Cornrows Are Hard To Do!

On my bus to college there is this cool little kid with Afro-Caribbean hair and he recently got it put into excellent looking cornrows. He sat in front of me this morning and I kept staring at them! For those of you who aren't sure what these are here's a picture of them in various designs:

Ooooh! Yes, those things! Sometimes also worn by women (think Bo Derek in 10). Anywho, I figured they would be the closest thing to a gents' up-style that I might get a chance to learn to do, so I asked my tutor in college how to do them and man, they are tricky! I've only attempted them twice but I'm picking up a bit of speed and getting them a little tighter with each one. Ideally the hair should be dry with some oil put in it to get them smooth and flat. I didn't have oil in my dolly head's hair so strands kept sticking up. I also have no idea how this is done with shorter hair without the ends sticking up all over the place - I'll have to investigate.

They are kind of like an upside-down French plait with the pieces being taken under the middle strand each time instead of over. Here's a picture of my second attempt at doing them:

I did the middle one first so it's a bit bigger and messier than the others. Despite them being tricky I really love the intricacy and challenge of doing them and find them fun. Though I doubt I'll have many opportunities to do them in my career I'll keep up the skill for fun.

Here's a picture of one of my favourite hairstyles I came across incorporating a funky usage of cornrows - I love it!:

 - BE