How To Braid Black Hair Step By Step With Pictures

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Cornrows are a fun and practical style to wear natural hair. They add style to hair that you're growing out, and besides protect your hair from heat harm caused past other styling techniques. For basic front-to-dorsum cornrows, follow a series of easy steps to get great braids. For someone who's more experienced with braiding, yous tin separate your rows in a number of unique styles to create a cornrow wait that's perfect for you.

1
Wash and detangle your hair. Use your normal shampoo and conditioner to wash your hair. While its damp, detangle your pilus with a leave-in conditioner and brush, and so apply an oil or butter to lock in wet. Your hair will be much easier to braid when information technology is moisturized and free of tangles.
- Examples of oils or butters you can use to go on your hair moisturized and tangle-free are coconut oil, argan oil, jojoba oil, shea butter, or aloe butter products. Check the natural pilus care aisle at a pharmacy or beauty supply store to find these products.
- If your natural hair is tightly coiled, you lot may also want to blow dry out your hair earlier yous start braiding. Accident drying will help stretch out your curls and give your cornrows a neater look.
2
Part your hair in rows from front to back. Use the finish of a rat-tail comb to role your hair in rows from your forehead to the nape of your neck. Y'all can part your hair downwardly the middle first, from your forehead to your neck, and then carve up each side section into one-iii more rows. Secure the rows in place with small-tooth clips or with bobby pins.
- If you don't want a middle function, create 2 parts almost the middle to make a row right on top of your caput, then brand more rows on the sides from there.
- Try to brand your parts evenly spaced so that your rows are well-nigh the aforementioned size.
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3
Divide the first row into 3 small sections. Brainstorm with a row of hair on top or on the side and unclip it. Take some pilus in your fingers from the front near your brow or ear. Split up that row into 3 fifty-fifty sections with your fingers: a left section, center section, and right section.^[1]
- You should use both hands to do this, with 1 hand property 1 section of hair, while the other hand holds 2 separated sections of hair.
- Earlier y'all start braiding, you lot may want to add a flake of edge control along your hairline. This will assistance you lot grip the hair easier, tame flyaways, and go along your cornrows groovy.
4
Make the start complect stitch. Starting with either the left or right section in your fingers, move it over and on tiptop of the center section, replacing the center with it. Then move the section on the contrary side over so that it is in the heart, and switch the current center slice with that side.
- At all times you will all the same take ane hand holding 1 section of hair, while the other hand holds 2 separated sections.
5
Add a minor section of hair from the row underneath to each braid stitch. Echo the above complect stitch technique, adding a ¹⁄₂ in (i.3 cm) department of hair to each stitch equally you go. Every time you brand a new complect run up, add more hair from the row, and continue until y'all achieve the nape of your cervix. This will keep the braid attached to your head.^[2]
- If you don't add more hair with each stitch, the braid volition be loose and come out from your caput instead of existence in a cornrow style. Instead, you want to French complect each row.
EXPERT TIP

Ndeye Anta Niang is a Hair Stylist, Primary Braider, and Founder of AntaBraids, a traveling braiding service based in New York City. Ndeye has over xx years of experience in African hair including braiding box braids, Senegalese twists, crochet braids, faux dread locs, goddess locs, kinky twists, and lakhass braids. Ndeye was the kickoff female person of her tribe in Africa to move to America and is now sharing her knowledge of African braids passed on from generation to generation.

Ndeye Anta Niang
Professional Pilus Stylist & Master Braider

Try not to complect the hair besides tightly. Very small, tight braids aren't good for your hair—they can lead to breakage and can even impairment your follicles.
6
Finish the braid once it's off your scalp and secure information technology with a hairband. When you get to your cervix, y'all won't have any more hair to add into each stitch. Merely finish the braid until you've used up the rest of your hair. If you lot want, yous can secure the braid when it's finished with an elastic pilus band, rubber band, or small barrette.^[3]
- The length of the end of your braid will depend on how long your hair is.
seven

Continue the same braiding technique for each row on your head. Unclip the next row of hair on your caput. Repeat the process: split that row into iii even sections at the front most your forehead or ears, French complect it until you lot reach the nape of your cervix, braid the remaining hair, then secure the complect at the finish with a pilus ring.

