Love Your Girls Biracial Curls: 4 Strand Braids

When it comes to braiding, there are so many ways to do it! I've never really ventured far outside of the box when it comes to the varying styles of intricate braids until now. I decided to search on YouTube for some new ideas and some GOOD instructional videos and the one that stuck out to me most was the 4 strand braid. 

This would be considered an "above the norm" type of braid since it incorporates 4 strands instead of the traditional 3 strands. So i pulled out Miss Jenny and went to town. I found out immediately that the quality of the instructional video is a HUGE deal when it comes to attempting to learn online. So it took a hand full of videos before i found the right one, (Click here for the tutorial that i used) it begins at 25 seconds...

I'm going to highlight three different occasions of the 4 Strand Braids on 3 different days.

As i found the above video it all made perfect sense to me!!!

Day 1: On the Manikin

Day 2: Simple 4 strand braid pony tail

Day 3: 4 strand braid pig tails

So here is my first ever 4 strand braid on the manikin...

 Here is a frontal view as you can see the formed rope braid and the intertwining of the strands combined creating the 4 strand braid.

Close up view, the manikins hair is very weird and frayed, nothing i can put on it will smooth it out. Great example of a poor quality head! But the braid looks nice at least.

Super close up! It looks way harder than it is! It took me two times before my hands would coordinate with each other and i didn't have to watch the video again after that.

I was very proud of myself! I quickly began looking for other braid styles to try and i must warn you that the more strands you add the more intricate the braiding gets as well as finger placements. But these braids are amazing when done right and the next morning i had to try these on Diva R but i already pre-assumed that i would not be able to do one big long 4 strand braid on her hair due to its length. I did try though and here are the results...

I used our distilled water spritz for the initial coat of moisture that i intend on being locked in and sealed by the ending of the style. I then applied our Darcy's Botanical's Madagascar Hair Butter, separated my 4 equal sections and began braiding. 

Diva R's length isn't completely even yet, as it grows its evening out which explains the frays that poke out here and there. This was caused by a poor cutting job :( This was the first ever 4 strand braid that i did on Diva R making this my second time ever! As you can probably see the left beginning side of the braid is not where it should be LOL My coordination wasn't really on point yet but i learned what i did wrong and my advice is that as you are reaching under and grabbing the next strand to braid into the braid make sure the hand holding the middle two strands holds them separately and that you wrap the strand you just grabbed with your other hand over the right most middle strand and then cross it over it making those two strands now your middle section. The video i posted above explains it better and shows which ones to grab and when.

As i went the definition of the 4 strand braid POPPED and i just rubber banded it and it stayed until i took it down the next morning. As we went out that day i found that people would stare  at the 4 strand braid as if they were trying to figure it out following up with "wow that is an amazing braid how did you do that did you weave the hair in " and "Ive never seen a braid so cool, how did you learn that?" and "What kind of braid is that did you make it up" I was very proud as well as Diva R with all the compliments coming in and it was a sheer delight to tell everyone who asked that its so simple anyone can do it in 5-10 minutes! That sure got some shocked reactions :)

So day 3's style idea was created in thought of Picture Day for Little Bro Z's Birthday Bash coming up. I desired to do a ponytail design but couldn't find any that suited what i was aiming for so i just did the traditional pig tails with the center part and jazzed them up a bit.

I had on hand my trusty Distilled, Juicy and Bee Mine Curly Butter. I used those respectively as i prepared her hair for the style. I always apply the distilled and juicy from root to tips, the Curly Butter on the other hand i apply 3/4 the way up her hair.

Ive gotten better in just two attempts! I love how the smaller i do them the better and more defined they look! If i could only do a full head of these :D

After applying our choice products i parted her hair down the middle from front to back creating two sides for the pig tails. I then pony tailed them separately and detangled her pig tails with my fingers smoothing them out at the same time.  I braided 1 4 strand braid on each pig tailed side and rubber banded the ends.

I am addicted to different types of braiding now!! YAY


Diva R's Mommy-Kim