French Braid Alternatives

Many of these are much easier then traditional french braids.  The first video on this post gives a tutorial for french and dutch braiding, if you would like one.

The french rope braid.  Much easier then a french braid, but still looks complicated.

Here is a french rope braid variation on the side of the hair once worn by Rihanna.  The style starts 1 minute into the video.

 

I don't know the proper name for this, but I call it a two strand twist headband.  It is like a french rope braid where you twist as you go.  This makes a more substantial "braid" then a traditional french braid.  Substantial is good if you have thin hair.  :)  This style works on chin length hair and possibly shorter.   Another beautiful preview pic of me.  *sigh*

Twisting hair can be a good way to get the layered sides to stay in an updo.  Start watching at 1:15 for the style and at 5:30 to see twisting the sides.

 

French fishtail.  I'd say this is more difficult then a rope braid, but easier then a French braid.  It takes more time to do then a french braid.

 

Tangle Braid, easier then a french braid.  This style is one "invented" by my sister (We are sure she isn't the first to invent this.)  She calls it Tangle Braid because she does it when she is out and about and the weather has killed her hair.  Because you can section hair in larger sections then French braid, it works well on tangled hair.  Thus, the name tangle braid.  Click to see my blog post on Tangle Braid with a visual aid.  

The waterfall twist for long hair or long layers.  This is sort of a cheater version of the waterfall twist (or you can do this for a cheater waterfall braid).  It won't work on short layers.  

The following braids are all equal to or harder then a french braid (to me).  The first two knot braids however are a little easier then a french braid. 

Waterfall twist.  This one works for shorter layers.  It was about the same level of difficulty as a french braid (to me).

Waterfall Braid.  I can do this on someone else's hair, but get confused doing this on my own hair. Advanced level braiding.

 

 The Knot Braid Updo was a little easier french braiding.  The second video is the same as the first in this group, the "braid" just starts higher on the head.  The second video has clearer directions.  You must cross the hair with the correct strand on top, pull the correct strand through, and twist the strands the right way for each side.  The last version is easier then the first two. I still have to concentrate to make sure I keep knotting in the same direction.

"Braiding" starts 1 minute into this video.

This is another version, the Knotted Headband.  I kept getting confused on this one.  This is more difficult then the two above.  Mine did not look nice and neat like the one in the video.  :(

Looking for the Science-y Hair Blog Recipes?

Science-y Hair Blog is up and posting again.  (Woo-Hoo!)  I've taken down the page on my blog that had her recipes listed.  If you want to find the recipes, head over to Science-y Hair Blog and they are on the recipe page on that blog.  While you are there, be sure to enter to win a free GoosefootPrints hair analysis.  Enter before August 30, 2013.

Win a Free Hair Analysis From GoosefootPrints on ETSY

Want to win  a free hair analysis from GoosefootPrints on ETSY?  Of course you do.  But how?  Head on over to Science-y Hair Blog before August 30, 2013 for more info on how to enter.  Don't know about GoosefootPrints and the awesome Hair Analysis?  Read my blog entry with my sample hair analysis.  Trust me.  You want to win one. 

A Bobby Pin Primer

This post will show you the basics of how to use bobby pins. 
Bobby Pinning 101

Bobby Pinning 201-pin invisibility and how to fix the wonky bits with bobby pins.

The bobby pin trick (from me).  It is a way to hide the bobby pins in your hair.  I only look like I'm on drugs, I swear.  Sheesh, what a bad preview pic.

Get your bangs out of your face with hidden bobby pins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7JE-FY-9co

Me showing the bobby pin trick I learned from my sister, who learned it from someone else. I didn't have pink eye, that is just an effect I managed to create with my eye shadow.  :(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uI-2149tRM

Skip to 1:45.  Cute retro way to put the sides up with a bobby pin.

A good strategy for pinning up wavy hair.  Put the pin in halfway down your hair and then pin that to your head. 

Sally's vs. Goody bobby pins (get the ones from Sally's) and how to remove bobby pins. (Me again.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOp7wEZlF1s

Braid Bonanza

The Braid Encyclopedia:  French, Dutch, Fish, Rope, round 4 strand, and 5 strand braids.

Cute bohemian braids.  Most are super simple, but look complicated.  Some are just braiding with unequal sections of hair.

Easy crisscross braid.  Skip to 1 minute in.

Organic braid without an elastic.  For when you are out and about and want to put your hair up.

Rope Braid using one small and one large section.

Twisty braid.  Just a bunch of twisting.

                                                                           

Carrousel Braid

Not really a braid.  This takes several ponytail holders. 

3D Split Braid.  You spit the outer section.  Bring the middle section between the split outer section.  Recombine the outer section to become the new middle section. 

This one looks complicated, but it isn't.  You split the ponytail and do two rope braids.  Then you twist those rope braids together. 

Ponytail Palooza

Here are some tutorials showing ponytail variations.

The Fake Pony Tail for days when you are out and about and the weather has killed your hair.  It requires a few bobby pins. 

The Stacked Ponytail (by me).  It looks more put together then a regular pony tail.  Your hair only has to be long enough for the front section of your hair to reach to the back center bottom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFtQmTIC4bg

Not Just a Ponytail.  A good one for work.

How to do a perfect ponytail.  The "mohawk" section is left out, teased slightly, and then added to the ponytail.  A piece of hair is wrapped around to hide the band.

Organic ponytail for longer hair.  This does not require a ponytail holder, so it is good for when you are out and your hair needs to be up NOW.

Flip through ponytail or topsytail ponytail and some variations.

Side ponytail

Side ponytail with the Goody Twisty Comb for short hair (It's me).  You can use ponytail holder instead.  Watch at 2:15 for the trick to get your shorter layers to stay.

