hand between your index and middle finger (as if you were holding to separate pieces of hair to trim). Keep your hands close to your scalp as you can.

Insert your right index finger cleanly between the left and middle pieces of hair. With the tip of your index finger of your right hand (and the right piece of hair within your remaining four fingers), grab the leftmost piece of hair and drag it UNDER the middle piece. Your hands should be moving in opposing directions, with your left hand grabbing the middle piece and your right hand holding the left and right pieces. Keep the middle finger of your right hand between the left section and the right section of hair.

The former middle section will now become the leftmost section of hair. Using your LEFT hand now, insert your index finger (of your left hand) between the middle and rightmost sections of hair. Grab the right section with tip of your left index finger. Carry that section through left and middle sections of hair.

The right and left sections will now be in the left hand and the middle section will be in the right hand. You will then take the left section under the middle section (using your right hand) like you did in the initial step. Catch additional hair using your index finger and thumb and incorporate it in the same pattern. Don't begin to incorporate hair until you actually reach it because this will cause your braids to bunch up.

It may also help to buy a doll or mannequin head to braid underhanded braiding on (it's the same concept, except when cornrowing, you're going to pick hair underneath braid rather just doing a single, unattached braid).

I hope this description helps. I'll post some youtube videos so that you can get an idea of my description

Here's a good one (i believe she was a member here):
YouTube - Cornrow Tutorial Revisited

brg240 said:
*i meant cornrow

How did you learn and how long did it take? How long is your hair?

I am so so frustrated. I've been trying to learn for a while now and my hands always get mixed up and then my hair will get tangled and after a couple hours of that I get so frustrated I'm like forget this and pull it into a bun or pigtails. :ohwell:

I wish i'd learned as a kid but my mom never let me touch her hair and my friends weren't ones to play in hair. tbh i don't think i've ever done another's person hair. :|

i just suck overall when it comes to hair, i find making parts vexing.
Click to expand...
 
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empressri said:
french braids are under, cornrows are over.

and you'd be doing one, maybe two french braids which are big. cornrows are little.
Click to expand...

No, a french braid is over, where you catch the hair and incorporate it over the braid. Like this: Beautiful Long Hair: How To French Braid Hair (description) . But your can also do a French like braid by catching the hair hair under, but it's just going to look like one big cornrow.

Cornrows are when you catch the hair and incorporate it into the braid by going under the braid. It took me forever to learn this distinction because my "cornrows" used to look like a whole bunch of jacked up mini french braids and I couldn't finger out where the hell I went wrong and why they weren't sitting on top of my scalp :spinning:
 
I can't do a french braid or cornrow however I never really took the time to learn. I just have my 15yr old sister do it. She is a pro! But like ceebee3 said get a mannequin and start there. That's what my sister did and she does my mother and my hair all the time.
 
When I cornrow my hair, it's only to wear under a wig. I cannot do my own cornrows well enough to wear outside. I had my sister do them for me last week when I was home visiting. It was a bit bulky so I undid one and made it into 2. Anyone would notice the difference between hers and mine.:ohwell:

Empressri - You can practice on ME!!!

empressri said:
yeah i cant cornrow for squat.

the most i can do is some banging french braids. when i try to do small cornrows everything starts looking crazy.

and i have too much hair to practice on myself and no one around that i can practice on.
Click to expand...
 
I grew up braiding my natural hair but after I relaxed it 20 odd years ago I roller set exclusively so I fell out of practice. Now that I've learned the joy of braid outs I get so mad at how long it takes me to do a decent braid. I used to do 5 braids but that took me forever. Now I'm down to 2 and hope for the best:perplexed.

You are not alone my friend:grouphug:
 
I wasn't very good at braiding at all before learning how to take care of my hair last year.
I watched TONS of youtube videos. I have only practiced braiding on myself and twisting on my sister because her hair is much longer than mine. What helped the most is that I would stand looking at what I was doing in the mirror and would say each step out loud so I would keep up with what step I was on and what I need to do next.
 
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I just learned how to cornrow in 2009, I forced myself because I was tired of paying people to braid my daughters hair and also the person braiding was never punctual. I watched a few youtube vids(cant recall which ones) and practiced on myself when I need to braid my hair down under my wigs....lol..I still need help with parting though its not precise like some people.
 
I know the mechanics of a basic braid but can't make it happen on my head. I have wanted to learn how to flat twist my hair but thats a little advanced for me. I can twist tho!

So another one that can't cornrow or braid my own hair. I would love to know how to French braid too.
 
I didn't know how to braid until over a year and a half ago. I have two daughters one that has waistlength hair (5 years old) and a eight year old that is almost mid back. I was bound and determine to learn because I was sick of ponytails. After years of different people trying to teach me I finally learned on my own from watching you tube. I got one of my daughters and practiced over and over restarting the video over and over until I finally got the concept. It didn't look good at first but practicing over those next few months I became good at it. It was something that just clicked some how from watching and practicing there on the spot along with the video.
 
I JUST (as in 2-3 years ago) taught myself to cornrow. Coming from a Nigerian household, combined with being a mother to 3 girls makes this even more painful to admit, but hey, what do you do? LOL. My mother can't even braid (she used to "thread" my hair as a kid), so I have a legitimate excuse lol.

When I got pregnant with my now-4 year old and we found out she was a girl, I knew we couldn't afford to keep sending my DDs to the braider every 2 weeks. So, I started to teach myself. My oldest 2 rocked SET UP braids for close to a year, but I eventually perfected my skills. Now, folks ask me to braid their kids' hair :)
 
Ok, I could not learn to braid for the life of me. My mother used to cornrow my hair when I was little. Do ya think she passed that on to me??… NAH!! It has been my life goal to braid. I mean I bought a head, checked out books from the library with diagrams (I’m that cheap) and still couldn’t do it. kblc06 is on point with her description and that video. Ladykaypnyc was my yt guru for braiding. Another great video is by Mookshair

Video by Mooks-hair ••Jan 31•• | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

I’m a visual learner so these really helped me. With a little practice you’ll be on your way. Good luck:) HHJ
 
I can't cornrows to save my life....I really want to learn so I can start wearing wigs..


Sent from my iPod touch using LHCF
 
A french braid is braided under so it doesn't stick out.
Cornrows (also called dutch braids when bigger) are braided over and the braid looks as if its laid on the head.

HTH
 
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