Advertisements
So my Athena finally has hair long enough to put into some nice styles. Recently I did box braids on her and they came out OK, not as well as I'd have liked, but not bad. The problem is that it takes me a while and I'm hoping I can get faster and that she can get more patient. :)
It took me 2 hours to put in about 20 braids, including the beading. That was in addition to chasing her brother away from the icemaker and keeping her sister in control along with her moving her head a lot, so it could have been somewhat faster.
For people that do this regularly, how long does it take and how many braids do you do?
Also, I think it would be a lot easier if I could do it over a couple days, but I can't think of a way that I could make the unstyled hair look good. I tried putting in a big ponytail in the back but I didn't like it with the braids. I could do puffs but again, mixed with the braids it doesn't seem right.
I also put in a rubber band at the hairline along with one at the end of the braid.... usually when I see kids with box braids there isn't a rubber band at the top of the braid, but hers doesn't seem like it would stay very long without that. If you have any solutions, let me know!
I also wanted to show off my beautiful little goddess, so here's a few shots of her in her new style. :)
Like
Share
Advertisements
When I do DS's hair in box braids (which I haven't for a while and probably won't again because its too long and he is too old), I do big boxes first (like maybe 6 braids total) and then I take out a section at a time and break that down into smaller braids, starting at the bottom of the back. That seems to give me a few days to do it in stages without it looking ridiculous.
Honestly, box braids last so long that I would take her somewhere to have them braided and then you can do clean up braiding ever couple of weeks.
Advertisements
I think my E is the same age as your younger daughter. Best advice I have gotten about braiding is to do it right at bedtime so they fall asleep and you can have time to do it. I've been doing cornrows to try to keep E's hair healthy in the dry winter air. Usually I do her whole head, which takes me one to two hours. (I am hoping practice will make me a little speedier). Tonight I just did the front across in three rows like a headband and left the back free. That might be another strategy for you to consider if you want to take it in stages. BTW, parting sections is the hardest part for me (as you'll see in the pic).[ATTACH]86362[/ATTACH]
I just saw the thread Ocean!! I love her braids!! She's gorgeous as always!!!
With S I still have to do the bands at the top, I used to match the color with the beads, but I've found the black ones from Sally's last longer and don't tear her hair as I can snip them out or just untwist a couple times then they fall out as I'm washing it and undoing the braids. You also can't see them in person or in photos so other Momma's probably wouldn't notice them unless up close and inspecting my work ;) So I bet other momma's do the same to make them last. S's hair really wouldn't hold well without them either.
As far as time, 2 hrs is pretty on target for me. Although if I cornrow the front away from her face it's a bit quicker since there are less braids. The problem this time is it's getting thicker so I had to do a few more cornrows so the beads would still fit on.
I have broken it up over a couple days before. Look on FB to see pics. I did the front 1/2 of her head one night. And the back 1/2 I parted down the middle and did hanging 2 strand twists with ballies to match the beads in October for halloween hairdo. I'm with you I didn't care for just puffs.
I felt like I was going faster because I had 6 of the bead threaders this time so I'd make hubby get off his kindle to "reload" the beads as I was working on the braids. ;) And I like to think if he's watching some he make pick up a few styles he can do if I'm ever unable to do it for one reason or another. Although he's pretty scared to touch her hair still! lol
Advertisements
Nice Oceanica, I did my first attempt at braiding tonight and it was pitiful. I then went on youtube and found some video demonstrations that make sense and will try again with L sometime.
L just has had such curly hair, I just would let it bob with a barrette or two....now that I'm letting it grow long, I need to start being more creative. Maybe you can teach me LOL
My advice, which is a mix of all the others really. I do larger braids like Nevada Jen mentioned, like maybe 6 or 7 one night and I use the black bands from Sallys as KLL08 mentioned. And the most important is doing it at bedtime as sissyminsky mentioned as N is more relaxed and tired, so I am able to do her hair and let her lay on the floor while I do it.
Also, with the 6 or 7 braids, then the next night I will sit down and break each one of those down into 2 to 4 braids and then following night I will do it again if I want it to be smaller braids yet. I think the parting and initial braiding is much more time consuming than the breaking apart into smaller braids on the following nights. My daughter is now 7 and although she is not happy about me braiding any more than she ever was, she tolerates it for the most part. The last time I did her hair like this, I ended up with 110 braids when everything was said and done. It was adorable!! (taking them out was a chore though :) )
theduncanz
My daughter is now 7 and although she is not happy about me braiding any more than she ever was, she tolerates it for the most part. The last time I did her hair like this, I ended up with 110 braids when everything was said and done. It was adorable!! (taking them out was a chore though :) )
Advertisements
My AD is 6 and has been with us for a year now. I've learned how to do twists and braids by watching youtube videos and blogs from other adoptive moms. In the beginning I took her to a salon to get her hair done. It always looked great, but it got real expensive real fast. Now I always do her hair myself. I can do a head full of small to medium box twists in 5-6 hours, from washing and combing out to finished. These will last 2-3 weeks with a sleep cap and daily moisturizing. Then we wash it and dry it with the same twists in. Then we take the twists out very gently and let her wear a twist out for the next week. It's super cute! H loves to wear her hair down like this.