Last Chance

This was my last week of updates for this class, and I have to say I think I have come a long way. This week I was looking for some more resources of tips and tricks that could help me have my braid looking even better and tighter! I came across an article from American Salon that was about tips and tricks to master your technique. The article was focused on thicker and different textured hair than mine, yet there were some interesting points in this article. One of the takeaways I had from this article that I have heard in my past videos, websites, and resources is that tension is key when braiding! This is the thing I have been struggling with the most. Keeping the hair tight and evenly tight through the whole braid.

The next resource I stumbled upon was a YouTube video, this video cracked me up because while I was watching it I kept thinking “No way people think this is real!” I was second-guessing everything she said in the video and it took me back to the week we discussed fake news and dependable sources. Some of the tips the person was sharing did seem helpful and possibly true, but many of them seemed kinda out there to me. But who knows! I am pretty uneducated when it comes to hair tips and tricks so maybe these are true! I will link the video below here so you can decide for yourself.

This week was frustrating. I feel like I know how to do the braid and I set expectations for what it should look like but it never turns out quite good enough. I do think I have come a long way and am happy with this week’s braid compared to past weeks but it took a few tries. I have been trying to just casually braid my hair while I am watching TV or sitting around to try and get used to the feeling. And also PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. I made a video using Animoto with this week’s progress, and highs and lows. But because of the free portion of it I cannot download, or embed it into my vlog, so here is the link if you want to CHECK IT OUT.

This was the best braid of the week. It felt tight against my head and was fairly smooth. There were a few spots that went wonky. One of the issues was the part, at some point I must have messed it up and it is nowhere near straight down my head. But some of the tips I have read is that it isn’t awful to have a messy part because then when you take the braids out the hair will be more even at the back and the curls will blend better whereas if you part it perfectly straight the curls will be more divided in the back. Another issue I ran into this week was on the right side of my head, I was pulling the hair up or down instead of even across into the strands. This results in a small weird little bald-spot appearing on the upper end of my head, but it is hard to notice in the pictures I have. It is very difficult to take good pictures of the braids haha! Overall, I think my braids are looking really good and I am definitely going to keep trying to perfect the skill so I can easily do it whenever I want. I also want to try more braids and different styles in the future. Especially now that I know how many resources are available online!