? Your Advice @ This Hot Mess (though Finally Hydrated) Twist-out?

M

mysblossom


Greetings, friends.

I hope this post finds you and yours well!

So, I have taken 2 steps forward and 1 step back. :laugh:

I have FINALLY, FINALLY achieved moisture retention in my high porosity natural hair. (Feels like a MILLION STEPS forward instead of just "two steps" forward, ya know? :D)

However, this twist-out (my third attempt) doesn't look as good as the second twist-out I gave myself. :(​

Here are pictures of the LATTER twist-out:

wp_20150922_088.jpg


wp_20150922_086.jpg


wp_20150922_085.jpg


Does anyone know what might be the reason the latter one isn't . . . quite there? ;)

For the earlier, dry, but better-looking twist-out I did this:
  1. Twisted dry hair with NO cream, NO oil, or anything.
  2. Shampooed dry twists with my Giovanni 50/50 shampoo.
  3. Twist by twist, untwisted the now-wet twist and successively raked Giovanni light leave-in conditioner, Obia Curl Enhancing Custard, and grapeseed oil through it. Then I retwisted the twist/section.
  4. I let it all air dry overnight and then untwisted each twist, separated the untwisted hair of each twist, and styled the way pashtash on Youtube demonstrates.
For the latter, moisturized,not-quite-there twist-out I did this:
  1. Twisted dry hair with using the Shea Moisture JBCO masque. (I raked the product through a section and then twisted it up.)
  2. I let the masque sit in for awhile (way longer than the directions read because I got held up, so I hope that was okay).
  3. Thoroughly shampooed all my twists with my Giovanni 50/50 shampoo. Rinsed out the shampoo.
  4. DID NOT RETWIST the now-wet twist/sections. Instead, followed a Youtuber's method of conditioning the hair while in twists. I used my Giovanni light leave-in conditioner.
  5. Rinsed and sprayed hair with Naptural85's water and aloe vera juice mix (her proportions).
  6. Retwisted a few twists that didn't look quite right (mainly the ones in the front and on the top).
  7. Sat under home bonnet dryer for about 1.5 hours. Let hair continue to dry during the night while caring for sick baby nephew.
  8. Had to untwist slightly before hair was 100% dry because I had to meet baby nephew's doctor for the first time.
I'm not sure what to think! I'm excited about my hair's hydration level, but if my unhydrated twist-out is going to look better . . . :(

Any thoughts or advice? Has something similar ever happened to you?

Thanks in advance for any and all help. I'm getting closer to feeling like going to a natural hair stylist can become for me a TREAT and not a "necessity" . . . because I just might be able to do my own hair soon!
 
yaya24 said:
Have you tried flat twisting? I think they are faster and yield great results.
Click to expand...

I don't know how! I watched YouTuber Reanna (sp?) Butler's very good tutorial for flatwisting and found it beyond my current skill set. I wish someone in Dallas could help me learn to do flatwists on my own head.
 
umm... there's a couple of things that I probably would have done differently. For my twistouts I begin on freshly clarified and DCed hair. Next I add my leavein (diluted Giovanni leave-in) and I saturate each section. Then I use a styler; usually homemade flaxseed gel or botanical curls gelle. Becase of my hair type/texture I have to have a styler with a hold.

How many twists are you putting in your hair? I have my hair in 4 sections (two in the front and two in the back), per each section I put in 4-5 twists totaling 16-20 twists.

And another thing: your twists have to be COMPLETELY dry before unraveling. If not, your get friz.
 
mysblossom said:
I'm not sure what to think! I'm excited about my hair's hydration level, but if my unhydrated twist-out is going to look better . . . :(
Click to expand...
I'll just add don't choose style over moisture. Doing so will lead to breakage. Dry/unhydrated hair is a lot more prone to breakage and splits.

I couldn't flat twist either, but finally learned from 2 ladies on YT. I'll look for them and post later.
 
mysblossom said:
I don't know how! I watched YouTuber Reanna (sp?) Butler's very good tutorial for flatwisting and found it beyond my current skill set. I wish someone in Dallas could help me learn to do flatwists on my own head.
Click to expand...
Its a process!! Watch a few more videos and be patient. I'll try and find a good instructional video when I get hm
 
pelohello said:
umm... there's a couple of things that I probably would have done differently. For my twistouts I begin on freshly clarified and DCed hair. Next I add my leavein (diluted Giovanni leave-in) and I saturate each section. Then I use a styler; usually homemade flaxseed gel or botanical curls gelle. Becase of my hair type/texture I have to have a styler with a hold.

How many twists are you putting in your hair? I have my hair in 4 sections (two in the front and two in the back), per each section I put in 4-5 twists totaling 16-20 twists.

And another thing: your twists have to be COMPLETELY dry before unraveling. If not, your get friz.
Click to expand...

Hi, @pelohello. Muchisimas gracias.

At this post I just made really quickly, there's a slideshow showing my twists that led to the "decent"-looking twistout: https://theblossomingnaturalhairnew...perpetually-stretched-for-3-months-challenge/

Typically I'm putting a few more than 18 twists in. No more than 24. I say that range in number because I tried Naptural85's method of "wrapping" my twists around my hair with bobby pins to create even more stretch. I had a pack of 18 bobby pins and that was not quite enough. I ended up doubling up some twists in one bobby pin. So I'd say around 24, I'd guess.

I've only tried my own twist-out 3 times as of now. My hair has been so dry and drawn up that detangling in order to try it has taken HOURS. Twisting was new to me and took a loooooong time.

For those reasons, I haven't ever been able to make neat sections (too dry, trying too hard to avoid breakage, too new to twisting ;) ). I'm hoping that if I can get my hair properly hydrated, I'll be able to section my hair and have neater twists that are more evenly spaced and uniformly sized. Right now I just grab sections and try to keep them about the same size.

I'm the newbie natural who was never a "hair doer" type. I want to try, though. My natural hair journey transition story reveals why!
 
Thank you so much everyone. So glad I found this forum so that I have some actionable help and can stay encouraged.

Sounds like at a minimum I need to add some sort of twisting cream if I'm going to try the second method again.

Also sounds like I need to get that huge, floppy cap/hat I've been planning to purchase so that if I'm not completely dry but have to leave the house, I can leave the twists still in. :D

I tried to look for a natural hair mannequin head so that I could practice flat twisting, but I never found one that had any decent reviews.
 
Flat twist tutorials. There are two different techniques. I get neater twists with the 2nd technique. (Don't let that giant braid intimidate you. She starts off showing you how to do normal sized ones.)

Technique 1 where you lift the hair section over the other.


Technique 2 where you pick up hair to add to a started 2-strand twist.
 
I like both methods of your routine. The only thing I would say like everyone else is your hair has to be completely dry. Otherwise you are sure to be disappointed with your results. Also maybe using the custard helped set it (along with letting it dry all the way)
 
grownwomanaz said:
Op how is the health of your scalp? Also, have you tried plain water rinses to combat drieness?
Click to expand...
@grownwomanaz,

Thank you for the questions/tip.

My scalp seems pretty healthy to me. Only issue I ever have with my scalp is that every now and then I'll try a hair product that doesn't agree with my scalp and makes my scalp itch terribly, usually right above my ears and the nape of my neck. My scalp COULD be more moisturized, I imagine.

Because of your mention of water rinsing, I started reading about the water-only method. Hmm! I'm intrigued because my hair grew the fastest when cornrowed under crochet braids. I just BET that among other things that had something to do with the fact that I was almost doing the water-only method with those crochets. Above and beyond the fact that my ends were very protected, my natural sebum never got too washed out.

Hmm. I just ordered the Naturalicious line. After trialing it for a bit, I'll probably start water rinsing to see if that improves my hair's moisture and hydration levels.

Many thanks for the suggestion! God bless!, , ,
 
mysblossom said:
Hi, @pelohello. Muchisimas gracias.

At this post I just made really quickly, there's a slideshow showing my twists that led to the "decent"-looking twistout: https://theblossomingnaturalhairnew...perpetually-stretched-for-3-months-challenge/

Typically I'm putting a few more than 18 twists in. No more than 24. I say that range in number because I tried Naptural85's method of "wrapping" my twists around my hair with bobby pins to create even more stretch. I had a pack of 18 bobby pins and that was not quite enough. I ended up doubling up some twists in one bobby pin. So I'd say around 24, I'd guess.

I've only tried my own twist-out 3 times as of now. My hair has been so dry and drawn up that detangling in order to try it has taken HOURS. Twisting was new to me and took a loooooong time.

For those reasons, I haven't ever been able to make neat sections (too dry, trying too hard to avoid breakage, too new to twisting ;) ). I'm hoping that if I can get my hair properly hydrated, I'll be able to section my hair and have neater twists that are more evenly spaced and uniformly sized. Right now I just grab sections and try to keep them about the same size.

I'm the newbie natural who was never a "hair doer" type. I want to try, though. My natural hair journey transition story reveals why!
Click to expand...

I tried napturals85, stretching technique too with the bobby pins but it didn't work for me. It made the length of the hair limp
 
^^yeah the stretching technique didn't work for me either, my hair is too fine.

Unless I'm in a protective style, I always wear my hair in a twist out. I thoroughly wet each detangled section, apply leave in/styler from root to end using the praying hands method. If I want the style and moisture to last for a while I use the LOC method.

I generally make 10-14 twists then gently untwist and separate from the root when my hair is 80-100% dry. Good luck finding the best technique for you, practice makes perfect!
 
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