Tips For Beautiful Wearable Twists

Just call me ‘two left hands Shorty’ because back in the day, I couldn’t twist, braid, cornrow, or flat twist to save my life. I quickly learned that these skills do not come naturally for some people; some of us have to learn techniques and practice often just to be successful.

With that said I accepted my fate and I practiced the art of twists and braids perfecting it as I went along in my journey and now I am happy to report that the twist out and braid out are my signature styles.

Now don’t get me wrong I still have work to do, after all I can only spell cornrow don’t ask me to attempt one (can we say epic fail?). When you do a twist, it really is more than just twisting your hair. There are a couple things you can add to the technique to make things a lot easier for yourself.

Without further ado here are some great tips for beautiful wearable twists.

1. Braid your roots

You will be aware of how annoying it can be to style your hair in gorgeous twists only to have it poof up at the roots instantly spoiling the effect. The solution to this is to braid about an inch down before you actually begin to twist your hair. This also has the added benefit of preventing your twist from unraveling all the way to the root should it loosen as time goes on.

Haircrush does a good job of explaining this point while she creates her twists.

2. Stretch your hair beforehand

Honestly stretching your hair before doing twists is the best way to achieve frizz and tangle free twists. Even though it is easier to twist wet hair, we all know that with shrinkage – especially on longer hair – creates an environment for the hair to wrap around itself, creating snarls and knots which can make your task that much harder.

You can choose to stretch your hair with heat or you can try some of heat-less ways of stretching your hair like banding or threading.

3. Work on your twisting technique

Like I mentioned before technique is everything when trying to create perfect twists. You can opt to do a regular two strand twist or you can choose to do a rope twist, two strand being the easier of the two to accomplish.

A two strand twist is basically using a small or large section of hair depending on the size of twist you prefer, separating the section and wrapping it around each other until you are at the end of the section.

A rope twist lasts a bit longer than a two strand twist because though it is the same technique, prior to wrapping the sections around each other, you literally twist each of the separated sections around itself first.

This is hard to explain precisely so check out Sdestra’s video as she demonstrates the rope twist and the two strand twist on her beautiful daughter’s hair. The technique of twisting the strands before wrapping them essentially lends to the longevity and neater appearance of the twist.

4 Use a holding butter

Once your hair is stretched you are now ready to twist. At this point you want to grab some product to not only hydrate your hair, but hold it in place so that you can get rid of frizz and your twists can last more than just one night.

Holding butters* are great because they have two purposes; once you have moisturized your hair, your holding butter will help to seal the moisture in as well as hold the hair in place.

Hydrate your hair with something water based but do not spray your stretched hair or that will just create shrinkage all over again. Rather spray your hand and work the product in your hair, then grab your butter and smooth the hair in the same direction twisting immediately. If you do not have butter a light gel will work as well.

5. Cover your head to preserve the style

If you spend a lot of time creating your twists you will probably prefer for them to last for a long time. Your night and bath time routines play a significant role in how well your twists hold up.

Cover your hair every time you shower and wear a satin bonnet* every time you go to bed, it really is that simple. Satin bonnets* and ties help to keep the hair smooth while you sleep, and of course a shower cap* will prevent the steam getting to your hair and turning your twists frizzy. The bottom line is protect your hair at all times.

6. Only wash if you absolutely have to

If you have an itchy scalp then I can understand the temptation to wash your hair, the great thing is there are ways to cleanse your scalp without doing a full blown wash.

Have you ever heard of the witch hazel trick? You haven’t? Well it is literally using a cotton ball soaked with witch hazel and using it to wipe your scalp. This astringent cleans your scalp keeping itchiness and dandruff at bay.

Some people have had success with washing twists regularly without causing tangling but be warned, if you have the type of hair that prefers to tangle, it can get really bad. If your hair starts to tangle you will have to remove the twists, redo them and avoid getting them wet for the duration of the style.

7. Part at an angle especially if you have fine/thin hair

Parting at an angle is a very simple detail that can be missed but makes a world of difference as you section your hair.

There is nothing more annoying than working with a section and taking hair from another section by accident, not to mention not figuring it out until you are half way done with your twist.

Parting in angles helps to keep the hair separated as you twist especially if your hair is fine. Fine hair is naturally attracted to each other so you want to avoid neighboring sections socializing and creating tangles.

Another benefit of parting your hair at an angle is that it creates the illusion of fullness which is great for those with low density hair.

8. Reduce the size of your twists

Now if you are a chunky twist kind of girl, then by all means use large sections, but know that the larger the section the harder it will be for you to keep the style for days at a time. If you want to wear a head full of twists and for a long time, then use small sections creating smaller twists as they stay neater and as such you are able to enjoy the style for longer.

9. Avoid glycerin containing moisturizers

When the individual hair strand swells to accommodate moisture, you will see frizz and your hair will shrink. Glycerin as a humectant is an ingredient that pulls moisture to itself. Using a product with glycerin will lead to frizz and shrinkage if the air is full of moisture.

But on the flip side of things if the air is dry the glycerin will suck the moisture out of your hair, effectively worsening dryness. You want your hair to be stretched but hydrated, so use products that do just that and nothing else. For this reason, avoiding glycerin would be a great idea.

Now that you have those pointers that will help you perfect your technique I’m sure in no time you will be turning out gorgeous twists, but you best get practicing. After all, you wouldn’t want to join “two left hands shorty” on this side of the fence.