To twist or not to twist

Hey Naturals,

Rocking the twists
 at the age of 5! 

I've always been a big fan of braid outs. Braid outs stretch my hair while also giving my fro a different sort of definition. However, there are so many naturalistas that swear by twist outs and love what they do to their hair. So for the past two weeks I have been testing out my own twist outs and let me tell ya all about what I discovered. To begin with I should probably explain why I've always strayed away from twist outs. The very first time that I tried a twist out I didn't like the way that my hair seemed to slip out of the twists. It was almost as if my hair was too soft to handle them. But I knew that this wasn't so because back in the day when Momma Lynn was in charge of my hair I rocked the twists on a daily basis...and I was the cutest kid in kindergarten. haha! I mean check me out! haha. Anywho, after several failed attempts at a successful twist out, I completely gave up hope of rocking the twist out that so many naturals do.

After about a year of hopelessness, I decided to try the twist out once again. Quite frankly, I'm sick of detangling this fro, but I'm a broke college student that does not want to/can't afford $300 microbraids. In addition, my go to look is a gelled up sleek bun. I use ecostyler gel & smooth the hair back with a soft bristled brush, but this daily routine can be very damaging to your hair. My hair is beginning to thin around my crown. I also sleep with my hair in a pineapple. The tension from the rubber bands was causing the hair on the side that I sleep on to thin out as well. What really made me decide to try the twist out again was this article that I read on curlynikki.com (I'm currently going through an obsession with her/her blog). While reading over Curly Nikki's hair care routine, I learned that she keeps her hair in twists the majority of the time and only takes it out once a week for "when she wants to get cute."

I decided to try out her routine for myself. I  did my first twist out this past weekend.. This worked out perfectly because we went to the beach on Saturday. I don't like leaving my fro loose when I hit the beach. When I saturate my hair in water and leave it loose without detangling, my hair curls on top of curls and my hair is left in a matted mess. I twisted my hair on Friday night. On Saturday, I left my hair in twists and washed it on that night. Then I removed the twists and  stretched the roots with a blow dryer for church on Sunday. What I found was perfect definition at the crown of my head. I call this my "problem area" because that is where my hair is the straightest (3b). It makes a loose curl pattern when wet, but dries straight. When I was first experimenting with my hair in it's natural state, I thought that this was the result of excessive heat damage, but I later learned that the straight hair was just my natural texture. The center of my head has the curliest hair(3c), while the back is kinkier mix of 3c/4a hair. (For a further explanation of hair types, click here.) I found that the twist out added extra definition to that 3b section of hair by stretching the hair, but keeping it coiled (rather than solely stretching it like a braid-out would do).

I was so happy with the results that I decided to retwist my hair and I'm leaving them in for the week. Right now I have about 12 twists in. Before twisting I misted my hair with a water/conditioner mist, rubbed some Giovanni Direct Leave-in on the hair, and then sealed with coconut oil. I will take them out on Saturday after I go to the beach again :) For now I pull them up into a bun...similar to how I was wearing my hair before minus the gel and tight hair bands. I'm finding that my roots kink up so quickly in the twists though. I've found that they don't stay nearly as neat as when I braid my hair. I want to style them but they look so fuzzy that I fear you won't be able to see the style. haha! So if you know any tips about how to keep them neat, please add a comment in the box below! I'm desperate!

Last thing, I promise! No more ridiculously long posts after this! Last summer my goal was to go the duration of the summer without flat ironing my hair & I ended up going 6 months completely natural. I decided that leaving my hair in twists is going to be my mission for Summer 2012. Wish me luck! What are your natural goals for Summer '12?

Keep it Natural,

Jackie