Super Long term protective styling for naturals

[LovelyNaps26]

why am i just seeing her videos on long term protective styling? I must of skipped them in my subscription updates.

Afrostory puts her hair in tiny twists and keeps them in for 2 months!!! She calls them "twa" twists (she names them after the Batwa sp? people). I'm trying to keep my hair in twists for a month but she says she has done this style and has not had issues with locing (which is my greatest concern) when keeping them in for 2-3 months.

Has anyone here ever done this?


Here are her vids.

Long term protective styling


Maintenance

Nightly Routine

 

[tmkersha]

I love It.

 

[hannan]

I was thinking super long term ps = locs.

Her hair is pretty! I can barely keep the same protective style for one week before I have to change it up let alone 2 months.

 

[LovelyNaps26]

after this i'm thinking of keeping my twists in for 6 weeks

 

[Nasdaq_Diva]

Her hair looks great. I had a phase last year when I was doing small/med braids on my hair. My hair didn't thrive like how I would've wanted to. I had alot of knotting on my ends..

eta: by knotting I mean when I originally do the style, my ends curl up. Over the next weeks, it like re-coils itself over and over again..thus causing the knots.

 

[Nonie]

I have been in twists since August 2010 and haven't taken them out to wear my hair out. I treat them the way I used to treat my braids which is redo one at a time as time allows. My guess is the longest I've gone without redoing even one is 4 weeks...but I have major HIH disease so I will usually redo at least a few every week. Usually when I sit down to watch TV. But I wouldn't be surprised if they go two months or so before I ever get to them, since they are quite a number and I finger comb each one thoroughly before redoing so I don't get to do many per week. They aren't as tiny as those in that video though.

 

[Rei]

These look great on her. Not for everyone though. Minitwists cause my hair to knot up on the ends, and then they start to dread after more than 2 weeks. :/ Then the takedown is brutal. It would be a nice idea though

 

[ms-gg]

That's cool for her. There are a few naturals around the net that leave styles in for long term like that and it works for them.

I can't leave my twists in for weeks like that, especially mini twists. Been there done that. I learned the hard way that I have to remove my shed hair on a regular basis and 2-3 weeks is a good enough time for me. I would get so many SSK's and tangles it would defeat the purpose.

 

[Fine 4s]

I've done them for weeks like this. Since I didn't wash my hair too often in the weave, I guess I can do the same with the twists. I plan on doing some today (we'll see) and don't plan to remove them until the end of april in prep for my next weave...The more I wash the twists the more they tangle.

Perhaps putting oils on the ends of the hair will help with the knots? Dip them in warm olive oil every other night or so...

 

[Nonie]

I've done them for weeks like this. Since I didn't wash my hair too often in the weave, I guess I can do the same with the twists. I plan on doing some today (we'll see) and don't plan to remove them until the end of april in prep for my next weave...The more I wash the twists the more they tangle.

Perhaps putting oils on the ends of the hair will help with the knots? Dip them in warm olive oil every other night or so...

Fine 4s, do you twirl each strand before you twist? My hair doesn't tangle in twists after washing but actually becomes easier to undo because of how I do my twists (Real time). The twirling keeps the hairs in each strand separated from those in the other so that this is all it takes to undo.

If I use a product, I will only apply to ends, but I honestly don't think that helps much in preventing tangles. I seem to do better with nothing there and will actually wash them first so they have nothing on them before I undo. I only apply S Curl on ends coz I know moisturizing the oldest part of the hair is a good thing to do, otherwise I'd rather not--and usually don't.

To show you how well my strands stay separated, this is an example of a twist that unravels during the wash; the strands aren't tangled at all but just fall apart. I think not using products might have something to do with that...and using ACV at the end of every wash:

 

[Fine 4s]

Hey Nonie!
I don't twist them before. I would love to try but I'm so lazy. I feel like it would take twice as long to finish :S Show me the light!

 

[curlyninjagirl]

I have experimented with the length of time I can leave twists and braids in. Twists: 2 weeks maximum. Braids: 4 weeks maximum. My hair starts to lock up if I go past these times.

Tip: I haven't had knots on the ends of my hair since I started making sure they don't dry out. I spritz nightly with my moisturizer (5:1 ratio of water and AO HSR).

 

[Nonie]

Hey Nonie!
I don't twist them before. I would love to try but I'm so lazy. I feel like it would take twice as long to finish :S Show me the light!

Fine 4s, it is only hard when you're learning. Did you see the real time video? It does get faster once you get the hang of it. I rarely count how many twists I do or how long it takes but back when I did the twists below there was a thread asking how long it takes to do twists on a head so I timed it. It took me almost an hour to do these 119 twists:

So I say it'd take an hour or so to have done the full head in twists. My hair is a little longer than it was then and now it takes me about 1.5 to two hours to do my full head:

 

[Fine 4s]

OMG Nonie! Clearly I need to work on speed...I work slow in the school salon too
Well, maybe I'll give it a try today....

