Pointed ends on mini cyberlox with a braid sealer

[AntaresJB]

Hey everyone, this is my first tutorial. While I don't really do full cyberlox falls, I do like having it as accents in with dreads sometimes. However, one thing that bothers me is the sharp contrast between the tapered ends of the dreads and the flat ends of the crin. Sure, you can tie the crin in a knot and snip it off, but then you've got that knot there... so, I experimented a little and came up with this super simple way to seal the ends of mini crin so it blends in a little better with dreads. Your finished product will look something like this:



(sorry for the awkward picture angles, it's hard to take pics of your own hands doin stuff!)

Tools needed:
A braid sealer or heat clamp. Hair straighteners might work as well, haven't tried those.
Scissors.
And your cyberlox. I'm using mini (1/2") size tubular crin, purchased from I Kick Shins, in vibrant green metallic and purple metallic.

Here's my braid sealer. It's made by Hot Tools, and I purchased it from ebonyline.com: http://store.ebonyline.com/50022.html



And here's the crin I'll be using.


Note the blunt awkward ends.


Step one, take your crin and stretch out the end.


Place it in your braid sealer (which should be heated up and turned on, of course, I hope I didn't need to mention that). Note that the braid sealer is hot enough to soften the plastic of the crin but not melt it. That's exactly what we need.


Next is probably the most important step. While clamping the crin in the sealer with one hand, use your other hand to twist it. This forms your basic point.
(Most awkward picture ever! )


Release the sealer, and while the crin is still warm and flexible (but don't burn yourself!), twist it some more to form a nice tight twisted bit.


Hold it until it cools and it should hold that shape, and you'll have something that looks like this (only a little tighter, I didn't twist this one quite enough):


Trim off the end and... voila!


And all together..


And here it is all mixed in with dreads and some twists in falls on my head, so you can see how much better it blends.


Ta da! Hope this is helpful.

Note: You can do this with regular 3/4" crin, works the same way, but I found that, at least to me, it ends up looking like a condom. I can get a pic if anyone wants to see, though.

[ANNloses]

Looks great! I'll be trying this out. I think the tipped ends of crin looks great when incorporated with dreads. Lol @ condoms

[tazzyface]

Hey, that's a pretty nifty idea! Thanks, I always thought crin looked a little odd with dreads because of the ends.

I'm actually quite curious to see how the regular size crin looks with pointed ends, if only to giggle at it

[KiyomiChan]

Hello
I've recently bought a bunch of the cyberlox (large) and doing a madusa theme with them, I was linked here for some tips (although I had something sorted already)
and found a easier/cheaper way of sealing off the ends instead of buying a tool to do so

all you really need is.
*A lighter (and brave finger tips)
*pipe cleaners (that go inside the lox for bendable snake effect)
*some hair clips
*a little bit of thread
*and a little bit of glue (hot glue works best)

Dont have to use glue. the glue is mainly to keep the end of the pipe cleaner glued to the nose of the cyberlox snake, so the bending will be much better to control (because I noticed if you dont, the wire/pipecleaner is too short, it will just hang down like curls)
the thread is to tie the other end around the pipecleaner so it doesnt wiggle around

what I'm doing is, gluing little fake "gem's" for the snakes eyes. I was going to use those google eyes. but figured that'd look too goofy so went with the gems instead (should be found at any craft store)

and it is so far turning out really cool I could try posting a picture when its finished, I only have the front end of the "wig" finished, just waiting on more material to make the rest of it

[BioMekanisk]

I would love to see pics!