COMM101 How to French Braid Hair

Hello! I hope you’re having a great day! My name is Ashley Shepherd and I have been braiding hair since I was little. My dad taught me on a Barbie doll. Thank you for taking time out of your day to learn more about how to French braid hair. Braiding hair can come difficult to some while others find it very easy. It depends on the teacher you have and how patient you are willing to be during the process. You need very limited supplies during this procedure:

- Brush

- Hairband

First, you’re going to start by needing a hair band and a brush. (Greasy hair would work best in this case, so you have a better hold and so the hair isn’t slipping through your fingers) You don’t want to braid knotty hair that is hard to manage. After getting your supplies, start by brushing the hair to get rid of those knots/tangles. Once you have your knots and tangles out, gather all your hair at the top of your head and divide it into three sections. At first, you’re going to see very knotty hair so you’re going to want to brush through it so it is easier to manage when braiding. After brushing through it, it will be a lot smoother and easier to handle.

Now you have your hair brushed out and it is time to begin the braid. Starting at your hairline, grab enough hair to start a regular braid. Once you have your hair in hand, divide it into three equal sections. Hold the right section in the right hand, left section in left hand and middle section between your thumb and another finger of either hand. To begin the braid, cross right section over middle section, then repeat this move with left section, smoothing hair down as you go. Make sure you pull sections tight; you don’t want the braid to be loose and come undone. When you have the three sections split off in the beginning, it can be difficult to know how to start but just do it how you would a normal braid. After you’ve started the braiding process, you will see it all come together. It looks like a tight braid on top of your head.

Now it is time to add hair to the section. Before repeating your cross-over motion with the right section, gather a little bit of additional hair from the head’s right side and add it to this section; now cross this larger portion of hair over the middle section of the braid. This may be a little tricky as you’ll figure that if you aren’t pulling hard enough, hair will fall out between your fingers. Be careful when adding hair, if the sections of hair you’re adding are not equal, the braid could look uneven. While braiding you will see it start to come together slowly and start to look like a French braid.

Next, we will add hair to the section on the other side. Gather a small section (of equal size to the one you just gathered) of the remaining hair on the left side of your head up and into the left section, and cross that over the middle section. Continue doing the steps we went through earlier making sure you’ve gathered all of your loose hairs. Once you’ve reached the hair towards the bottom of your head, finish it off with a normal braid. Once the braid is done, secure with a hair band. In the end, the braid should look tight on the head and like there are continuous braids going down throughout.