 

[Nonie]

OMG Nonie! Clearly I need to work on speed...I work slow in the school salon too
Well, maybe I'll give it a try today....

Fine 4s, slow but sure wins the race. Better slow to get it right and have it looking good. Speed will come in due time. Just perfect the skill first and after you've done about 50-11, you'll find yourself working faster w/o even thinking about it.

 

[TCT]

her hair looks nice. and i guess since she's having such success, its obviously working for her. for me when i have left twist in my own hair for long periods of time my hair knotted/locked more than when i used to wear extentions. i know i was wetting it alot. maybe that was what happend idk. but i dont want to risk trying again.

 

[Theresamonet]

I think what she is talking about is more of a long term low manipulation style, rather than a protective style. She doesn't have to comb it, but her ends are still exposed and can be inflicted by damage. In that sense, it's no different than wearing a ponytail.

I think weaves, and extension braids are better examples of long term protective styles.

 

[Nonie]

^^I agree with Theresamonet except that I consider extension braids as protective only if they are cornrows. Extension Braid Singles fall in the same category as loose twists so are just low mani rather than protective--unless they are worn in updos with ends hidden, that is.

 

[Theresamonet]

Nonie, I consider extension braids as a protective styles because most times the extension hair is braided way past your own hair, giving you fake ends. Unless your ends are frayed they are usually weaved into the braid pretty securely.

Also cornrows are only cornrows until they hit the nape, and then they become individual braids as well.

 

[itsjusthair88]

I don't see how this is a protective style...her ends and stuff are still out and it looks like she wears them down, so there is still that opportunity of breakage from friction and exposure to the elements. Also, those look like a mf'er to take out! I would get frustrated and just start cutting it off (like how you do with extensions to get past all the fake hair and just have to take down your hair) and then realize that I have cut all of my fool hair off my fool head! But it looks nice on her.

 

[newgrowth15]

This is how I usually wear my hair in a two strand twist protective style. Sometimes I vary the sizes of the twists, depending on my schedule. I redo my hair every week, since I cannot stand an itchy scalp. I have seen tremendous retention by wearing my hair this way. No SSK's, since I moisturize, seal and baggy every night. I guess it could be kept in longer to make it a long term protective style, but I would have to figure out a way to cleanse my scalp while keeping the twists neat.

 

[jennboo]

This is what i do. I have been wearing mini twists non-stop, back to back since July 2009. It is my signature style and the older it gets the better it looks lol. I keep my sets in between 6 and 8 weeks. I maintain them daily by spritzing with water and sealing with jojoba oil. I wash and condition in my twists. I pin them down at night and throw a durag on. I retained a bunch of growth but due to a hair 'trimming' mishap i'm shorter again. :/

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie, I consider extension braids as a protective styles because most times the extension hair is braided way past your own hair, giving you fake ends. Unless your ends are frayed they are usually weaved into the braid pretty securely.

Also cornrows are only cornrows until they hit the nape, and then they become individual braids as well.

@Theresamonet Girl, I wore extensions for years and I can tell you that just coz your ends are bypassed by the extension hair doesn't mean they are protected.

Yesterday someone just posted about her ends thinning from wearing extensions. Then someone else posted about how her ends thinned from wearing extensions and not from weaves, just as I suspected.

I always braid extensions all the way to the ends with at least 4-5 inches of the extension hair going beyond my own hair. My ends are still exposed to the drying air. The still rub against my clothes. It's not as if the extension hair wraps around one's hair like a blanket shielding it from the elements. But with extensions your hair is just braided beside extension hair, so it's not protected at all.

When my hair thinned from this:

...to this:

...it was in extension braids.

Weaves are protective coz your ends are buried inside the cornrow so there's no exposure to the elements. Dangling hair in twists, braids gets no protection unless it's wrapped completely like in African threading that wraps the hair completely:

 

[Tiye]

Everyone's hair locks at a different speed. For me locking happens between months 8-12 - and closer to the 12 than the 8. This is on undisturbed braids or twists. So I don't see accidental locking happening for everyone in 2-3 months. I've done the Afrostory/Nonie method in the past and I'm actually going back now. I've been doing cornrows but those are tedious and have to be redone frequently so I like this better.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie, I consider extension braids as a protective styles because most times the extension hair is braided way past your own hair, giving you fake ends. Unless your ends are frayed they are usually weaved into the braid pretty securely.

Also cornrows are only cornrows until they hit the nape, and then they become individual braids as well.

True @ the bold, but only if you leave cornrows out. This style below is 100% protective IMO:

So is this one: