Often, someone will start a braid only to realize they don’t have a tie or pin to secure it, and then they risk messing up their hair when they have to search for something to hold their braid. Consider keeping a hair tie on your wrist as you braid. That way, securing your braid when you’re finished simply requires you to slip the tie off your wrist, rather than changing hands to pick up the hair tie and possibly letting go of the end of your braid.
Pay special attention to remove knots from the ends of your hair. When you’re braiding and collecting sections of hair, separating the sections can be more difficult if the ends are knotted together. Spritz your hair with a detangling spray to help it stay smooth.
You can still braid a cascading waterfall braid on hair that is parted down the middle, however a deep side part adds a nice touch to the braid and enhances the cascading waterfall look by having your own hair “cascade” on the other side of your head.
Damp hair can easily tangle, but leave in conditioner can smooth it so that it’s easier to manage. If your hair is fine, has small, flyaway hairs, or is more than one length, consider applying a styling cream or smoothing serum. A smoothing serum can help tame unruly hairs, and keep stray, flyaway hairs from coming loose within the braid. [3] X Research source
If you parted your hair with a deep side part, start your braid on the side of your head with the most hair.
Hand positioning is important when braiding hair. Usually the most successful way to hold hair as you braid, is to hold 2 portions of hair in 1 hand, and the third portion of hair in the other hand. Usually the fingers stay in a curled, tight position to hold the strands of hair as you move them to form the braid.
Once this sequence is complete, you will begin to add more hair into the braid outside of the three original portions of hair you started with. This process of adding hair to the braid outside of the original three portions of hair is a key component of creating a french braid. The waterfall braid starts out with a typical three strand braid, but then continues on as an altered french braid.
Cross the left portion of hair (now thicker with the new portion of hair added in) over the middle portion. Now, instead of crossing the right portion of hair over the middle portion like you would normally do to create a braid, let go of the right portion of hair so it hangs and drops down normally. [7] X Research source This is where the waterfall effect comes into play. The dropped, right portion of hair is your first “waterfall” piece of hair. This will create a cascade waterfall braid on the right side of your head. For the left side, you’d reverse the instructions.
This is exactly the same process as when you first started adding new portions of hair to the braid. Cross this entire left portion of hair over the middle section of hair, and again, let the right portion of hair drop. [8] X Research source Since this braid is executed horizontally on your head rather than vertically (like a French braid down the middle of the back of your head), the dropped right portion of hair horizontally across your head gives the illusion of a waterfall. Maintain tight, even tension on your hair as you braid it. Pull your hair back toward your crown to help create a smooth style. If your braid is too loose or you pull away from your scalp, you’ll likely end up with lumps in your finished braid. If you’re braiding your hair on the left hand side, don’t forget to reverse the instructions.
You can either secure the bottom of the braid with a small elastic band, or with a bobby pin or clip. Consider spraying your braid with a small amount of hairspray to keep strands in place.
