naturals: twistout question

[aka]

Hello ladies: I've been on this board for 2 weeks and my hair says thank you, with all the tips I've been learning my hair is already feeling so much softer and healthier. I have 2 questions: how do you keep your twistout conditioned? If I spritz it with water or leave-in, I lose my texture and have a plain old fro. Is there a way to keep it moist without losing the style?

2nd question: Is it okay to sleep in a stocking cap? I tried a sleep bonnet but it kept falling off during the night. Will a stocking break off my hair like cotton does? I don't use a pillow and my husband doesn't like satin sheets, so I'm hoping a stocking cap will work.

Thanks!
aka

 

[pookeylou]

Hey now!

I add shea butter to the sections of damp hair before I twist. They stay moisturized for about 24 hours. Then on the next day I spritz them....there is still enough shea butter on the twisted out strands that they stay defined.

I sleep in a wrap I got a Sallys Beauty Supply, It is really long and impregnated with conditioner. It was only $1.99 and it keeps my hair from snapping and stays on all night while I sleep.

Welcome aboard!

 

[aka]

Thanks for the tip and the welcome, Pookeylou. I'm not sure that would work for me bc my routine is this: I twist my hair w/gel and moisture well. Then I wear my twists for about 4 days, each morning I put leave-in on them and they seem to like that. Then on the 5th day, when I take my twists out and wear the twistout, they still feel moist and soft. By the third day of the twistout, however, my hair still looks great but it FEELS dry. If I put butter or leave-in on them I just get a fro look, which is not what I want. Any advice on keeping moist w/out losing style? I tried using just CD hair honey but when I use it w/out moisture it just sits on the top of my head looking greasy.

aka

 

[pookeylou]

[ QUOTE ]
aka said:
Thanks for the tip and the welcome, Pookeylou. I'm not sure that would work for me bc my routine is this: I twist my hair w/gel and moisture well. Then I wear my twists for about 4 days, each morning I put leave-in on them and they seem to like that. Then on the 5th day, when I take my twists out and wear the twistout, they still feel moist and soft. By the third day of the twistout, however, my hair still looks great but it FEELS dry. If I put butter or leave-in on them I just get a fro look, which is not what I want. Any advice on keeping moist w/out losing style? I tried using just CD hair honey but when I use it w/out moisture it just sits on the top of my head looking greasy.

aka

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow...you're doing better than me! I cant get a twistout to last more than 48 hours before it starts to feel dry. That is usually my queue to condition wasH and twist again.

I think the hairs dryness is a definte signal that it needs moisture. But you have the problem that if you just "spritz" your hair you will loose definition.

On the third day of the twist out...is it an option to spritz your hair...retwist it...and then wear it out again the next day to get a day or two more out of the style before you wash it again?

Seems like the only way to get the definition you want...but also re-moisturizing your hair again so that it doesnt feel dry.

HTH

 

[hotshot]

[ QUOTE ]
aka said:
Hello ladies: I've been on this board for 2 weeks and my hair says thank you, with all the tips I've been learning my hair is already feeling so much softer and healthier. I have 2 questions: how do you keep your twistout conditioned? If I spritz it with water or leave-in, I lose my texture and have a plain old fro. Is there a way to keep it moist without losing the style?

2nd question: Is it okay to sleep in a stocking cap? I tried a sleep bonnet but it kept falling off during the night. Will a stocking break off my hair like cotton does? I don't use a pillow and my husband doesn't like satin sheets, so I'm hoping a stocking cap will work.

Thanks!
aka

[/ QUOTE ]

thats a really good question im learning the answer to myself. my twistouts are either soft and puffy or defined and crunchy.

 

[aka]

>>On the third day of the twist out...is it an option to spritz your hair...retwist it...and then wear it out again the next day to get a day or two more out of the style before you wash it again? <<

Now there's an idea. I usually make small twists on wash day and it takes me about 2 hours. However, maybe I'll experiment with larger twists that don't take as long to do.

Story: I once saw at the gym (when I lived in Brooklyn) this woman with long, beautiful, natural hair. She wore it out loose. It was total 4b hair and that's why I was so intrigued by it bc she said she wore it out loose everyday. I really had never seen that before. To maintain the style she said she braided it up at night before bed using ORS loc and twist gel, then took it out every morning. She said the braids only took 20 minutes to do. I swear I had never seen a head of 4b hair looking so long before (other than locks of course). She told me that people were always telling her to relax it but she said she preferred it natural.

