Make a ring braid in a side section

Practice a short row beside the face where both hands can reach. Keep every loop loose enough to reverse without pulling on the roots.

When to use it

A ring braid wraps successive small sections around a larger section and draws each tail through its loop to make a row of ring-shaped details.

When dry, detangled long hair can be separated comfortably at one temple and worked toward the ear.

Long loose hair with enough length to wrap and pass each small tail through an open loop.

Do not cinch loops against the scalp. Stop for pulling, short ends that will not pass through, or a loop that begins to tangle.
Keep the row where both hands can reach. Undo the loops individually before sleep instead of combing through them.

Check the situations below before you begin, then follow the steps with those adjustments in mind.

Practice fewer crossings

Work on a smaller reachable section. Undo to the last clear crossing if the path is lost; do not pull through a tangle.

STEP 1 OF 2
Make a short row of loose loops
- Clip unrelated hair away. Hold a larger temple section in your left hand and a smaller hairline section in your right; keep both roots slack.
- Wrap the small section around your right ring finger to hold a loop open. Use left fingers to guide its tail under the larger section and upward.
- Catch the tail with your right index and middle fingers and draw it through the open loop. Slide your ring finger free, settle loosely, and join the tail to the main hair.
- Pick up the next small hairline section and repeat. Stop at an easy-to-reach point near the ear, leaving enough tail to secure the combined hair with a soft tie.
The photo shows the two starting sections; follow the looping and hand-transfer sequence in the text.
STEP 2 OF 2
Release each loop from the end
- Check for root pulling; loosen or undo the row if needed. To remove, take out the end tie and locate the tail from the last loop.
- Separate that tail from the main section. Feed it backward through its loop, unwrap it from the larger section and continue toward the first loop; then remove the clip.

One reachable braid; learning and removal can take longer.

Unmeasured editorial handling estimate for the stated scope. Familiarity, access and the item or hair being handled change the time.

The small loops form a short row held by an end tie, with slack roots and each loop still easy to identify.