OK, OP, practice makes perfect and the more you redo a few at a time, the better you will get.
One way to improve your braiding is make sure you're holding your hair close to the point of cross over (Pic #10) and smooth your hair with fingers as you braid as if trying to make cuticles lie flat by sliding fingers up the length. That way you're tucking all your hair inside the cross over. Avoid holding your hair as shown in #9:
I don't use products on my hair but I do baggy nightly, and that seems to keep my hair looking neat. Doing a braid-out on your extensions can disguise the mess till you have time to redo, and redoing doesn't have to be a major feat. Just focus on redoing the hairline while watching TV and then wherever you have your part...so that the braids on top are the ones that always look neat and disguise the others. Then get to the others as time allows.
If you make redoing your braids more like a relaxing thing that you do while watching TV, working on one at a time, and not trying to do all or too many, it will stop feeling like a chore. I suffer from HIH disease and can't tell you how exciting it is for me to find a braid that needs redoing coz the base is loose. It's like an excuse to play in my hair. And since my hair feels so soft to touch, it makes it all the more fun. (Seriously, try making baggying, even w/o products, a regular habit and see how soft your hair feels.)
I mentioned braid-outs. Here's my hair cornrowed while wet and left to dry in the cornrows. I believe I had already baggied at least one night by the time this photo was taken. (Saran wrap is excellent for flattening fly aways, but even a plastic cap works too coz when your hair gets damp, it's like it just lies flat or sth.) Notice how neat the hair looks:
And when I undid the braids, it was sort of hard to notice any that were frizzy because of the waves.
It's kinda like how big curly hair can be frizzy and not look as bad as if you were trying a straight do and then had frizz.
In the braided pic you saw above, I wouldn't be surprised if all the braids that you don't see were really messy and only the ones on top were done.
I don't know how much TV you get to watch, but I watch a lot and there isn't a moment when I'm sitting down watching TV when I am not looking for a braid that needs redoing.
Another thing about redoing your braids is you stop the hair from knotting at the base. (That's also another good reason to wash your braids!
Keeping your scalp clean and making sure if you use braid spray you avoid the area close to your scalp can prevent gunk collecting at the base of your braids.) Every time you redo a braid, use your fingers to gently "comb" and separate your strands. And in time, you will find that your hair stays tangle-free and even on the day you undo, you end up with free tresses that aren't matted up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j68_fk46rNk
Also, have fun with your braids. Style them. Wear a flower as someone suggested. Put them in styles you'd wear your hair were it out and as long and hanging the same.
Last thing, you might be the only on that thinks your own hair is showing. My hair is nothing like the extension hair I use. The hair is so much shinier than my own and I can see my own hair in it, but a coworker and I were talking about African hair and she was telling me how amused she was at her roomie's 4B hair that is usually worn straight and how after she wet it, it disappeared.
(My coworker is white.) She then told me how she asked another lady (company next door) if that was her new weave and how the girl was horrified. (Y'all know how folks went up in arms about the mess Chris Rock started with his movie.
) Anyway, she then said, "But your weave blends well with your hair." I thanked her for thinking so about my "extensions" (I corrected her), coz I do try to at least match the color...even though I don't always nail it. So really, we are our toughest critics and you might be the only one feeling that way.
There are other ways to hide frizz till you fix it: a headband, a hat/cap, an updo so that the length of the braids (especially a braid out) cascades over the bases of your braids and takes attention from them.
