Braids are an easy and relatively cheap way to extend your hair. They’re also one of the easiest styles to DIY – all you need is strong arms, several packets of synthetic hair extensions, and time! You might need a chum to help you with the ones round the back…
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Before you start:
Hair length: Your natural hair needs to be at least 3″ long before you can add braids to it. This is because hair tends to shorten as you braid with it, and you need a decent length of braid that incorporates your own hair for it to hold on, and not slip out in just a few days. – long hair extensions
Holding the braid in at the top: You shouldn’t need glue at the top of the braids – if you braid firmly enough, that will hold it. Glue is hard to get out of a braid, even with remover – avoid if you can! If you’re doing it on your own and are finding that the braids slip at the top while you’re putting them in, consider using some of those small ‘ouchless’ elastic bands at the top while you are plaiting. You can always snip them off later.
You can also try divinding your real hair into three, and dividing the synthetic hair into three, and matching up each piece of real hair with a piece of synthetic hair, so that each ‘stalk’ of the braid is made up of both real and synthetic hair. In this way, you can get your own hair more ‘involved’ in the braid and it holds very well. You can also start the top of the braid with a 4-way box-braid for the first inch or so, then swap to a 3-way braid further down – 4-way braids tend to grip hair better than 3-way braids do.
If you really feel the need for glue, use spirit gum, which does at least rinse out over the course of a few weeks. Just dab a little bit on where your real hair meets the synthetic, at the top.
Size of braids: Smaller braids hold hair better that fat braids do, so if your braids have a tendency to slip, make them a bit thinner. 4-way plaits (box braids) slip less than the basic 3-way plaits. I’ve added a little guide to box braiding here. Also consider the texture of your hair – if your hair is very fine, fat braids will leave more scalp exposed than thinner braids will.
Amount of synthetic hair needed: You’ll need about 6-9 bags of ‘jumbo braid’ hair to do a full head of braids – less if you have an undercut. Jumbo braid is ideal for braiding, and unlike loose hair, it doesn’t really matter how crappy the quality of the jumbo braid is, since it’ll be all tucked away in the braids. Nicer, more expensive hair looks about the same in braids as cheaper hair does, so you might as well save your money. Expensive monofibre hair is wasted in braids! – monofilament wigs
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Where to start:
Whether you start your braiding at the front or the back of your head is up to you.
Whenever I’ve had extensions hair put in professionally, they’ve always started at the nape of my neck and worked forwards, but if you’re doing this on your own, at home, you might wish to get the front part done which you can see better, while you get a feel for what you’re doing.
The other advantage of getting the front done first is that if you only get half a head of braids done after a whole day of braiding, at least it’ll look semi-OK until you finish it off.
I think salons start at the back because it’s easier for them to work that way – they can clip undone hair up, whilst finished extensions hang down and out of the way – remy clip in hair extensions.
If you’re trying to braid your own hair round the back, I advise using two mirrors so you can see the back of your head. Try to section your hair using the mirrors, but you don’t have to watch what you’re doing for the actual braiding, if you can get it right ‘by feel’. I just get confused watching myself braid in reverse, and it was a lot easier for me if I didn’t watch!