Doing My OWN Knotless Box Braids! (BEST Feed-In Method Explanation)
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00 Hey guys, it's Vonn, and today I'm gonna be sharing
00:02 how I do my own knotless feed-in braids, DIY style.
00:06 I'm sharing every single detail of this process,
00:09 including styling, maintenance,
00:11 and if you stay 'til to the end,
00:12 I promise you'll see the finished results.
00:14 Let's go ahead and get started.
00:15 I already know I'm gonna be here for a while,
00:17 so I got my snacks and beverages on deck.
00:19 This is not my first time braiding my own hair, by the way.
00:21 Got my starting line up, my hair clips, my bristle brush,
00:24 my rattail comb, leave-in conditioner,
00:26 styling foam, and my favorite, edge taint.
00:28 For today's set, I'm using one of my favorite types
00:31 of braiding hair to use, and that's the pre-stretched stuff.
00:33 It saves me so much time.
00:34 This is the kind that can be set in hot water.
00:37 I'm using a beautiful blonde ombre.
00:39 The length is 24 inches, can't do anything shorter.
00:41 That's about waist length on me.
00:43 I originally bought six packs of hair.
00:45 I only used three and a little bit of the fourth pack.
00:47 I did not end up having to pre-soak this hair
00:49 or anything like that, because the bleeding
00:51 was very minimal, almost none at all,
00:53 so I was really pleased about that.
00:55 I really like this hair, you guys.
00:57 One of the first things I noticed about it
00:58 is that it was really, really soft and lightweight,
01:00 which I love, and it almost seemed tangle-resistant.
01:03 Like, it was really difficult for the hair to tangle.
01:05 One of the first steps I like to do
01:06 is get the hair out of the bag
01:08 and separate all of my feed-in sections.
01:10 I probably take about maybe a quarter of an inch
01:11 for each one, and I lay them out by the threes
01:14 on my bath towel, because I'm putting three sections
01:16 of feed-in into each braid.
01:18 I know a lot of braiders like to use
01:19 the thread spool holders for the hair sections,
01:22 but this is actually perfect for me.
01:23 I just hang some of the hair on my bathtub knobs
01:26 and put the rest on the big bath towel, and it works out.
01:30 Before we get started, I wanted to show you
01:31 the state of my hair.
01:32 It's not freshly washed, but it is clean.
01:34 I'm reaching for my handheld mirror
01:35 so that I can see myself doing the parts,
01:37 and I like to start from the back.
01:38 This entire process for me takes about seven hours,
01:41 and most of that time is making sure
01:43 that these parts are straight.
01:44 That takes the absolute longest time out of everything.
01:46 To be honest, the braids are quite quick,
01:48 but I spend a lot of time just staring at my parts,
01:50 making sure that they're right,
01:51 because once you start braiding,
01:53 you cannot go back and fix that part.
01:55 I mean, you kinda don't want to,
01:56 so you wanna try and get it right the first time.
01:58 And I kinda start from the back
01:59 to get the hardest part out of the way first,
02:01 so I'm going to definitely saturate my hair
02:03 with my favorite leave-in conditioner.
02:04 This thing right here is the bomb, you guys.
02:07 I saturate the hair really well with this,
02:09 because this ensures that my hair stays moisturized,
02:11 and when I take these braids down,
02:13 my hair still looks good.
02:14 It doesn't look warped.
02:15 It doesn't look dry.
02:16 It doesn't look brittle.
02:17 This is just some footage from my last set
02:19 of knotless box braids that I did,
02:21 and I just wanted to show you guys
02:22 how moisturized my hair looks
02:24 when I'm taking the braids down after weeks of wearing them.
02:26 That's because of this leave-in conditioner.
02:28 All right, so next, I'm just going to apply
02:30 some of that Edge Tamer to the root of my hair.
02:32 This is gonna help with frizz
02:33 and make the braids look nice and finished and shiny,
02:36 and then I'm going to also apply a little bit to the end
02:38 that's gonna help me with the blending.
02:39 Okay, first things first, getting started with the braid.
02:42 You wanna separate the hair into three even sections
02:44 and start your braid like you're getting ready
02:46 to do a whole braid.
02:47 Then you're gonna stop with that finger that's sticking up.
02:49 You're going to loop some of the braiding hair onto there
02:52 and then braid it in.
02:54 When that finger pops back out again,
02:55 you're gonna loop another hook
02:57 of that feed-in hair onto there
02:59 and then loop it in and continue braiding.
03:01 It's super difficult to show and explain this,
03:03 and I realized that as I went on,
03:05 so further in the video, you will see a slowed-down version,
03:08 so definitely keep watching.
03:09 So I'm just going to keep braiding down
03:11 using those three groups of braiding hair
03:13 that I had laid out.
