Twist for Growth Challenge (Fall 2011)

[-PYT]

Just took my twists down. Will probably wear a twistout this weekend. Not too excited about washing tomorrow

 

[Victoria44]

I love my first mini-twist set! Its such an easy protective style, and i still get to touch my hair, unlike when i have braid extensions. I've been able to retain moisture so much easier.

Does anyone baggy their twists every night? I heard some people have a problem with mildew by doing this, I want to avoid that, but i still love to baggy..

My only problem with my twists is that my heat damage from my transitioning days is so much more noticeable b/c that section of twists unravel a little and are just sooo straight at the bottom. how annoying

 

[faithVA]

I love my first mini-twist set! Its such an easy protective style, and i still get to touch my hair, unlike when i have braid extensions. I've been able to retain moisture so much easier.

Does anyone baggy their twists every night? I heard some people have a problem with mildew by doing this, I want to avoid that, but i still love to baggy..

My only problem with my twists is that my heat damage from my transitioning days is so much more noticeable b/c that section of twists unravel a little and are just sooo straight at the bottom. how annoying

I don't baggy. It makes my scalp sensitive. But you should try it. You will know if it is causing a problem before it actually causes one. Some people can do it successfully.

I do baggy my ends sometimes. I take my twist and put them in sections, moisturize and then wrap plastic around them.

It does work out well.

 

[pookaloo83]

My twists for the week. Done on lightly blown out hair

 

[cch24]

Victoria44 I baggy my hair every night, whether it's in twists or not. The only night I don't baggy is the night I put my twists in, because I want them to dry a little. I twist and then bun, and I never take my bun out unless it's a wash day so i just put the plastic cap over my bun and the rest of my hair and go to sleep. I think this is one of the main reasons I don't have to re-moisturize my twists.

 

[Reminiscing]

OMG!!! Thanks for all the recent posts about baggying. I wasn't interested in trying it until last night. I planned to take down my twists and DC but I was too tired when I got home so I just sprayed by leave-in mix (1/3 Nourish Spa Con 2/3 water), sealed with EVOO, added my peppermint/castor oil mix to my scalp and covered with a plastic shower cap. I went to sleep with very little expectation. My twists were very fuzzy and needing redoing... or so I thought.... I woke up this morning to very soft, shiny, fluffy and NOT frizzy twists. My twists absorbed the moisture and fluffed up a lot making them look like a freshly installed set of thicker twists. Rather than throwing on a headband and bunning as I had planned, I threw on some cute earrings, a little makeup and am a rocking my twists down today! I sent my sis a pic and she called me right away asking when did I find time to re-twist my hair? LOL!

Baggying is definitely being added to my twists routine now. I don't think I'll do it every night as my hair retains moisture well and I'm scared of over moisturizing, but it will be done 1-2 times a week to refresh my twists.

Thanks again ladies! These twists are coming out tonight so I can DC in preparation to a trip to my stylist this weekend. She is great with natural hair as she's natural too but I still like to DC before going since she uses a lot of shampoo.

 

[discodumpling]

11 twists is all I could do today...i'll be releasing them for a Friday fro tomorrow.

 

[faithVA]

Just preprepping for the weekend and my twist out. Sprayed twists with SM Mist, coated it with Sunflower oil and Sealed it in with a shea butter mix. Now its up in 6 big braids. Hopefully this will stretch them out but also start to add some curl to them so my twist out will be curly.

 

[-PYT]

Did some chunkies tonight with castor oil. May or may not take them down for a twistout tomorrow. Hanging in there. Taking down my twists was a breeze tonight....just let the shower stream run thru it and voila

 

[pookaloo83]

Next week I will be washing and retwisting in the twists that I already have, Not going to do a takedown next week.

This morning my twists shriveled a bit so I pulled out my blowdryer and held my twists taut while I ran the dryer up and down. Came out looking fine and with hangtime.

 

[Sesi]

Hi Ladies. I am back from Ghana now...and here's my update.

i've spent most of the past two months in twists. (With the exception of 1 week in a threded style, one day where I straightened it - terrible idea btw- and one week where i wore a twist out.

I will update pictures later.
It's not been a good two months. Since I can get my hair done for really cheap in Ghana, I got my twists done professionally.

They were good braiders, but THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO BE GENTLE (and in typical ghana style, would get offended when i complained, smh). My last visit was particularly bad: I could hear my hair tearing every time they sectioned my hair with the mini-comb (the wouldn't section with anything else).

