I did a french braid on my own hair!! I'm amazed! My arms are killing me, but my hair's up in a nice braid that I never thought I'd be able to do. And I still understand how I did it, which is the amazing part. I'm so happy!!  :D  I can barely do an english braid. not very good at them. I just managed to do one that's actually good last night.

It's messy and there's a lot of hair from one strand getting into the others so it's got a frizzy look, but I'm just wearing it to bed so whatever. I guess that'll get easier to avoid with time?

Anyway, does anyone have any tips for making a braid neater and less messy?

I still can't do my own french braid and I have been trying for years!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!  ;D

Thank you Tara! =)

Congrats...they are arm killers but worth it when you get it done  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Hooray! French braids are so pretty. Congratulations on your first one.  :)

My only suggestion to making them neater is practice, really.
When I first started trying them out, I had better luck starting from a partial up-do instead of at the very top. As in, starting the braid at around the level of my ears. The bottom half of my hair is way easier to braid than the top, and it cuts the time of braiding in half, which I think helped train my arms to get used to being up over my head for longer periods of time.

Happy braiding!

Congrats on the braiding!  I know it's an arm killer,but the end results are so well worth it! :)

Thanks everybody. :)

And KNS: Hey, that's a good idea. I never thought about that. Like a half-up French braid. Fun! I'll try that sometime.

Congratulations on your accomplishment!

To make the braid neater, in addition to practice you could dampen your hands to smooth the sections as you add them.  A spray gel with light hold may also help.

If you have some texture to your hair (wavy or curly) you could start with damp hair, being very careful not to stretch the strands.

Awesome! Wait until you master the Dutch braid.

When I first started I had frizz issues too. It just takes time. practice and patience. Soon you will be doing this and wondering how you ever had a hard time in the first place.