Don't you think braid outs are ugly?

I have a question.
How is it that so many of you love your braid/twist outs?

I'm 7 and a half months into transitioning and I think it looks horrible. When I untwist my roots are visibly thick. I used to use braid outs a lot when I was fully relaxed. To me it looked gorgeous. So now on transitioning hair I love it on the relaxed hair, but with the thick roots to me it just looks out of place and noticable. I'm sure natural hair braided/twisted out looks nice but I don't get how it blends AT ALL on transitioning hair.

Is this just supposed to be blending the two textures so the demarcation line is less stressed? or are the two textures actually supposed to look blended?

You should check out IntelligentBeauty's entire Curl Street Journal. She did an awesome job of blending the two textures when she was transitioning.

It may be your method, do you do cornbraids or plaits? I'm not too fond of the plaited braid out on transitioning hair (but thats just me) I usually cornbraid at the root, and then plait the ends, so I end up with one or two cornbraids across the crown, three cornbraids/plaits in the middle and then two or three in the back. Also I make sure I do it on damp hair, using mousse and leave it braided for a few days.... Most people think I'm all natural already or that I'm still reIaxed, so it definitely blends well..... hope this helps. I would post better pics but I can't find my USB cord for my camera, (if you're interested in seeing them I can look a little harder).

Also, you seem to be having a really hard time right now, hang in there and do a lot of Youtube research for styling and product options......

(Sorry, I'm having some issues with the pic, but you can get an idea from my avatar)

I was/am really worried about this. I am only 2-2.5 months post relaxer. I am LOVING my braid outs, BUT............my roots are coming in, and I dont know how to cornrow, I know this plaited braid out wont last forever.........

Chynadoll yeah I can't cornrow either! That's my prroblem. i'm going to find a youtube video and then learn i guess.

Tiashauntee I will check that right now. THANKS!

Ms fenty Thanks a lot. yeah you are right. i always assumed that a cornrowed braid out would look a lot better than these nasty plaited ones I'm doing. The only way a plaited one would work is if I take a smaller amount of hair. But that would be about 30 plaits. A little too long for my liking. thanks I will try to learn. And yeah yours looks good. Wheneever I undo my weaves and then the cornrows it looks really good.. Greasy but good..lol

Braidouts are one of my signature styles & I get TONS of compliments when I wear it!

Plaits don't work because I have too much new growth. I cornroll. I part my hair in 4 sections so I have 2 braids in back, then 2 going down each side (towards my ears). I also section out about an inch along my hair line & do 2 small braids in front. Also done on damp hair. It will take days to dry if I did it on wet hair.

i loved my braid outs on my long transitioning hair. they did blend the textures so it looked the same.

i liked it best when i did it in sixtenn plaits, 8 on each side. then i rolled the plaits onto foam rollers, although the way to the roots. let it dry. i only left it in over night. it came out very spirally, curly and blended.

now i have short transitioning hair and i'm still trying to figure what to do with it. you have a lot of options!! you could try buying some rollers and seeing how that works, even unbraided but pulled taut on rollers would make it cute.

@mrsrenaissance- about how long do your braidouts last?

I find that lately I have to redo my braids very often, I don't know if its all the humidity we've been getting in the Northeast or if its due to the amount of new growth I have (almost 6 months). I used to be able to go for 4-5 days w/o re-braiding, now its almost every night....

HappyCurly Hey thanks a bunch! I will try that, but my hair is already in 20 plaits and that doesnt work. I think I would need like 35. I have a big head plus super thick hair.

mrsrenaissance I will follow that tip

mrs fenty. i think its the humidity. It probably is makingyour roots curl/shrink up?

i'm looking closely at my last braid out; you're right that you can still tell the diff in textures a little. in the braid out, the natural hair has a tighter curl than the relaxed hair, but i think it's blended enough.

Mine used to last about 3 dys, but this humidity is brutal! I have yet to find a product that will hold my style longer than a day. I wear it out, then in a high ponytail/bun with a headband for a couple of more days before shampooing & starting over.