1
Try side-swept cornrows for an elegant await. This design is similar to front-to-back cornrows, but it'southward turned on its side. Create three even parts horizontally, beginning at one ear, rather than vertically. Clip all simply 1 section out of the way. Begin each braid at the side virtually your ear, and French braid each row by adding new hair from the row with each stitch.^[4]
- All of your braids should exist braided to i side. Bring your braids either to your left or your right, whichever is your preference.
- These braids will terminate at various places on the other side of your head. Secure them with elastic hair bands merely as you would regular cornrows.
two
Go with swirl cornrows to endeavor something unique. For a piddling twist on traditional cornrows, office your hair starting in the forepart near your forehead, but instead of going directly dorsum, bend the line to 1 side of your head and then back again toward the other side. Create 4 more parallel parts so that you have 5 total rows that announced to swirl from the front end over and around to the back in uniform curved lines. Then create curved cornrow braids inside the parts.^[5]
- End the curved sections of hair at the nape of your cervix on the opposite side from where y'all first headed when you curved the lines. When you're finished with each braid, you can bring together the braids together in a low side-ponytail if you lot like.
3
Braid long cornrows into a high ponytail. If y'all have long hair and like to vesture it in a loftier ponytail, try braiding your cornrows only to the start of where you starting time your ponytail. Create parts around the perimeter of your hairline and complect them dorsum. End each cornrow at the point where you place your ponytail in the back eye of your caput, instead of at the nape of your neck.^[6]
- Feel costless to braid the balance of each row, rather than cornrow information technology, so that your ponytail consists of braids.
- This style besides looks good with dissimilar sized cornrows, so you can arrive easier on yourself by but creating and braiding rows ane at a time.
four
Endeavor cornrows with zig-zag parts for something totally unlike. Create parts in zig-zags by starting at the front by your forehead and going back and forth in two in (5.one cm) lines all the way to the nape of your neck. Then braid your cornrows direct back every bit yous commonly would, only using the hair sectioned off within the zig-zags.^[7]
- Yous can combine this parting mode with other techniques such every bit the side-swept cornrows, or keep it uncomplicated by doing only 1 or 2 zig-zag parts while the rest of your parts are directly.

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Question

How much hair exercise you need for cornrows?

Laura Martin is a Licensed Cosmetologist in Georgia. She has been a hair stylist since 2007 and a cosmetology teacher since 2013.

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Question

How do you do a French complect pace by step?

Laura Martin is a Licensed Cosmetologist in Georgia. She has been a hair stylist since 2007 and a cosmetology teacher since 2013.

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Begin by sectioning out a small piece of hair where y'all want the braid to begin and divide information technology into thirds. Braid, every bit you would a 3-strand complect, but each time you cross an outer strand of pilus over the center add a fleck of additional hair from that side. Go on until yous run out of hair to incorporate, and so plait the ends.
Question

Why is it I become redness and bad itches and bumps on the back of my neck every time I get cornrows (its only been 2 times). This really bothers and concerns me. My neck was never similar this without the cornrows. What can I do to help?

Ashley Adams is a Licensed Cosmetologist and Hair Stylist in Illinois. She completed her Cosmetology education at John Amico School of Hair Design in 2016.

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Bumps and redness may occur when your hair is braided too tightly. Itchiness from braids is normal, especially if hair extensions are added to the braids. You could also have a sensitive scalp.
Question

Is this possible on white girls' hair?

Ashley Adams is a Licensed Cosmetologist and Pilus Stylist in Illinois. She completed her Cosmetology pedagogy at John Amico School of Hair Design in 2016.

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Cornrows tin can exist braided on anyone's hair. However, information technology may be challenging to braid the hair of textures that are naturally straight, considering straight hair tends to be slippery causing the braids to loosen and unravel.
Question

Can I cornrow hair fifty-fifty if information technology is short?

Yep, simply it'll be much harder than it is with long pilus.
Question

Will it work on white people's hair?

People of African American decent typically have thicker, coarser pilus than Caucasians, but it will still work with smoother hair every bit long every bit y'all nevertheless take the precautions this commodity specifies to help keep the braids in. It's possible that Caucasian hair will not keep the braids in as long or as well as the hair type of African Americans, but you lot tin can use hair oil or hairspray to help you with that.
Question

Tin can I brand cornrows stay in longer than a week?

Cornrows will last longer than a calendar week, if you take intendance of them.
Question

Can I apply conditioner when I have cornrows?

Of form! It'south probably better to condition your cornrows rather than shampoo them considering if you lot don't launder all of the shampoo out, they tin can get itchy. If you condition your hair twice a week, it'll stay moisturized. If you lot keep shampooing it mean solar day afterward 24-hour interval, it'll kickoff to dry out over again.
Question

How practise you take the braids out?

Take off the bead or the rubber band. Then apply a comb for the tip of the braid, to disengage it. After that, you can probably use your fingers to take out the rest. For each cornrow, repeat the same method until you get all the cornrows out of your hair. One time finished, wash your hair and information technology'll be clean and loose again.
Question

Could I keep my cornrows in for three-4 weeks?

Information technology depends on your hair type. It's probably amend and healthier for the cornrows to stay in for only 1-two weeks, but if y'all think that your hair blazon would tolerate them for a longer period of time, then go for it!

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Things You'll Need

Shampoo and conditioner
Leave-in conditioner
Blow dryer
Edge control
Styling oil or butter
Rat-tail comb
Rubberband hair bands or small barrettes

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Article Summary X

The easiest manner to create groovy cornrows is to dampen your hair and part a front end section. Accept a modest section of pilus from this section and divide it into three strands. Twist the pilus twice like you would for a normal braid, then add hair from below the complect into the middle strand. After each twist, add together a little more hair to whichever strand is in the center. If you run out of pilus to add, go on with a regular 3-strand braid. For tips on washing your cornrows and keeping them neat at night, read on!

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