 

[pookeylou]

[ QUOTE ]
aka said:
>>On the third day of the twist out...is it an option to spritz your hair...retwist it...and then wear it out again the next day to get a day or two more out of the style before you wash it again? <<

Now there's an idea. I usually make small twists on wash day and it takes me about 2 hours. However, maybe I'll experiment with larger twists that don't take as long to do.

Story: I once saw at the gym (when I lived in Brooklyn) this woman with long, beautiful, natural hair. She wore it out loose. It was total 4b hair and that's why I was so intrigued by it bc she said she wore it out loose everyday. I really had never seen that before. To maintain the style she said she braided it up at night before bed using ORS loc and twist gel, then took it out every morning. She said the braids only took 20 minutes to do. I swear I had never seen a head of 4b hair looking so long before (other than locks of course). She told me that people were always telling her to relax it but she said she preferred it natural.

[/ QUOTE ]

That makes total sense to me.

1) You dont have to condition wash your hair everday in order to get a fresh twist out style for the next day...but you would need to twist the hair each night and I personally prefer twist on damp hair. So I would just spritz my hair at night and retwist.

2) You could simply add a moisturizer to your hair like Woojee cream, or Carols Daughter Hair Milk or Salon Selectives Loosely Defined cream...which will make your hair moist and soft and as it dries define the curl pattern your natural hair has.

I wear a bantu knot twist out on Sunday. Wrap it up at night and put moisturizer in it in the morning and the coils/curls from the twist out...eventually turn to coils after the moisturizer. If I want the curls/coils to be bigger...I would need to retwist it.

Either way it goes you are going to have to do some type of manipulation in order to get the hair to stay defined.

 

[aka]

Thanks, that makes sense.

Does anyone know if stocking caps cause breakage if worn at night? I just found one that fits my head perfectly (and doesn't fall off at night, unlike the satin caps) and would like to start wearing this at night. However, I'm not sure if this is good for my ends or not.

 

[rai]

I can't wear my twist out for more than 1-2 days. And I hate the twist out because my hair gets sooo tangled. Does this happens to anyone else? Anyways, my friend who wears a twist out 7 days a week told me that she just braids her hair in 8-12 braids everynight. I'm usually too lazy to braid my hair everynight, but I did try it a couple of times and it works. Hope this helps.

 

[aka]

Thanks, that is very helpful. I'm rather low-maintenance too so I can't see braiding my hair every night, particularly when I already devote an entire afternoon for washing/twisting once a week as it is. However, it's good to know that if I really wanted to, I could extend the style longer than the usual 2-3 days.

aka

 

[hotshot]

[ QUOTE ]
rai said:
I can't wear my twist out for more than 1-2 days. And I hate the twist out because my hair gets sooo tangled. Does this happens to anyone else? Anyways, my friend who wears a twist out 7 days a week told me that she just braids her hair in 8-12 braids everynight. I'm usually too lazy to braid my hair everynight, but I did try it a couple of times and it works. Hope this helps.

[/ QUOTE ]
yes, i get tangles. my hair will tangle and mat together within the twist with a quickness- especially if twisted when wet or products are added. i never understood people who wore twists for a month. mine look raggedy after a few days. i recently discovered the best way to take down twists is after washing them, adding leave-in and they are wet.

 

[babyblue]

My twist out can last up to a week only when i use the shea butter pomade because it provides hold and keeps my ends from feeling dry so soon. i never re twist nightly, thats too time consuming. If it gets dry i'll usually steam it in the shower for a minute and add a thick product to the ends. I dont lose the definition but my hair may get a bit poofier if i let it steam too long.

 

[Nay]

My twistouts last a good 5 - 6 days. I don't retwist nightly. I don't apply anything to it other than the first day that I do it.

After experimenting with different products, what works best for me is plain ol' bad for you Liv hair dressing. (It's "bad" cause it's got mineral oil and petrolatum).