HappyCurly okay. thanks for tellign me ur experiences

mrs renaissance Thanks for the tips about the headband and bun!

chynadoll8799 wrote:I was/am really worried about this. I am only 2-2.5 months post relaxer. I am LOVING my braid outs, BUT............my roots are coming in, and I dont know how to cornrow, I know this plaited braid out wont last forever.........

I have not had a relaxer since 9/09. I love plait braiding my hair for a braid out. I learned how to cornrow this week end by viewing a You Tube video. The best one is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk7CVXqD9Io

HTH

IMO: I don't think braid outs are "ugly". In fact, I think that "ugly" is a strong negative word that should not be used to describe our natural hair and/or natural hair style. Just because the hairstyle did not turn out as one hoped it would, does not mean that it is ugly. It is just different. Let's just work with it.

Naturally esq thanks for posting that ideo. and yeah you are right it is kind of not "ugly." It's just to me it looks a MESS when you see the two different textures, but I did try a braid out about 4 days a go and it came out much better. the key was to make sure my hair was well coated in whatever moisturizer, so when I did take it out it was not frizzy. Also I made sure I coated the roots especially to smooth them out. i did the plaiting method again. it was better.

Hi krys315,

I'm with Naturally Esq - ugly is personal opinion, and this should be a place to be positive about the different kinds of beautiful hair and styles we have.

But I know what you mean about having a negative view of what it looks like. It makes me think and chuckle about the very first relaxer I had just before starting high school. I almost cried (but didn't because I knew my mom was forking out a ton of money) because I thought I looked so ugly with stick straight hair! I liked it on other women, just not on me. I made them put curling rods in my hair right away to put any kind of curl back in my hair! Now I know it was just that it was very different from what I'd considered good-looking on myself, and up to then I'd been a confident girl rockin' a natural. I obviously got used to it, but adjusted to make the style work for me (texturizing instead of relaxing completely straight).

I only do plait braid outs (which I love) because I didn't try long enough to learn other types of braiding, and the plaiting works great to blend my textures as long as I am moisturized, sealed, and using the right styling product for hold and smoothness. If your hair frizzes, then it may mean your hair isn't moisturized enough, or didn't completely dry in the braids. If corn-braiding doesn't work, Nikki flat-twists at the roots of her twist-outs. Keep trying and I'm sure you'll find something that works for you.

@Naturally Esq, thank for you the corn row video! I'm really bad at flat-twisting, so I'm going to try corn-rows again, and this video looks really good.

Have a great weekend!

I can't cornbraid so I plait, and my braid outs look good to me...I think?. Definitely, keep practicing and they will get better.

I rarely use styling products. I pretty much stick to my trusted spray bottle (water, HEHH conditioner, olive oil, coconut oil and honey). I just added the honey part recently. I find that it works really well on my new growth to keep it looking like the rest of my hair.

After I spray my hair with my spray bottle mix I take a small amount of honey and apply it to my roots. As long as you don't put too much to make it sticky it works pretty well and blends my hair pretty much seamlessly.

I think this is my new holy grail

I love braid outs the most.

Its so simple and mine always come out just how I want them. I shampoo and condition and then I put leave in conditioner in. I braid in the direction where I want the hair to lay, and then I roll up the ends. To seal the braid I put eco-styler [the clear kind] on the ends.

Idk? Mine blend in very well but I guess it all depends on what you like. I don't like twist outs on my hair because I can never get the right result. Hth. :]

i get d same results...d relaxed ends come out really stringy n d 2 textures are soo obvious...den i co-washed and tried bantu knots they came really nice!

Just wanted to say thanks so much ladies. Really helped me. It blends slightly better, but not how I wish. The cornbraiding thing, well i still can't do it. I need someone else's head to practice on i think to get the hang of it

Silly question - What is plaiting, exactly? Thanks!

Hey CurlChef Robin
Plaiting is just box braids...which is just single braids....When I refer to "plaits" it is not small braids though. Maybe no more than 20 on the head

Thanks! That's what I do. I must admit, now that I am almost 6 months into my transition it's becoming more and more difficult to deal with the two textures. I'm really thinking about going ahead and doing the BC.