Styling for Those Who Can’t Braid

Having natural hair is definitely a fun journey to experiment with different hairstyles and products. I personally love looking at new ways to do my hair. There are definitely plenty of ways to do my 4c hair, but a good amount of the hairstyles you’ll see when you look at them up will require braids. However, I’m stuck with a huge problem: I can’t braid. A support group for young black girls who cannot braid is in the works on my end, but in the meantime, I’ll share a few tips for how to get a braided style with no braids.  

When I’m in the mood for a snazzy ponytail, I like to part my hair, either in the front or back, into two sections. Instead of taking the hair into three parts, you can take one section at a time and twist the hair into a tight roll. When you do this, it is important to twist against the scalp and to twist adding more hair in as you go through your parted section. When you follow the twist this way, it will allow the hair to lay down against the scalp as if it were a braid. After you get done with each side, you can secure the ends with a bobby pin and pull the remaining hair into a sleek and smoothed done ponytail.  

If you’re feeling like wearing your hair down, you can part that curly hair done the middle to the desired length of part. Once you have the two sections, it’s time for more parting. On the first side, take the front part of the section and begin to section it into two. Once you have the part sectioned off, you can begin to lay one section over the other against the scalp. This has the same method of braiding cornrows, however, because there are only two sections, it will be a twist. You can continue to twist against the scalp until you reach half way down your hair or a little before. Once you finish twisting, stick a few bobby pins down to secure the twist and to insure there will be no loosening of it, this step will be especially important for people with super thick hair. With a wide-toothed comb, go through the remaining hair that will be down and with your hand, go through to make sure there are not uneven sections of your beautiful curls. 

When it comes to any braided style, you can almost always accomplish a similar look by just replacing the braid with a twist. This will allow for you to have some creativity in style even if you can’t braid. When doing all of these styles, be sure that you start with cleaned and conditioned hair. It is important that you use the products that align well with your hair and scalp. Not every product that works for one 4c hair will work for another, so be sure to pay attention to the products that will work best for your hair and it will make styling and detangling easier when prepping for styles like these and any other styles to come.