French Braid

     Today I did my hair into a French braid.  I personally find Dutch braids to be much easier to do, but I put in the extra effort and time to do a French braid today.  I chose this style because I was not sure if I would be sparring or not in martial arts class today, and I need a hairstyle that will fit under my protective gear if I need to wear it.

Here is a photo of my hair today:

     I first learned to French braid from the Dreamweaver website (French braid instructions).  Although, on my first try I accidentally brought the new sections under instead of over, and ended up with a Dutch braid.  I found it very hard to bring the sections over; my fingers seem to automatically want to bring the new sections under.

For the visual people, here is an instructional video:

Hairstyle - October 29, 2012

     It is better for hair to vary the style worn.  Wearing the same style day after day can stress the same sections of hair over and over, leading to damage and breakage.  Such damage can be seen as segments of hair that are becoming thinned, and which may have noticeable broken hairs.  A common example would be putting your hair in a ponytail everyday.  Eventually breakage will happen among the hairs regularly stressed by the hair band.  How fast will such damage occur?  That will depend on an individual's hair type.  Those with finer strands will likely sustain the most damage, and get it quicker.

     Unfortunately for me, I have a bad habit of wearing the same old quick bun every day.  The only way I ever get out of that rut is by posting daily hairstyles online.  Now, I may not have time to post every day, but I will try to do so frequently.  There are hundreds of style options I can choose from.

     Today I chose to do two equilibrium buns, held with hair pins.  The nice thing about an equilibrium bun is that it hides taper (taper is the hair getting thinner towards the hemline, it is completely natural, but in my case it is heavily exaggerated due to past health problems).  The problem with equilibrium buns is that they are harder to keep smooth and neat, at least for me and my wavy hair.  My double equilibrium buns came out a little messy.

Here is the photo (sorry about the poor lighting):

The following is a video demonstrating how to do an equilibrium bun:

Introduction

     I love having long hair, and in general I find long hair to be very beautiful.  I appreciate long hair on both women and men.  I believe each person is free to do whatever they wish with their hair, regardless of age or ethnicity.  I do, however, have a personal preference for natural hair, be it wavy, straight, or curly; and regardless of color.

     My own hair is naturally wavy and brown (the background image is actually my daughter's hair, not mine).  For those of you who are familiar with Fia's Hairtyping system, my hair type is 2bMii.  That means that my hair is wavy, the strands are neither fine nor coarse, and my ponytail circumference is between 2 and 4 inches.  Right now my hair is between BSL (bra-strap length) and waist length.  I don't like it being this short, but a large amount of my hair fell out in the last couple of years due to health problems, and is just starting to regrow.  It is still thin from just below my armpits, down to my hemline (the ends of my hair).  I hennaed my hair, and bleached and hennaed a streak, when my hair began to regrow, after getting my health problems taken care of.  This gives me a nice marker for watching my regrowth.

     Not everyone who may read this will be familiar with Fia's Hairtyping System, so I am providing more information about it.  Here is a quote, taken from Fox on the Long Hair Loom, which gives a verbal description of Fia's Hairtyping System:

"First classifier - Your curliness (or lack thereof) 

The straight ones 
1a - stick straight 
1b - straight but with a slight body wave, just enough to add some volume, doesn't look wavy 
1c - straight with body wave and one or two visible S-waves (e.g. nape of neck or temples) 

The wavy ones 
2a - loose, stretched out S-waves throughout the hair 
2b - shorter, more distinct S-waves (similar to waves from braiding damp hair) 
2c - distinct S-waves and the odd spiral curl forming here and there 


The curly ones 
3a - big, loose spiral curls 
3b - bouncy ringlets 
3c - tight corkscrews 

The really curly ones 
4a - tightly coiled S-curls 
4b - tightly coiled hair bending in sharp angles (Z-pattern) 

Second classifier - What (most of) your individual strands look like 

F - Fine 
Thin strands that sometimes are almost translucent when held up to the light. Shed strands can be hard to see even against a contrasting background. Similar to hair found on many people of Scandinavian descent. 

N - Normal 
Strands are neither fine nor coarse. Similar to hair found on many Caucasians. 

C - Coarse 
Thick strands that where shed strands usually are easily identified against most backgrounds. Similar to hair found on many people of Asian or native American descent. 

Third classifier - Your overall volume of hair 
Put your hair in a ponytail with as much hair as possible in it. Don't bother with the way it looks - the goal is to have most/all of your hair in there. If it means it sits smack dab on top of your head, put it there. 

Measure the circumference of the ponytail. If you have bangs and/or you can't get all of your hair in there adjust according to how much of your hair you have measured. 

i - thin (less than 2 inches/5 centimeters) 
ii - normal (between 2-4 inches or 5-10 centimeters) 
iii - thick (more than 4 inches/10 centimeters) 

If you are having difficulty determining the thickness of individual hairs, this might help: 

Take a strand of hair from the back of your head. Roll the strand between your thumb and index finger. 

Fine Hair -- Your hair is difficult to feel or it feels like an ultra-fine strand of silk 

Coarse Hair -- Your hair feels hard and wiry. As you roll it back and forth, you may actually hear it! 

Medium Hair -- Your hair feels like a cotton thread. You can feel it, but it isn't stiff or rough. It is neither fine or coarse."

My quick search of the web (very quick, by no means exhaustive...I only checked the first two pages) did not reveal the website that Fia had which contained photographs of examples for each category.  If anyone reading this knows if it is still in existence, I would appreciate it if you left a link in my comments.  On another note, I think someone on The Long Hair Community was planning to make a new image bank for Fia's Hairtyping System, but their server is currently maxed out and the site has been inaccessible for me for weeks now.

Have a nice day!

:)




Links related to this post:
Source for Fox's quote
The Long Hair Loom
The Long Hair Community (unavailable at the time of this post)