The Mini Twist / Mini Braid Thread

[snoop]

This Friday would make 11 weeks, but I think that I'm going to call it quits for this set of twists. They're getting kind of dirty and I feel like washing them through properly. @Lute 's post above is my sign not even to wait to the long weekend and maybe start taking them out tonight or tomorrow.

 

[B_Phlyy]

My hair was straight for the first week and a half of the month. Did a clarify, DC, and simple blow dry before braiding.

 

[MzSwift]

Two days ago, I did a dry DC for the first time in over a decade. No heat, just slathered it on and covered with plastic bags and a wool cap. Left if on for a few hours before I washed it out. Not sure if I'll stick with it but it's definitely an easier way to make sure I get in some regular DCing.

I really need to go back to daily rinsing and I'm gonna work on that. It's just hard to do bc I've been showering before bed lately, which means I would need to add a task to the next day, solely just to wet my hair. I think I'll get a new faucet for my bathroom sink to make it easier for me to rinse there and then I'd be able to quickly rinse in the sink more often, more easily.

 

[snoop]

I've started taking these twists down. It's brutal. Especially my roots. It's going to take me forever to take them down, especially since I won't be able to work on them on Friday or Sunday.

Oh, and the construction guy though he was being cute calling "Rastafari" after me. I'm assuming he's Caribbean Indian and not South Asian. Even if I was interested, what is the return response to that? "I and I"? "Wu'appen bruddah?" or "Sir! These are NOT locs. These are TWISTS."

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

 

[snoop]

Two days ago, I did a dry DC for the first time in over a decade. No heat, just slathered it on and covered with plastic bags and a wool cap. Left if on for a few hours before I washed it out. Not sure if I'll stick with it but it's definitely an easier way to make sure I get in some regular DCing.

I really need to go back to daily rinsing and I'm gonna work on that. It's just hard to do bc I've been showering before bed lately, which means I would need to add a task to the next day, solely just to wet my hair. I think I'll get a new faucet for my bathroom sink to make it easier for me to rinse there and then I'd be able to quickly rinse in the sink more often, more easily.

How about using the tub faucet?

 

[MzSwift]

How about using the tub faucet?

Shoot, at that point, I might as well jump in the shower!
Our tub has a side faucet and I'd have to bend awkwardly over the side in order to get my head into a position to rinse well. The tub has a fully tiled surround with what seems like the coldest and hardest tiles ever and they come to a 90 degree point. I'm not gonna get into how many times I've bruised my thighs on that point while stepping out of the tub. It's a deep tub and the tiled ledge is about 10 inches wide. And don't even get me started on my jumbo "girls" that would get in the way of me trying to bend forward over that ledge...

I'm thinking of installing faucets with a detachable heads in our sinks. We put one in the kids' bathroom a few years ago and opted for waterfall faucets for ours. The waterfall helps but I still run into problems with the "girls." I'm thinking a high arch and detachable head would make it easier to rinse there. Also, I would love an excuse to do any little remodeling. Lol

 

[MzSwift]

Did a Fenugreek sprout water rinse on my minis this morning. I really don't like the size of my parts so at my refresh in a few weeks, I'm gonna split them and convert to mini twists.



Because my hair is freshly texlaxed, it looks sooo scalpy. So I should've used smaller parts and twists instead of braids like I did after this texlax:

 

[snoop]

Shoot, at that point, I might as well jump in the shower!
Our tub has a side faucet and I'd have to bend awkwardly over the side in order to get my head into a position to rinse well. The tub has a fully tiled surround with what seems like the coldest and hardest tiles ever and they come to a 90 degree point. I'm not gonna get into how many times I've bruised my thighs on that point while stepping out of the tub. It's a deep tub and the tiled ledge is about 10 inches wide. And don't even get me started on my jumbo "girls" that would get in the way of me trying to bend forward over that ledge...

