Do Braid Outs Just Look Better On...

[LadyBlu]

ladies with thicker, longer hair?

I am asking because I really want to perfect this style, but can't seem to get it quite right. Here are my issues:

I have fine hair, and I don't have much of it. Usually my braid outs make me look like I have even less hair. My goal is to get a more volumized look.

My hair takes FOREVER to dry! I think my hair is just porous, so the air drying thing never works for me. It has taken my hair in excess of 14 hours to dry hanging loose! add the volume of a few braids, I could be waiting days. Would sitting under the dryer for a SHORT period help this (I hate sitting under the dryer)?

My hair is just past my collar bone, and it looks like a lil fro (well a big one) when unbraided. I never get that sleek look, rather a frizzy, puffy mess. What am I doing wrong?

I see so many sleek, gorgeous braid outs on the forum, but they tend to look their best on women with thicker, longer hair.

Is there any hope for a thin haired shorty like me?

 

[Miss*Tress]

Here are a few techniques I use which may help you:

• Use a pomade or setting lotion on wet or damp hair before braiding. That is essential (for some including myself) to keeping the hair from going frizzy.
• Try sitting under the dryer for about 15-20 minutes before going to bed. Your hair should be fully dry by morning. It should be completely dry before you take the braids out, or your hair will look puffy and frizzy.
• Depending on how thin or fine your hair is, you may need to comb your braid-out to get some volume. Watch out for the type of comb though. I once used a pick on my braid-out and it looked like I had brushed out all the curl and ended up having to wear a bun that day.

HTH

 

[Dposh167]

i have thin/fine hair.

the style in my siggy is a 2 strand twist out. with the same technique as a braid out. BUT I did it on dry hair.

i noticed that when i do it on wet hair the wave definition is not defined enuff. i don't know if its b/c of my length or b/c it's thin, but I have better success doing braidouts on dry hair then wet. maybe u should try it on dry hair one day.

 

[Tenacious]

It seems like the longer my hair gets, the worse my braidouts are. I wont say longer hair looks better, if you're going for that bush/afro look. It was cute for me when I was transitioning SL relaxed hair, but now that its APL natural, it looks like I've been electrocuted ...thats just me

 

[foxieroxienyc]

Hey there, I have fine hair as well and I've been doing braidouts again recently. My hair is also relaxed. For me to get the best finished look, I use a leave-in (Salerm 21), seal with a VERY VERY small amount of a light oil, braid and sit under the dryer for about 15 mins or so on a low heat (I may start doing a cool setting just because I'm trying to reduce heat on my hair overall). Then I allow it to air dry the rest of the way. I usually braid all the way to the end of the hair w/o using curlers, and let them hang dry. Once they're done, I unbraid, flip myself over - bend down - and finger comb gently. I usually do this before bed time, so I put on my satin bonnet and take it off in the morning and I'm good to go.

There are times when I take out the braids and my hair is like 90% dry, what I have found works for me is to just simply sit under the dryer on a cool setting and just gently seperate the hair a little with my fingertips and that causes the hair to have just a little more volume. I normally do all my braidouts this way than to let them dry all the way before taking the braids out, for me my hair has a chance to get a little more shrinkage while drying which causes that voluminous look (for me at least). Works like a charm, in fact I JUST washed/DC'd/flat-iron my hair yesterday and it's taking all the power in me to NOT co-wash today and braidout, lol.

I dont want to inundate your thread with my pics but here are links to my finished product from my fotki:
http://hotimg5.fotki.com/b/72_68/164_101/BraidOutJan_071277.jpg

http://hotimg14.fotki.com/a/72_68/164_101/BraidOutJan_073-vi.jpg

I like wet braidouts because for me the pattern is defined a lot better. During the week for upkeep I spray my hair with a little leave-in (Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave-in that I mix with a tiny bit of Coconut Milk) and seal with oil (either castor or coconut oil).

 

[KinksnCurlz]

Try doing them on slightly dried hair. Dry your hair at least 95% and then do your braids. When you take them out, fingerstyle, then use a pik but DO NOT pik all the way through your hair or you will create frizz. That will give you the volume that you need.

If all else fails, get a really pretty headband.

 

[seeminglysweet]

Try doing them on slightly dried hair. Dry your hair at least 95% and then do your braids. When you take them out, fingerstyle, then use a pik but DO NOT pik all the way through your hair or you will create frizz. That will give you the volume that you need.

If all else fails, get a really pretty headband.

I agree with this.

Another thing I do is the reverse:
Bbraid the hair when its soaking wet, seal the ends with pomade or serum and unbraid it when its 95% dry and fluff it up into the way i want it to look and then let it dry the rest of the way.

 

[frizzy]

I did this one below, last year, and cannot for the life of me remember or duplicate how I did it. I tried one last week and it was .

But the point is, my hair was short, so I think tecnique has a lot to do with it.

 

[PinkAngel]

my hair used to take forever to dry....almost 2 days. Someone suggested I use Porosity Control and after that it's dry the following morning when I do braid-outs. Now I just wash, condition, apply a leave-in + Wave Nouvea moisturing lotion or Elasta QP Mango Butter and braid by morning it's dry.

 

[Isis]

I agree with Msshic about using Porosity Control if your hair takes too long to dry (or dries too quidkly). It restores your hair to the proper pH of 4.5.

Also, I prefer doing braidouts on hair after I airdried it. A braidout was one of the styles I started out doing at LHCF to grow out my hair. I have never tried it on wet hair yet. I don't use a styling lotion since my freshly washed hair is moisturized after airdrying and even after 30 minutes in 4 braids, the waves are already loosely defined.

BTW, how many braids you make determine the size of the waves. Many braids can produce more of a 'fro result, while less braids (even two) will produce larger waves.

 

[LadyBlu]

OK Ladies...

I tried the braid out again on wet hair and...it was OK. I still can't get the definition I want. It always looks too..."poofy".

This time I tried it on wet hair. I applied a leave in and a little S-curl for moisture. My hair was dry in the AM, but it still had that "afro" look.

I am still going to play with this a little more. I am going to try 2 strand twists and bigger perm rods at the end to see if that makes a difference.

However... I am intrigued about the "dry hair" twist out. Can someone post instructions? Thanks!

 

[glamazon386]

You probably just need to experiment with the size of the braids. When I was relaxed I found that twist outs (2 strand twists straight back) made my hair look fuller than braid outs (cornrows straight back). I'm not sure why that was, but it appeared that way. Also, it should look fuller if you do it on dry hair. Doing it on wet hair is going to smooth the hair out more almost like setting it.