So I live in an area that is largely Hispanic, like almost 90% Hispanic, so there are not a lot of braiders here. I only know one African braider in my area, and I’ve started to feel like going to her is not helping me meet my length retention goals; she doesn’t really handle my hair gently. She combs through it pretty roughly and insists on using a rat tail comb to detangle. She also combs from root to tip instead of tip to root despite constant reeducation, so it just feels like a lot of unnecessary manipulation. I’ve noticed that my hair has kind of stagnated since I started going to her.

The final straw was my last takedown. The perimeter of my hair was coming out in major clumps. The weird thing is that when she’s actually braiding, it doesn’t always feel super tight, but when I get home, it feels a bit tight.

So yesterday I made the decision to do my mini braids myself; this was my very first attempt and I spent almost 12 hours braiding my hair yesterday, and the crazy thing is that my hair already looks like I did it 5 weeks ago, if not more lol. **I really want advice on how to make my mini braids look neater and last longer.**

I used The Doux Crazy Sexy Curl to braid after blow drying my hair. I think part of the issue is that my roots were not fully stretched, so my parts didn’t come out as clean as I wanted. I use the RevAir, but I don’t think I have a complete grasp on how to really get the roots stretched. 

So my questions are:  
1. Do I need another tool to get my roots better stretched so my parts can be cleaner? Should I give up on the RevAir? I’ve been eyeing the Conair DigitalAIRE that has been trending on TikTok because it looks like it gets to the roots really well. Has anyone with 4C hair tried it?

2. Do people use braiding gel for mini braids to reduce frizz? If yes, what braiding gel do you recommend that is moisturizing or at least not drying or flaky ?  
What techniques help your mini braids look neater and last longer?

3. Also, parting took me FOREVER. That was honestly most of the 12 hours. I used a three-way mirror and kept trying to perfect each part because I didn’t want messy parts. So for people who wear mini/medium braids long-term, how are you doing takedown and redo without having to completely redo your parts every single time?

Is there a leave-in conditioner with major slip that you recommend for taking down and redoing mini braids section by section? I don’t really want to fully unravel my hair for a while, at least not until I travel somewhere with more knowledgeable Black hairdressers.

Any advice would be appreciated because I really want to be able to maintain my own hair, protect my edges/perimeter and actually retain length.

Thank you!!

**TL;DR: My braided sucks. Need advice on;**  
1. Tools to stretch roots for cleaner parts.   
2. 4c hair friendly braiding gel for less frizz  
3. Leave in conditioner with lots of slip

Medium braids help