5 Tips On Making Your Twists Last - for #naturalhair

I’ve been wearing two stranded twists in my naturally coily hair for well over 10 years now–almost as long as I’ve been wearing my hair in its natural texture.  Needless to say, twists are my staple hairstyle.  They fit in perfectly with my active lifestyle and they are very easy to maintain.  There are many ways to wear twists–small or large, wet set or dry, blown out, curled, flat, twisted out, with extensions, etc.  How you maintain your twists will surely depend on what type of twists you’re wearing.  The following tips will help you maintain your two stranded twists done on natural hair without the use of extensions.

1)  Lessen manipulation:  The less you bother your twists, the longer they will last.  If your twists are long enough to tie back, then do so to keep your hands out of it.  When you wash your twists, use the pads of your fingers to rub your scalp–not the hair.  Grab the twists in bunches to squeeze the shampoo and water through the twists to clean them.  After washing, avoid using a towel to dry the hair.  Instead, continue squeezing the twists gently to remove any excess water from them.  Wrap the damp twists with a satin scarf if needed to aid in the drying process.

2)  Moisturize your twists:  In order for your twists to stay healthy, they need moisture.  Use a spray bottle to spritz your twists with distilled or purified water–preferably mixed in with aloe vera gel or your favorite oil–at least once daily.  Doing this refreshes your twists in between washes, giving them the moisture that they need.  If your natural hair is as porous like mine, meaning your hair absorbs water and moisture like a sponge would, then spritzing them with water is absolutely necessary before applying any moisturizers as our hair will only absorb moisturizers when it’s a little damp first.  When applying moisturizers use a squeezing or patting motion with your hands.  This way, you avoid pulling out any hairs from your twists, which may create a fuzzy look.

3) Tighten your twists:  As you begin to reach week 2 or 3, your newgrowth will become more noticeable.  This is when you will need to begin the process of re-twisting the grown out twists to keep your twist style looking fresh and to remove dead hairs that may have been collecting since you first did your twists.  Use your fingers to unravel the twist from the ends and separate the two sections of the twists to remove dead hair and to smooth the sections out for re-twisting.  If you are in a time crunch, perform this on a small section of your twists  such as your hairline (since that’s the most visible part of your hairstyle) and continue on to tighten other sections over the next few days or as needed until all of your new growth has been re-tightened.

4)  Sleep with your twists covered:  The best way to keep your twists in tact is to protect them by wearing a satin or silk scarf when you sleep.  This not only prevents manipulation but it also preserves your twist style.  Whether you have a part or a hairline you want to keep smooth, putting on that scarf at night will cut your morning styling time in half.

5)  Dust your ends:  It’s important to keep your ends in check while wearing two stranded twists.  Dusting your ends requires the use of a professional grade hair trimmer which you can purchase at any beauty supply store.  Every once in a while, run your fingers through your twists to feel for any knots or look for split ends.  If you feel any at the tips of your hair, use your scissors to cut then off the ends of your hair.  This shouldn’t be more than 1/4th of an inch (use a ruler as your guide).  Anything more than that should be considered cutting and not dusting, which I would not recommend doing on your hair while in its twisted state–for accuracy sake.

A final note about your twist’s staying power:  Generally, the longer the hair, the less likely your twists will unravel.  This may also be true based on the size of your coil–the tighter the coil, the less likely it is for the twists to unravel.  The same goes for the state of your hair texture.  A naturally coiled hair texture can hold and lock in a twist much easier than heat damaged or looser coiled hair.  Finally, small and skinny twists will have much more staying power than thicker or chunkier twists.

Need a little help with your twists?  Feel free to contact info[at]coilyhair.com with any questions!

 

 

5 Tips On Making Your Twists Last - for #naturalhair

Don't Judge Us By How We Wear Our Hair

(My Original Blog Post: http://www.coilyhair.com/dont-judge-us-by-how-we-wear-our-hair/)
February 5, 2009

BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist

Maybe I'm a little touchy right now. But a commentary by Erin Aubry Kaplan about Michelle Obama's hair on Salon.com that was excerpted in the Sun-Times rubbed me.

Last weekend, I had my hair straightened for the first time in 20 years.
» Click to enlarge image
Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell

Original article: http://ping.fm/GmUl7

To say the experience was traumatic would be an understatement.

My grandson had never seen me with straight hair. My youngest daughter, who hadn't seen me with straight hair since she was a child, nearly screamed. A close friend almost fainted.

My makeover started out innocently enough. I wanted a precision haircut, and my stylist reasoned that the best way to accomplish that was to straighten my hair so he could see what he was working with.

Afterward, I decided that if I was going to spend a hunk of change for a hairstyle, I darn sure was going to wear it for more than a day.

But every time I look in the mirror, I get a sinking feeling.

In straightening my hair -- a style that I wore off and on for more than 40 years -- I can't shake the feeling I've betrayed the natural sisterhood that I've belonged to for decades.

And, of course, there were the unavoidable comments:

"It makes you look younger."

"It makes you look older."

"It's working for you."

"You look so, so ready for Washington."

When I read Kaplan's article, it stirred up the same tormented feelings I had when I first walked into the newsroom with locks.

"Would even a mild curl on Obama, a la Oprah's lioness look, make people nervous?" Kaplan wondered.

"Hair texture and skin color work in tandem: The darker you are, the harder you have to offset it with "good" hair in order to be considered attractive or acceptable. If she weren't dark-skinned with classic dark features, Obama might not be so wedded to super-straight locks," wrote Kaplan, who described herself as a "black woman with curly hair, but it's not curly enough to be considered kinky."