03:14 I'm using my rat tail comb
03:15 to kind of smooth down my natural hair
03:17 so that it really blends nicely into the braiding hair,
03:20 and you kind of start to see why I used
03:21 that Edge Tamer on the ends
03:23 because it really blends in nicely.
03:24 Another benefit to starting your parts in the back
03:27 is that you can really start to kind of stack your braids
03:30 on top of that.
03:31 It really helps with keeping them proportioned and even,
03:34 and then you can also apply a technique
03:36 where you kind of make the braids look like
03:38 they're kind of laid down bricks
03:39 that really looks good on the finish.
03:41 So it's a lot you can do with your parts, right?
03:43 You can keep it simple.
03:44 You can make it really artistic.
03:45 If I was doing someone else's hair,
03:47 I would probably kind of go all out with the parts,
03:48 but I'm keeping it simple
03:50 because it's hard enough as it is.
03:51 So after a few braids in my first row,
03:54 it's time for me to go ahead
03:54 and refill my feed-in hair section station.
03:58 So that's what I'm doing right now.
04:00 Now, in this next segment is where I'm going to
04:02 really try to detail what I'm doing with this braid.
04:04 So go ahead and start off like you're braiding.
04:07 Once that finger is sticking out,
04:09 it's time to go ahead and loop
04:11 that piece of braiding hair onto there,
04:13 and then you're going to continue with your braid.
04:16 Once that finger pops out again, as you guys can see here,
04:19 once you drop that loop of hair onto your finger, right,
04:23 your finger becomes the midpoint
04:25 of both of those hanging pieces.
04:28 You use that as an anchor,
04:29 and then you have the two areas
04:30 where you need to braid into one another,
04:33 using your finger as the anchor for the middle point
04:36 so that the hairs can go in the direction
04:38 that you want them to go.
04:40 When that finger pops back out, like it's doing here,
04:43 you drop another loop of hair on it.
04:46 Just make sure when you drop that hair
04:47 that it's tightly pushed up against your real hair
04:50 and you have a good grip on it,
04:51 or else you're going to have some loose braids
04:53 and bits of hair sticking up,
04:55 and you don't want that, it's unsightly.
04:57 I did have to go through that process
04:59 when I was first learning how to do this,
05:00 so everyone has to learn.
05:02 But yeah, after I finish my first row,
05:04 it's like, whew, 'cause that first row is a doozy.
05:06 After that, you're pretty much just
05:08 building onto your first row,
05:09 so it becomes a little bit easier with your parts and stuff.
05:12 And as I approach my second row,
05:13 I'm going to actually set my part in the middle this time
05:16 and braid in either direction from that,
05:17 'cause it makes it a little easier.
05:19 ♪ I got that for real ♪
05:20 ♪ That was all me, that gas for real ♪
05:21 ♪ I'm a little bit faster than a yo ♪
05:23 ♪ You ain't gonna run across the track or a coast ♪
05:25 ♪ Practice, love is shit ♪
05:27 ♪ Shut the fuck up ♪
05:28 ♪ You let me beat it up, you let me practice ♪
05:31 ♪ Now I'm feeling it, you wanna match it ♪
05:33 ♪ Next, always, oh, what you did ♪
05:36 ♪ Bang, what you did ♪
05:37 Oh my God, girl, these parts,
05:39 they will take you out, honey.
05:40 What you guys see here is progress
05:42 at the two and a half hour mark.
05:44 From here, I'm really gonna work in very specific sections
05:46 because the top of my head actually
05:47 is a lot more surface area than the back,
05:49 so this is gonna take me a lot longer than it looks,
05:51 and putting it into sections helps me to manage it.
05:54 Otherwise, it's kind of overwhelming.
05:56 I feel like when I braid my hair in sections like this,
05:58 especially as we get closer to the crown,
06:00 I have a lot more range of motion with the braids,
06:03 which gives me a lot of flexibility
06:04 when it comes to styling.
06:06 Already, we're in the final phase.
06:07 I've just got one braid left to go.
06:09 I'm just going to tackle it like I have all the others,
06:11 applying that Edge product and my leave-in conditioner.
06:14 I don't think I mentioned this before,
06:15 but I am not braiding the braids all the way down to the ends
06:18 because they're just gonna unravel
06:20 and I'm gonna have to do it all over again
06:21 for the final step.
06:22 So I'm braiding it close to the bottom,
06:24 and then I'm just putting a hair tie on it
06:26 to hold it in place.
06:28 I think the main idea is to try to braid past your real hair
06:31 because that's definitely not a step
06:33 you wanna revisit later,
06:34 but not to waste your time braiding it
06:36 all the way to the ends
06:36 because it's just going to unravel
06:38 and you're going to have to braid it again.