So I have had nice, professional-looking hair for the past month, but i also have a lot more SSK's than normal. Sigh. And i think i might have lost some growth, but we'll see soon enough in december.

i hope your months have been better than mine.

but on the flipside, it was REALLY good to have others fuss over my hair, this time around. it took 45 mins tops to be done, and the lines would be clean, the part would be great, the sections would be exactly even....i'm still trying to determine whether or not it was worth it.

 

[faithVA]

Hi Ladies. I am back from Ghana now...and here's my update.

i've spent most of the past two months in twists. (With the exception of 1 week in a threded style, one day where I straightened it - terrible idea btw- and one week where i wore a twist out.

I will update pictures later.
It's not been a good two months. Since I can get my hair done for really cheap in Ghana, I got my twists done professionally.

They were good braiders, but THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO BE GENTLE (and in typical ghana style, would get offended when i complained, smh). My last visit was particularly bad: I could hear my hair tearing every time they sectioned my hair with the mini-comb (the wouldn't section with anything else).

So I have had nice, professional-looking hair for the past month, but i also have a lot more SSK's than normal. Sigh. And i think i might have lost some growth, but we'll see soon enough in december.

i hope your months have been better than mine.

but on the flipside, it was REALLY good to have others fuss over my hair, this time around. it took 45 mins tops to be done, and the lines would be clean, the part would be great, the sections would be exactly even....i'm still trying to determine whether or not it was worth it.

Welcome back Sesi. I feel you on having someone else fuss over your hair. It does feel good. And I understand your concern over possible damage to your hair. You may have some breakage but I think overall you are going to be ok. Sometimes it sounds worse then it is. I am rooting for you

But you are back now and can pamper your hair. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[pookaloo83]

I think my twists have thickened up some and I have retained some length.

These were my twists done on Wed night.

And here are my twists from Sept.

I did a bun recently like I did in the September pic and it's thicker and fuller. I'm going to do a pic so I can get a comparison shot. Also my shrinkage isnt\'t as bad as it used to be. The pics from my twists above that I did on Wed didn't shrink up that much from the pics I posted in post #754. That was the next day after hitting the shower and it's pretty humid here still in florida.

 

[thecurlycamshow]

Ooh I'm super late but I'll lurk this challenge to see what great tips I can learn from you all I haven't checked my hair since July when I reached BSL and I trimmed in late September. I mainly follow protective styling and WNG's. I'll attached some recent pics of my hair. HHG!!!

1st pic 7/24/11 of BSL
2nd pic 8/8/11 of bantu knot-out on twists
3rd pic 10/31/11 of old twist out

 

[faithVA]

Ooh I'm super late but I'll lurk this challenge to see what great tips I can learn from you all I haven't checked my hair since July when I reached BSL and I trimmed in late September. I mainly follow protective styling and WNG's. I'll attached some recent pics of my hair. HHG!!!

1st pic 7/24/11 of BSL
2nd pic 8/8/11 of bantu knot-out on twists
3rd pic 10/31/11 of old twist out

You don't have to lurk. You can join us if you like. We still have two months to go. And since you seem to take pictures regularly you can just use one of the old ones; take another on 11/15 and then one at the end.

So if you want to join us feel free. We might be able to learn a lot from you.

 

[thecurlycamshow]

faithVA I'm in and thanks

 

[discodumpling]

This weeks twists are complete! ...and already frizzy from my morning workout *oh well*
Washed with my homemade mud mix. Airdried in a pony and twisted up with Shea Moisture Curling Smoothee and sealed with RiceBran oil.
I don't SEE much difference in myhair since the challenge started BUT my hair has made big changes in other ways, texture and thickness have been improved AND my "baldmans" itch is 99.99% gone!
Yeah I get bored with a weekly twisting schedule BUT it's obviously best for my hair and what i'll stick with as long as it works!
faithVA Please keep this going through the new year. Perhaps not having a defnite start and stop time...just an ongoing challenge that folks can "rest" in when they need the support of other women who fiercely protect their hair...

 

[SimJam]

just did a new set of twists. did them on damp hair wirh SM deep treatment mask

 

[faithVA]

This weeks twists are complete! ...and already frizzy from my morning workout *oh well*
Washed with my homemade mud mix. Airdried in a pony and twisted up with Shea Moisture Curling Smoothee and sealed with RiceBran oil.
I don't SEE much difference in myhair since the challenge started BUT my hair has made big changes in other ways, texture and thickness have been improved AND my "baldmans" itch is 99.99% gone!
Yeah I get bored with a weekly twisting schedule BUT it's obviously best for my hair and what i'll stick with as long as it works!
@faithVA Please keep this going through the new year. Perhaps not having a defnite start and stop time...just an ongoing challenge that folks can "rest" in when they need the support of other women who fiercely protect their hair...