I'm thinking of installing faucets with a detachable heads in our sinks. We put one in the kids' bathroom a few years ago and opted for waterfall faucets for ours. The waterfall helps but I still run into problems with the "girls." I'm thinking a high arch and detachable head would make it easier to rinse there. Also, I would love an excuse to do any little remodeling. Lol

Every so often I run into my kids' bathroom to rinse my hair because I have the shower or the soaker tub.

As for you, your girls, your strategy to remodel... you had me over here laughing. Also your bathroom sounds so pretty.

 

[snoop]

Did a Fenugreek sprout water rinse on my minis this morning. I really don't like the size of my parts so at my refresh in a few weeks, I'm gonna split them and convert to mini twists.

View attachment 503154 View attachment 503156

Because my hair is freshly texlaxed, it looks sooo scalpy. So I should've used smaller parts and twists instead of braids like I did after this texlax:

View attachment 503158

Are the top two pictures taken at the same time? Isn't it ridiculous how the cameras don't love us? There is no reason that the colour should vary THAT much.

The kids these days would describe your braids as "boneless". The roots look a lot thicker in the second picture which is why I can't figure out if it's just lighting or if your hair grew between shots.

 

[MzSwift]

Are the top two pictures taken at the same time? Isn't it ridiculous how the cameras don't love us? There is no reason that the colour should vary THAT much.

The kids these days would describe your braids as "boneless". The roots look a lot thicker in the second picture which is why I can't figure out if it's just lighting or if your hair grew between shots.

Yes! They were taken back to back! smh

And yeah, I made parts too darn big bc I was trying to see if there was a way to speed up my install. But I'm not cutting corners anymore - they look horrible! lol
Oh well, these horrible braids will stay in until I refresh. I'll also have some new growth, hopefully, by then too. Maybe just a mm but it'll be there.

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

I've started taking these twists down. It's brutal. Especially my roots. It's going to take me forever to take them down, especially since I won't be able to work on them on Friday or Sunday.

Oh, and the construction guy though he was being cute calling "Rastafari" after me. I'm assuming he's Caribbean Indian and not South Asian. Even if I was interested, what is the return response to that? "I and I"? "Wu'appen bruddah?" or "Sir! These are NOT locs. These are TWISTS."

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

did you try getting back in the bed and coming out the other side?

 

[MzSwift]

Are the top two pictures taken at the same time? Isn't it ridiculous how the cameras don't love us? There is no reason that the colour should vary THAT much.

The kids these days would describe your braids as "boneless". The roots look a lot thicker in the second picture which is why I can't figure out if it's just lighting or if your hair grew between shots.

You know what? Thank you, sis. I'mma just go ahead and split these bad boys right now. There's no need in me walking around like who dunnit and why for the next few weeks...

My hair grows so slowly that I don't really see any new growth until 5-8 weeks after I texlax. So this style won't get any better!

 

[snoop]

That was not my intention. Here I was trying to help you out talking about lighting and you're out here giving yourself more work.]

 

[MzSwift]

That was not my intention. Here I was trying to help you out talking about lighting and you're out here giving yourself more work.]

No, it's all good! That was the confirmation I needed to just go ahead and do them right. lol

So, thank you.

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

@MzSwift Okay Bobina the Builder

Seriously, I admire your reno skills. I wanna be like you when I grow up.

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

Are the top two pictures taken at the same time? Isn't it ridiculous how the cameras don't love us? There is no reason that the colour should vary THAT much.

The kids these days would describe your braids as "boneless". The roots look a lot thicker in the second picture which is why I can't figure out if it's just lighting or if your hair grew between shots.

Boneless cracks me up every time.

 

[MzSwift]

@snoop

So I'm even further inspired by you and decided to twist my minis from the roots (instead of braiding the base of them for a few rotations before twisting).
This process is going so much faster than usual! I'm almost 3/4 of the way done! Taking down the braids takes the longest. Now I wonder how these will hold up!
It definitely works while I don't have any new growth but once I have two textures, I'm probably gonna braid the base and then twist.

@ItsMeLilLucky

Girl, I keep trying to sit my butt down somewhere but I have ideas and I have to try them out. Lol

 

[MzSwift]

Mini twists done!
I don't expect them to last as long as the braided base but I do like the way they look much better.
They'll look even better once I rinse them and they lay down.

 

[snoop]

They look so pretty. Do you braid them and then leave the ends loose? If so, how do you keep them from knotting?

 

[snoop]

I'm till taking these twists down. I'm going to try to get a couple more hours in today before going to dinner at my parents. I'll be so happy to wear medium/large twists for the next few weeks.

 

[MzSwift]

They look so pretty. Do you braid them and then leave the ends loose? If so, how do you keep them from knotting?

Thank you!

Yes, I always leave the bottom 1-2 inches loose bc I like for them to curl up when I wet the style. For some reason, when I twist all of the way to the end, I get more SSKs than when I don't. So I've been trying to make sure I do them this way since I was natural.

I incorporate things like baggying my bun, using extra product on my ends, intentionally doing more sessions of heavy sealing my ends and keeping my hair mostly covered (which flattens/stretches my ends) to keep them from tangling and knotting. Most of the time, I keep my twists/braids crosswrapped under a men's satin skull cap and then covered with a satin scarf or cotton bandana. I believe this constant physical pressure, especially if I wrap them while moist, helps to make and keep my ends straighter. It worked when I was natural too and I believe it's due to my hair texture being cottony. It's very soft (not silky tho), fluffy and easier to flatten.

 

[snoop]

They are out and I am free! I finished taking them down and rinsing them through the night before last. I had to rinse them because they smelled like ACV and hemp oil. I did some detangling when I was in the shower. Next step will be to make a cleansing hair mask and then either plait or twist my hair for two weeks.

 

[keranikki]

I installed my first set of mini braids on 21 April.



It roughly took 5 hours to install on curly hair, using water and APB 4Butta Blend.

Current takeaways:
-braiding damp hair is not the best choice, hair tangles while waiting to be parted.
-I was surprised to find that not all of my individual hairs are fine. I have some medium/thick hairs that are wiry and dry. They are mainly concentrated in the crown and upper nape area. They need some TLC.

I will refresh them every 4 weeks until September.

 

[MzSwift]

Look at those curly ends, @keranikki !!

Yes, no braiding on wet hair for us (mostly) fine-haired ladies! It will have the finished product looking quite scalpy!
I've learned to just braid dry and then soak with water and condish after they're done in order to moisturize them the first time.

 

[keranikki]

Look at those curly ends, @keranikki !!

Yes, no braiding on wet hair for us (mostly) fine-haired ladies! It will have the finished product looking quite scalpy!
I've learned to just braid dry and then soak with water and condish after they're done in order to moisturize them the first time.

Thank you! I will do this during my next refresh. I will tension dry my braids.

 

[faithVA]

I installed my first set of mini braids on 21 April.

View attachment 503410

It roughly took 5 hours to install on curly hair, using water and APB 4Butta Blend.

Current takeaways:
-braiding damp hair is not the best choice, hair tangles while waiting to be parted.
-I was surprised to find that not all of my individual hairs are fine. I have some medium/thick hairs that are wiry and dry. They are mainly concentrated in the crown and upper nape area. They need some TLC.

I will refresh them every 4 weeks until September.

Very nice. They look really good. And 5 hours isn't too bad

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

@keranikki Okay hang time!

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

I might just switch to braids. These twists have not been twisting Good thing I'm wearing headwraps

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

I might just switch to braids. These twists have not been twisting Good thing I'm wearing headwraps

I just started doing brists , I couldn't do it anymore.

 

[keranikki]

I just started doing brists , I couldn't do it anymore.

I actually installed brists, instead of braids, due to @MzSwift posts. I didn’t want to say twaids, because I braided then twisted hair, and twaids are the opposite of the order of operations, lol.