06:39 So in this next step, I'm gonna show you guys
06:41 how I address these ends,
06:43 how I go ahead and seal them and set them
06:44 and keep them from unraveling.
06:46 So let's go ahead and move to the kitchen.
06:48 I got my pot of boiling water on the stove here,
06:50 and I'm showing you guys a section
06:51 that I have already dipped,
06:53 and it's looking pretty sealed and pretty good.
06:55 I did have to dip them a couple of times, you guys.
06:57 Here's the deal with this hair, you guys.
06:59 I don't know if it was because
07:00 it was a very highly lifted ash blonde or what,
07:03 but the hair was not setting with just hot water.
07:05 It needed to be raging, boiling,
07:08 and I had to dip every section like two or three times
07:10 in order for it to actually set.
07:12 It did eventually work,
07:13 but I was kind of worried at first.
07:15 I had to go and reread the packaging like,
07:16 this said hot water setting, right?
07:18 Because it really wasn't working until I did it a few times.
07:21 But eventually it set pretty beautifully.
07:23 And then another thing I noticed about this hair, you guys,
07:25 is that because it's a really light color,
07:27 you can really see all the flaws.
07:29 So I really had to go in and groom the hair quite a bit
07:32 once I did the hot water setting.
07:34 So I was doing a little bit of trimming on some of the ends
07:36 and getting some of the flyaway hairs out of the way
07:39 because it's super noticeable on this light colored hair.
07:42 So I mean, it's cute and everything.
07:43 I really love the color,
07:44 but you just need to be really careful
07:46 with these really light lifted blondes
07:48 because it can have a tendency to look a little ratty.
07:51 It can start looking old real quick.
07:53 So you just have to take a little bit extra care.
07:55 But other than that, the hair is super lightweight.
07:58 So it's not like all heavy and stuff.
08:00 Really easy to style,
08:01 really easy to like sleep with this hair and all that stuff.
08:04 So I really loved that aspect of it.
08:06 Now I know some people like to
08:08 deliberately leave baby hairs out.
08:09 I didn't do that because I don't really have to
08:11 because I have actual baby hairs.
08:14 Like the hairs around my perimeter
08:16 are very, very tiny and thin.
08:19 So I already knew they were gonna be hanging out anyway.
08:21 So I just went in with some of my edge control
08:24 and my rat tail comb and just kind of brushed them down.
08:26 And the whole baby hair sculpting thing
08:28 is something that I have to address
08:30 almost on a daily basis because it never lasts.
08:33 And with this next step,
08:34 I'm just going to apply some of that mousse,
08:37 some of that foaming lotion to kind of the area
08:41 where my parts are.
08:42 This is just going to help mold everything down
08:44 and make it look really nice and shiny.
08:46 The same thing with my shine mist,
08:47 just something to put on there to just kind of set the hair.
08:50 I'm going to follow up with my scarf
08:52 just to lay everything down.
08:54 And this is my routine for bed.
08:56 And by doing this at night,
08:57 this is really just preserving my hair
08:58 so that all that hard work doesn't go to waste
09:00 when I wake up in the morning.
09:01 But I don't have to do this every single night,
09:03 but it's really good to do it the first night.
09:04 And these braids were so easy to sleep in.
09:06 It almost didn't even feel like I had braids in.
09:09 Now I wanna show you guys a little bit of maintenance.
09:11 This is how I wrap my hair up for showers
09:13 because a couple of people did ask me about this.
09:15 All I do is create somewhat of a bun
09:17 right at the crown of my head.
09:19 And then I tuck all of this into my satin line cap.
09:22 But you could probably use any type of night cap
09:25 that you normally use, but this one is long,
09:26 so it all fits in there.
09:28 And finally, I wanted to share how I dress the braids up.
09:31 Now in this footage, this is about almost a week later
09:34 after I installed the braids.
09:36 So the hair is a little bit old, but this is perfect
09:38 because I really wanted to show you guys
09:39 how this hair wears over time.
09:41 The next time I do this, I will definitely get longer hair.
09:44 This is a 24 inches, but I like it to be
09:46 just a little bit longer.
09:48 But overall, my styling options are vast.
09:50 I could do whatever I want with these braids.
09:52 I can do part down the middle, part on the side.
09:54 It's really got a lot of flexibility
09:56 and the hair is so lightweight,
09:57 it doesn't bother me to style it in many different ways.
10:00 I would have to recommend this hair, you guys.
10:02 I really love it.
10:03 But also this technique,
10:04 the knotless braiding technique, you guys,
10:06 it is painless, long lasting, and looks super natural.
10:09 I absolutely love it.
10:10 So I hope you guys enjoyed this video
10:12 and I will talk to you in my next one.
10:14 Bye.