I Updated my Hair Growth Post

I updated my post that tracks my hair growth with the CG method.  My hair is longer then it has ever been (which is still not long at all).

GoosefootPrints Hair Analysis with My Analysis Results

This analysis was provided to me free of charge.  Feel free to skip down to my sample hair analysis report if you aren’t interested in my musings. In addition to the report below, you will also receive a document that helps you interpret your results.

So, last year the owner of Goosefootprints on Etsy needed some fine porous hair to experiment on. She tests hair in her spare time when she is not working as a scientist.  (Some people crochet...) Hey!  I have fine, porous hair!   So I sent her some.  Since she had my hair, she analyzed it for me and took some cool pictures under a microscope (see below) and she sent me a report about my hair.  (Some people collect stamps...)  I also had my mom send her some hair, so she could experiment on medium-coarse hair with low porosity.  Well, if I did hair analysis, I’d be fired.  My mom’s hair is fine-medium and porous, so I was way off in my “analysis”.  Since then, I stopped giving my mom  “helpful” advice on how to treat her “coarse, non porous” hair.  *smacks head*

Fast forward to last week.  People on the Wavy Hair Community were discussing a place that does hair analysis for $85.  I was joking that I think I owed her some money.   Well...yada, yada, yada...no, no,you should totally do it...messages back and forth...she decided to start a hair analysis business on ETSY.  Woo-hoo!  The report below is a report on my hair, and you can get a similar one about your hair if you order from Goosefootprints on Etsy.  The best part?  Only $22.  No, I think the actual best part is having cool pictures of your hair under a microscope.  That is pretty darned awesome!  But wait, there’s more.  Not only do you get this uber cool report with pictures, you also get a 9 page document that explains the science behind your hair, why certain things work for certain hair types, and all about hair product ingredients.  Plus, you get a chart that shows you which product ingredients will work for your hair type.  That’s 10 whole pages of solid hair info, people! 
 

Seriously though, I think this is a great service that gives you the information you need to know about your hair and hair in general.  I highly recommend it.  My sister's reaction was that if this existed when she started Curly Girl, she could have saved 3 years of experimenting with all the wrong products -- which cost far more than $22!  The documents that come with this report helps you to apply the results of the analysis to your haircare.  I have fine hair, so I just check the section with fine hair to learn how to treat it.  There are similar sections about kinking, pH, etc.  The hair analysis below is just the icing.  The cake is the accompanying documents from GoosefootPrints.

The Analysis

Hair Analysis Results For:

Pedaheh 

Hair strand thickness: Fine
25% is very fine, 35% is fine, the remaining 40% is medium - but most hairs are at the finer end of the medium range.


Key for strand thickness:
Very fine hair: Less than or equal to 40 microns
Fine hair: 40-60 microns
Medium hair: 60-80 microns
Coarse hair Greater than 80 microns
1 micron = 0.001 millimeters


Hair elasticity dry: Normal
Hairs stretched between 20% to 35%


Hair elasticity wet: Normal to low
Your hairs stretched between 28% to 40% of original length, so there is quite a bit of variability - you have a mixture of normal elasticity and low elasticity hairs.


"Normal" dry elasticity is the ability to stretch 20-30% of original length
"Normal" wet elasticity is the ability to stretch 50% of original length


Porosity: Normal to porous
Your hairs vary from normal porosity to porous, with only slightly increasing porosity from root to ends. Kinking adds increased porosity. In some cases, there is normal-porosity hair immediately next to a microscopic kink upon which there are many more broken cuticles. The kinking on your hairs, where it occurred, is microscopic and can occur as frequently as 0.4 mm apart (0.015 inches apart). Those hairs feel bumpy. When it occurred less frequently (and in finer hairs) the hair feels mostly smooth and slippery with just a few bumpy places.


Porosity is determined visually.
Low porosity: Hair with cuticles intact when viewed face-on and with cuticles overlapping snugly when viewed on the edge of the hair.
Normal porosity: Takes into account normal wear and tear. Viewed face-on there are chipped cuticles with rare small gaps, rare cracks. Viewed from the edge, cuticles look like shingles on a roof with few flaring or jagged ("raised") looking cuticle scales.
Porous: Many chipped, broken or missing cuticle scales. Cracks may be present and frequent. Viewed on the edge, cuticles can be seen flaring out at the ends or standing away from the hair.



Kinking: Kinking is present. 40% of the hairs examined had microscopic and some macroscopic (visible to the naked eye) kinks of the narrowing and also twisting type. This kinking is significant enough to add porosity to your otherwise healthy hair.



pH: Because you said you occasionally use citric acid rinses, I tested your hairs in a citric acid and distilled water solution at 2 concentrations: 1/4 teaspoon citric acid in 1 cup of water
(pH 2-2.5) and 1/8 teaspoon citric acid in 1 cup of water (pH 3). At the higher concentration, the hair began to show signs of acid moving into the hair (see photo) and more swelling than in water alone. The lesser concentration had a lesser effect.
You might consider reducing the amount of citric acid in your rinses if it will still give you the desired result.
I also tested your hair in a solution of 1 tablespoon baking soda per cup of water, pH 8. Your hair responded dramatically to this! Swelling was pronounced, cuticles were clearly lifted away as a result and bubbles were evolving from the hair, which is common when hair is placed in too-high pH - that high pH solution is diffusing in and proteins and lipids are going out into the baking soda solution.

The above 2 photos are the same hair with a different focus to show the details.

Disclaimer: This analysis is based on physical measurements and visual examination. There is
no guarantee that the suggested ingredients will work for your hair. Recommendations are based on ingredient manufacturer’s specifications and testing, articles published in peer reviewed journals, and hair science texts.