How To Braid Hair Like An Absolute Champ

If you’re planning on becoming the Chad of hair braiding technique, you’ve come to the right article to help you out. Although the beautiful braids on Pinterest might be out of your league in the present, there’s plenty of time to learn and grow into an expert hair braider. Here’s my advice on how to braid hair!

1. Time Your Braid

The faster you can do a simple braid in your hair, the faster you’ll get the dexterity required to complete those complex ones. Put a timer on your phone and practice doing both thick and small braids as fast and clean as you possibly can.

2. Try Different Kinds of Braids

There are many different types of braids, and you might discover that one comes more naturally than the others. Perhaps you’re a natural at Dutch braiding, or maybe you’re an anomaly and fishtail braids come most-natural to you. Whatever the case, as long as you find at least a couple different types that you can use, there are plenty of styles and lengths of hair to mix up the look you get as a result at the end.

3. Practice on Different Hair

Getting good at braiding hair isn’t just for your own sake, it’s for your friends and maybe even future kids as well. Don’t just braid long straight hair, ask your friends who have short, long, curly, thick, thin, and any type of hair in-between. Learning how to work with different hair types will increase your skill both on others and your own hair.

4. Ask Friends

Friends have a tendency to request specific styles and types of braids when you offer to fix their hair, which will push you to take your hair braiding prowess to entirely new heights. If you lack the friends with suitable hair or the patience to let you braid it, try your younger siblings. If your younger siblings are a dead end, ask your mother. I’m sure she’d be happy to let you practice your braid mastery on her lovely hair.

5. Separate the Hair Using Bands

Using hair bands to section off different pieces of hair is especially useful for dual-braids or ones of the French persuasion. Try parting the hair in the middle and doing two down the back, or braiding from one side to the other. If you band the hair at the nape of the neck back before beginning to braid, you’ll save yourself the exhaustion of mixing up different portions.

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6. Keep Checking for Stray Strands

There is no worse feeling than finishing a braid only to figure out that you’ve left out a chunk or small part. With the fact that it’s a braid, the only option is to re-do all of your hard work. It’s frustrating and annoying, so make sure, especially near the end, that the only hair left out of your braid are the parts you intentionally leave un-braided.

7. Frame Your Face

As a stylistic choice, one of the cutest things you can do when braiding your hair is to leave a long strand on either side. It creates a sort of cute and messy look which creates facial framing, much like a skilled haircut would. Curling these strands will only add to the look, but seeing as they won’t be quite thick, take extra care not to accidentally burn either of the strands off.

8. Avoid Layers

If you have layers or the person whose hair you plan to braid, make extra sure to bring a plethora of bobby pins. Layers are the natural enemy of braids, so if you braid a lot, and unless you want little pieces sticking up every which-a-way, you’ll avoid getting layers cut in your hair.