How To French Braid

Hi, and welcome to the Braiding Art Academy. My name is Lauralyn. We are going to be demonstrating some techniques on different hair styles today on Afro hair and European hair.

I am now going to be doing an example of a French Braid in European hair. Here's my lovely model here, so here we go. Organize it in your hand into three strands.

We are going to begin to take sections from either side. As even sections as we can and we are going to fold them into a single braid that we've created in the middle. Continue to take fairly even sections from either side up into the middle.

Take as much time as you need when you are doing this. Even professionals need to take time. And you are going to continue this technique taking a section of hair from this side, crossing it over the middle, the other side, and fold it in over the middle.

As you can see, this creates a pleated effect down the middle of the head. This is what they refer to as the French braid. And you just continue to take the hair from either side.

Now at this stage again, you may feel again that you need to brush out the pony tail or the excess hair you've got on the ends. Feel free to do so if you need to. And then you continue as before to take the hair from either side and fold it over the middle until you reach the nape of the neck.

Now at this point, it's going to turn into your standard three-strand braid. You can actually put an elastic band in there from here or you can continue to braid down the actual hair until you get to the point that you want to put on your elastic band. Again let me stress if you are using elastic band in European hair or in Afro hair, be sure to cut it out of the hair rather than pull it out of the hair.

Pulling the elastic bands will cause breakage. Okay and we are going to continue all the way down until we have in the elastic band. And there you have it.

That's your example of a French braid. Again, this is just a large extension of hair that you would normally use for the corn row. Start with the single braid at the top and then lie your hair flat adding the pieces in the outside going over the middle all the way down to the end of the hair.

And then you continue on with your single plait inside or outside until you get to the end. .