I make about 12 - 14 twists. For me the key is to make sure my hair is VERY, VERY wet. THEN I liberally apply Liv to my hands and then to my hair and then I twist. This seems to lock in the wave pattern and moisture of my hair. Then the next day when my hair is dry, it still looks kind of shiny and it is soft. And it looks good until it's time to do it again.

For sleeping, I sleep with either a satin scarf or silk slip (the kind you wear on your body) or both on my head.

You just have to try different stuff and see what works for your hair!

 

[cocoa2122]

I use a little activator on my ends. Here are some pics.

http://public.fotki.com/cocoa2122/ Pw: twist

 

[pookeylou]

[ QUOTE ]
cocoa2122 said:
I use a little activator on my ends. Here are some pics.

http://public.fotki.com/cocoa2122/ Pw: twist

[/ QUOTE ]

Daannnnnngggg! That twist out looks GOOD! Mine dont turn out like that unless I go ahead and put them into a bantu knot after I twist them. Maybe I am makeing them to big. If I just do a simple two strand twist...I wake up the next morning looking like I was electrocuted.

I will try making them bigger this time.

 

[ricochet]

I usually wear my twists for a week to a week and a half...I don't use gel to twist, I just don't like gel in my hair. I have experimented with lots of different "stuff" to get my twists/twistouts just right. I have used:

1. plain shea butter(melted) - good product for twists, as long as you don't use too much, a little on the finger while twisting will do fine, using too much will cause a film to build up on the hair
2. shea butter, melted, w/ a few drops of e.o.(lavender or rosemary)- the e.o. "cuts" the shea a little better and it spreads easier
3. mango butter(melted) - comparable to shea, no difference
4. Kemi shea butter pomade - I love this on wet and dry twists! Again, a little is all you need and I love the candy smell, smells just like the oil
5. Carols Daughter Healthy Hair Butter - Another product I am in love with for twists, "herby" smell, spreads PERFECTLY on wet or dry twists...have purchased about 4 times since going natural 2 years ago. Will purchase again but always with a friend, the s/h is too high.
6. Avocado Butter - purchased this after a suggestion from an internet buddy, I like the texture, very easily spreadable, a lil more "greasy" than any of the stuff above but price is good(5.25 for 4oz at fromnaturewithlove.com), will purchase again.

So as you can see, I have used alot of stuff and NONE of it has disappointed me. As you can also see, nothing above is a gel or water based product. My twists stay smooth and moisturized after about 3 or 4 days until I want to moisturize again. The only spray I have found locally that I like to spritz my hair with is DNL Citrus Braid Spray or I will take a shower with no cap on. Other than that, I rub avocado butter throughout my twists and castor oil on the ends if my hair starts to feel dry. For the twistout, I don't spray anything in it. After a week/week and a half of all of the above, my twistout last for about 3 or 4 days and I do not sleep in a cap. I only sleep on a satin pillowcase. I can't keep anything on my head while I sleep. HTH!

 

[cocoa2122]

[ QUOTE ]
pookeylou said:
[ QUOTE ]
cocoa2122 said:
I use a little activator on my ends. Here are some pics.

http://public.fotki.com/cocoa2122/ Pw: twist

[/ QUOTE ]

Daannnnnngggg! That twist out looks GOOD! Mine dont turn out like that unless I go ahead and put them into a bantu knot after I twist them. Maybe I am makeing them to big. If I just do a simple two strand twist...I wake up the next morning looking like I was electrocuted.

I will try making them bigger this time.

[/ QUOTE ]

My twistout isn't usually sooo defined, but I took my time with the inital twists (a good 4 hours of my time). My normal twists usually only take about 1.5 hours to do. This style lasted a week after retwisting with bigger twists during the middle of the week though.

 

[hotshot]

my twistouts, or outs in general get puffy at the root and stay defined on the ends. what can i do? i think its the size of the twist for the amount of hair i section.

 

[TigerLily]

Hotshot, try smaller sections and tighter twists.

I usually start retwisting nightly after the 2nd day. I wear a satin scarf at night. I can keep a twistout for a week. I have some pics of my twistout in my fotki album.

 

[Poohbear]

This thread was extremely helpful!

I want to wear a twistout now! I think I might have to forgo the wash-n-go again, LOL, I seriously can't stick with any routine. :Blush2: