Just call me ‘two left hands Shorty’ because back in the day, I couldn’t twist, braid, cornrow, or flat twist to save my life. I quickly learned that these skills do not come naturally for some people; some of us have to learn techniques and practice often just to be successful.
With that said I accepted my fate and I practiced the art of twists and braids perfecting it as I went along in my journey and now I am happy to report that the twist out and braid out are my signature styles.
Now don’t get me wrong I still have work to do, after all I can only spell cornrow don’t ask me to attempt one (can we say epic fail?). When you do a twist, it really is more than just twisting your hair. There are a couple things you can add to the technique to make things a lot easier for yourself.
Without further ado here are some great tips for beautiful wearable twists.
1. Braid your roots
You will be aware of how annoying it can be to style your hair in gorgeous twists only to have it poof up at the roots instantly spoiling the effect. The solution to this is to braid about an inch down before you actually begin to twist your hair. This also has the added benefit of preventing your twist from unraveling all the way to the root should it loosen as time goes on.
Haircrush does a good job of explaining this point while she creates her twists.
2. Stretch your hair beforehand
Honestly stretching your hair before doing twists is the best way to achieve frizz and tangle free twists. Even though it is easier to twist wet hair, we all know that with shrinkage – especially on longer hair – creates an environment for the hair to wrap around itself, creating snarls and knots which can make your task that much harder.
You can choose to stretch your hair with heat or you can try some of heat-less ways of stretching your hair like banding or threading.
my nxt style…i like it
Twists have been my staple style this winter. I will definitely try braiding my roots first.
Tryin this on my Daughter
I love twist!
I never thought about braiding the roots, but I will try it the next time I twist my hair.
Great website and I love the tutorials. I have a question about this technique. After banding the hair to stretch it- would application of a holding butter cause shrinkage of the banded hair due the butters moisture content? How much is appropriate to use to avoid shrinkage at this point? Or is it something that shouldn’t matter if twisting right away? Thanks! So informative!
Thanks Sarah Juchemich No, a butter’s moisture content is very little so would cause reversion. It’s the liquid leave in you have to watch out for! A little touch of butter per twist section should be plenty.
Thank you!! Looking forward to more natural-hair-care info!
I did mine the other day and I LOVE THEM!
Love it… simple twisties are my thing… 😀
Gorgeous
I really need help, time and again I’ve tried to transition from relaxed hair to natural hair, but ever since I moved down to South Africa I’ve had to have cornrows/braids done weekly and I really have tough stubborn hair. It hurts so much and I just can’t bear it so I’m stuck with relaxing. It there anyway I can manage my tough texture. Please help
Hi Love, I think you can absolutely find ways of handeling your hair, read some of the articles on the site tailored towards creating the best regimen for you. If you have Afro textured hair despite you hair type, there are ways to get it moisturized, whether it be deep conditioning weekly with moisture based products or cowashing, whatever it takes to get your hair to the point that you can take good care of it. Just read as much as you can about your texture and try different things building a solid regimen as you go along
Love it!
Great tips
do you have to stretch your hair before you do twists? i like doing my own hair but i dont want to heat stretch my hair, and the band method looks fine, but im not trying to aggravate my fribromyalgia doing my hair. i already have a hard time because of my chronic pain.
You actually dont have to if you dont want to love, if you do a wet twist set and allow it to dry it might be perfect just the way it is. another simple way to stretch your twists is to flip each twist to the opposite side of your head pin and tie your hear up using a silk scarf. That will stretch the twists overnight as well.
so you have to stretch your hair?
You really dont Lasilia, that is just one suggested method. You can opt to do a wet set and allow your twists to dry. – best thing to do is try.
thats cute af..
What does it mean to part your hair at an angle? Does it mean to angle the comb or to part the hair diagonally? My hair is really fine and, I would love for my hair to look thicker just by parting it differently.
It’s almost like making lines in a slanted pattern rather than your typical straight line… It probably allow your hair to appear thicker and less scalpy when doing a twist out .
how long have you had your locs
Love it
Tra’Lisha Davis for your Xmas wish
So beautiful…hopefully, my hair will grow to that length:)