A little Q&A
Feb. 5th, 2006 11:43![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillAny of you who have met me in person know that I wear a long braid on my left temple, with a bead on the end. I was thinking about it as I braided it this morning; it seems like I get questions about it fairly regularly, so I figured I'd answer them all in one place.
How long have you had it?
Since sophomore year of high school, so that would be 1991; I put it in for the homecoming dance in the fall. Adding the braid is about the only part of that year that I don't mind remembering (the dance was unhappy).
How do you get it so small?
That's the number-one question. There are two things that make it so thin at the end: one is that when I started it, my hair hadn't been trimmed for a very long time, so the ends of my hair were tapered rather than sheared straight. The other thing is that I braid the last part with my fingertips, and keep going until I literally lose my grip on the last few hairs.
Doesn't it take a long time?
I figure on forty-five minutes for a shower, redoing my part, and rebraiding. That's after I get it unbraided, which can take a while -- the top often becomes something of a dreadlock, and coaxing it out of that tangle can take up to an hour. It's definitely a weekend-morning sort of thing.
How often do you rebraid it?
People seem to think either that I never redo it, or that I redo it every week. I actually rebraid every eight to ten weeks; if I were smart, I'd do it every six, but it never seems to work out that way.
Is the bead what keeps it from unraveling?
Not quite. The bead protects the small rubber bands under it, which are actually what holds the braid. I used some social engineering a few years ago to get the rubber bands from my old orthodontist; they're the size I used to use in junior high, about a quarter-inch across. I use two to keep the bead firmly on.
Those are the questions I can remember fielding; if you have any others, feel free to post them.
How long have you had it?
Since sophomore year of high school, so that would be 1991; I put it in for the homecoming dance in the fall. Adding the braid is about the only part of that year that I don't mind remembering (the dance was unhappy).
How do you get it so small?
That's the number-one question. There are two things that make it so thin at the end: one is that when I started it, my hair hadn't been trimmed for a very long time, so the ends of my hair were tapered rather than sheared straight. The other thing is that I braid the last part with my fingertips, and keep going until I literally lose my grip on the last few hairs.
Doesn't it take a long time?
I figure on forty-five minutes for a shower, redoing my part, and rebraiding. That's after I get it unbraided, which can take a while -- the top often becomes something of a dreadlock, and coaxing it out of that tangle can take up to an hour. It's definitely a weekend-morning sort of thing.
How often do you rebraid it?
People seem to think either that I never redo it, or that I redo it every week. I actually rebraid every eight to ten weeks; if I were smart, I'd do it every six, but it never seems to work out that way.
Is the bead what keeps it from unraveling?
Not quite. The bead protects the small rubber bands under it, which are actually what holds the braid. I used some social engineering a few years ago to get the rubber bands from my old orthodontist; they're the size I used to use in junior high, about a quarter-inch across. I use two to keep the bead firmly on.
Those are the questions I can remember fielding; if you have any others, feel free to post them.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-05 21:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-06 04:14 (UTC)