I probably will keep it going at least for the 1st part of the year. I had all of these brilliant ideas of what I was going to do with my hair. The feeling passed real quick

I was going to rollerset my hair this friday to experiment so I could wear it out in December. That idea has been trashed already. I'm going to stick with twists and twist outs for a while.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I'm back on the twist challenge. I did not realize how much retention that I've obtained until my recent wash n go today. I also did not realize that it was the most beneficial and less work style for me. In the past I could not twist to save my life. It took me so long to do just a simple flat twist. My hair just unraveled on its own after 3 days. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. Then I watched You tube videos and there was a great thread on which it talked about making twists that are neat and how to make them last. I am now using KCCC on my twists for the first time. I am going to start seriously chronicling how my hair does with twists for the next 6 months. I will say the KCCC made my twists look more defined and they felt tight. I am improving with more practice and I am learning how to be more positive about my natural hair.

 

[thecurlycamshow]

I just completed a new set of twists on wet hair of small-medium thickness. I also refreshed my Bumblebee's twists

 

[faithVA]

I'm back on the twist challenge. I did not realize how much retention that I've obtained until my recent wash n go today. I also did not realize that it was the most beneficial and less work style for me. In the past I could not twist to save my life. It took me so long to do just a simple flat twist. My hair just unraveled on its own after 3 days. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. Then I watched You tube videos and there was a great thread on which it talked about making twists that are neat and how to make them last. I am now using KCCC on my twists for the first time. I am going to start seriously chronicling how my hair does with twists for the next 6 months. I will say the KCCC made my twists look more defined and they felt tight. I am improving with more practice and I am learning how to be more positive about my natural hair.

Ok DDTexlaxed, I will add you back. You can do it. We only have a few 7 weeks left.

Glad you saw progress with your original twists though. And glad you are feeling better about your natural hair.

 

[faithVA]

My twist out over the weekend was fantastic. But I was glad to put it back up today.
I rinsed and detangled. Then DCd for an hour and then steamed for 20 minutes. I rinse in twists. I mixed Sheam Moisture Smoothie with sunflower oil and coconut oil and applied as my leave in. I sprayed my hair with Shea Moisture Mist. And I twisted in small twists with KCCC.

My hair is soft. My twists are plump. And I have a nice amount of hang. I will see if my hair still looks good tomorrow. If so I will use this combination Smoothie + Mist + KCCC for my twist until the Smoothie is gone.

 

[Victoria44]

Washed my twists today, and i'm glad the ends curled back up some more. hopefully i have less unraveling. My hair is a lot more frizzy but i don't mind the frizz, im going to make these last another 2 weeks

 

[-PYT]

Took my chunky twists down thinking I could pull my hair back in a cute twist out bun or something and that was a fail. Put on my scarf and walked away from the mirror. Refreshed it into a more presentable looking bun and it doesn't look half bad. Said all this to say I will be re-twisting as soon as possible

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I have to learn how to do twist outs next. I'm psyched because my twists now look better!

 

[pookaloo83]

My hair is itching. My scalp gets crazy when it gets closer to a week.

I keep getting compliments on my twists this time around for some reason. I guess it's the way I have it styled. I like it as well and the size twists I have. So today I think I'm gonna wash in these exact same twists and retwist in sections.

 

[NikkiQ]

Okay I know I'm not in this challenge,but I just had to share. I've been lurking in this thread and picking up tips along the way. So I attempted to do my first set this weekend. Took me 4 hours!!!! I think they came out pretty well. I'm so proud of myself lol

Sent from my SPH-D700 using SPH-D700

 

[Ronnieaj]

NikkiQ,

Your twists look nice and plump . Good job!

I washed my twists over the weekend. I'm going into my third week in this set of twists; I'll take them down and re-do this Friday and Saturday. My hair appreciates being left alone for extended periods of time, so this has worked out pretty well. And since I have carpal tunnel in both wrists, going three weeks between retwisting prevents the flare-ups that stopped me from twisting before.

I find that using a heavy sealant on the ends of the twists also helps with SSKs, which I got a lot of when I used to twist regularly. I have no idea what my retention will be since I cut an inch my first week into this, but my hair seems happier than with the more regular manipulation that I put it through before.

 

[faithVA]

Okay I know I'm not in this challenge,but I just had to share. I've been lurking in this thread and picking up tips along the way. So I attempted to do my first set this weekend. Took me 4 hours!!!! I think they came out pretty well. I'm so proud of myself lol

Sent from my SPH-D700 using SPH-D700

I'm glad you did share. I have been wondering how the twists worked out but wasn't going to bug you. They came out very nice. And you will get better and better at it. They came out thick and juicy.