Can a twist out be a protective style? Can your hair grow this way?

[yodie]

Any naturals wear a twist out on a regular basis and see growth? I love my twist out, but it isn't good for my ends. Think I could wear a twist out, seal my ends with vaseline and still have the best of both worlds (style and growth)?

My issue: My hair, when straight, comes to the nape of my neck. Seems like I live at this length. Anyway, for the first time in my life, I love the way my hair feels when it's air dried and twisted. (Thanks to Kimmaytube's leave in recipe). I notice that when I flat iron and then add butter and wear twist outs, my ends are crazy dry, etc. I've had to trim them. I'd like to air dry, twist out and wear it it like this, but still maintain healthy hair practices.

My concerns are protecting my ends and whether or not I need to use heat to seal my cuticle. Ideally I'd like to airdry, twist out and pin it up, but my hair isn't long enough for that yet.

 

[Fine 4s]

It can grow but depending on your texture and overall hair care practices you may not retain length as much as your ends are exposed to the elements.
I you insist on wearing you hair this way (sounds like you love it) I'd make sure to moisturize at night and twist up or braid up the ends AND baggy consistently. Hey, the way I look at it, it's better than flat ironing or curling it every day

 

[yodie]

Thanks for replying. Yes, I love my hair this way, but retaining is my goal. On that note, I better get back to flat ironing so that I can add a piece and chignon until next wash day.

 

[brucebettye]

I never done twist outs because of laziness, but I have grown my hair while wearing a side afro puff. The things that help my ends to air dry nice a soft was putting extra moisture on my ends, twice the amount I would put on my roots and sealing with good ole hair grease. I never had a problem with singe strand knots and I could baggy my hair evernight and it worked wonders on my hair growth. That got me from EL to APL. Since I can bun now I only wear my puff like once or twice every two weeks. As long as your twists don't brush your shoulders your hair should grow. One of my nieces got lots of growth when she wore twists for like 3 months straight.

 

[glamazon386]

It can grow but depending on your texture and overall hair care practices you may not retain length as much as your ends are exposed to the elements.
I you insist on wearing you hair this way (sounds like you love it) I'd make sure to moisturize at night and twist up or braid up the ends AND baggy consistently. Hey, the way I look at it, it's better than flat ironing or curling it every day

ITA... It's not protective because your ends are still exposed to the elements. But it is low manipulation which helps with retaining length. You won't be combing it everyday. I think braiding or twisting every night and then taking it out in the morning negates the low manipulation part though. I'd have hair breaking off all over the place if I did that multiple times a week. That's too much manipulation for my fine hair.

 

[yodie]

ITA... It's not protective because your ends are still exposed to the elements. But it is low manipulation which helps with retaining length. You won't be combing it everyday. I think braiding or twisting every night and then taking it out in the morning negates the low manipulation part though. I'd have hair breaking off all over the place if I did that multiple times a week. That's too much manipulation for my fine hair.

My strands are fine and I do notice that my hair tends to pull out when I twist every night. Sounds like it's better for me to straigthen once every two weeks and just wear a pin up style until my hair gets to the length where I can undo my twists and still pin it up.

Thanks.

 

[Fine 4s]

I believe that twisting or braiding every night is important so as to prevent the hair from tangling at night. By this, I don't mean individual twists or detangling as when you prepared the style. I mean literally grabbing the hair and doing one big or two or 4 big twists (I prefer) braids to protect it at night, moisturize and baggy it. Not much manipulation IMO and I have fine hair strands as well.

 

[Fhrizzball]

My strands are fine and I do notice that my hair tends to pull out when I twist every night. Sounds like it's better for me to straigthen once every two weeks and just wear a pin up style until my hair gets to the length where I can undo my twists and still pin it up.

Thanks.

how many twists/braids do you do at night? I rebraid each night and do big jumbo ones and make the ends have lots of moisture and something pin them under so they'll still be moist the next morning. Fingercombing works for me this way and it doesn't have to be thoroughly detangled each night.

 

[yodie]

I do about 8-10 twists at night. I detangle with my fingers.

Kusare, I love your twist out.

 

[Poohbear]

Twistouts are not protective styles per se, but I don't believe protective styles are the only way to achieve growth and retention. I think low/gentle manipulation is key.

I myself am hoping to retain more length with twistouts since this is my favorite natural style and most successful style. I just have to work on consistency.

 

[MsAminta]

If you want amazing results, you might have to do some "amazing" things. I personally don't think that it would be an effective way to retain length. If you've been at the same length for a while, I would suggest you bite the bullet and do some serious protective styling to achieve your goal.

 

[SummerSolstice]

twist outs should be a good way to retain length if you are practicing low manipulation. if you're twisting it up every night and untwisting it daily and combing and brushing... u might not keep your length

 

[kinkycurlygurl]

If you are having trouble with your ends being dry, you might want to lay off heat at least for a while until you get your hair saturated with moisture.

 

[DarkJoy]

My hair is superfine, and I have noticed periods of growth and periods of breakage. Breakage because some nights I'm just to dern lazy to twist it up and seal and then cover it. When I do that consistently, though, it DOES take on length. It's just about being diligent on protecting it at night. During the day, besides taking the twists down, there's not any more styling going on, so I don't see how that in itself would cause much breakage. But everyone's hair has it's own tolerance level.

ETA: About then nights, I agree with whomever said to like double up on the moisture on the ends. I try to avoid grease, BUT I do notice my hair loves it and I get the best growth out of it. Too bad they make my face break out.