There's nothing surprising about a black woman -- dark-skinned or light-skinned -- wearing straight hair these days. In fact, black women are probably more versatile than any other group when it comes to their hair.

Throughout their lifetimes, many will have flat-ironed, relaxed, twisted, braided, extended, weaved, wrapped or locked their hair, depending on their mood.

And I've seen as many, if not more, dark-skinned sister in twists, locks, curls and braids, not to mention wigs.

But here's what gets me.

Why are we still looking at black hairstyles as a measure of social acceptability?

Why can't a black woman choose any style she darn well pleases without carrying the weight of "100 years without a comb" and Madame C.J. Walker on her shoulders?

For as long as Michelle Obama has been in the public arena, she has worn her hair in the sleek, straightened style that keeps hairstylists in business.

And I've also seen her with her hair pulled back in a ratty ponytail.

As the first African-American first lady, Obama's personal hairstyle will send some women rushing to salons to duplicate her flowing locks, just as Jacqueline Kennedy's pillbox hats sent the women of her time rushing off to department stores.

Interestingly, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's hairstyle also prompted commentary. For a while, writers were obsessed with Rice's old-fashioned 'do.

But I don't recall writers musing that Rice might be reluctant to wear braids or twists because she's a dark-skinned African-American.

And no one cared whether former first ladies Laura Bush or Hillary Clinton had their hair permed, flat-ironed or colored.

Unfortunately, to some people, Michelle Obama's hairstyle is still the "acceptable" style, while my natural twists were too "radical" for respectability.

But I don't think the first lady, who tends to be practical, would have a problem with natural hairstyles if she thought those styles looked good on her.

The days when the way we wear our hair said something about our cultural awareness have long been over.

Still, I'm stressed out. I won't even take a photograph of my temporary straight hair.

For now, it helps to hum India Arie's "I Am Not My Hair."

Original article: http://ping.fm/6l9x8

Stretching Twists

(My Original Blog Post: http://www.coilyhair.com/stretching-twists/)


Ever heard of stretching a relaxer?  That's when someone waits as long as she can before getting another retouch.   Well, I have been doing the same thing with these twists.  I've had these twists for over 2 months--yes, since 2008--and they are still working for me (at least through my own eyes, not sure what you would say :-)). As explained in a previous post, I maintained them by washing and conditioning regularly, and twisting and re-twisting when I'm experiencing lots of new growth... so the twists were still lookin' tight and right.

My last post explained how I salvaged my twists due to a party I was to be attending, knowing I wouldn't have enough time to redo them before the event and all.  I left my twists to soak in a deep conditioning treatment overnight.  By the next day, my twists soaked up as much moisture as they could and were ready to be rinsed... in the morning.  After rinsing, my twists had a lot of weight to them, a lot of curl definition, and felt very moisturized!  My hair had gone to the spa...  and loved it :-)  Now, on to styling.

I had a nail appointment to get to, so I decided to quickly added my leave-in's and moisturizer, rolled random sections of twists onto jerri curl rollers, cover with a scarf, then my knit cap, and out the door I went.  By early evening, I sat under my soft bonnet dryer to complete the drying process, pulled out all the rollers, and I had a head full of curled twists.  Again, being in a hurry, I spritzed some shine all over the twists and left... no separating of the ringlets of curls or anything!  I had no idea what it looked like until I saw pictures from the event.  I was pleased :-)

Spa-Like Hair Treatment

(My Original Blog Post: http://www.coilyhair.com/spa-like-hair-treatment/)
I have really been meaning to change my hairstyle, but these twists just do not want to go.  They really want to remain apart of me!  There has been a few things preventing me lately from getting my hair redone.  The latest reason why I haven't changed my hairstyle is that I was invited to a party two days before hand--the same day I was to take my hair down to have it done on Sunday.  So... I had to choose, and you know I love a great party :-)

I decided to salvage my current hairstyle and therefore did not unravel my twists to comb out to be restyled.  Instead, I put my hair through a serious deep conditioning session since they were very dry and overdue for a deep conditioning treatment (after all, I was planning on my hair stylist to take care of that).  I washed and conditioned my twists very well  and then drenched them in my long-time favorite deep conditioner, Organic Root Stimulator's Replenishing Conditioner.  I covered my twists with a plastic cap, slept in the conditioner, woke up the next morning and wore it to work--yes, to work.  I covered it with a black sleeping cap, and then followed with my knitted black cap.  Since it was a cold winter day and it was a Friday (meaning casual dress), this worked in my favor :-)  Now all I needed to do was let the conditioner work it's magic.

Reflections (1/24/00)

(My Original Blog Post: http://www.coilyhair.com/personal-journal-excerpt-12400/)
Jan 24, 2000

"Amazing.  Today I wore my hair in tiny twists all around my head. I curled it, and wore it to school today and I got rave reviews, mad comments--complements--left and right.   I was afraid it wouldn't be accepted (until a lot of people start doing it), but it was.   I got a comment from a Latino girl saying it was nice and natural, and that it's better than girls who wore thick braids [Jamaican braid extensions].  Well,   I liked all the complements.  Made me feel good for just being myself :) "

Reflection in 2003


I remember this day so vividly.   I remember feeling completely empowered over my hair and wanting to step foot outside of my house with my hair in a natural doo, yet so nervous the moment I stepped foot outside of my house. Every foot I walked from my door to the bus stop I felt serious butterflies in my stomach!  I was wearing something strange on my head, something I had never seen anyone else wear, and I was just anticipating the looks and stares I would get, maybe even negative reactions.  Usually, people don't try new things until a lot of people start doing it, like a trend!  But nooo, I just had to do my own thang.   My hair was making a new statement that day whether I was ready for it or not.  By the end of the day, I felt that God had come into my life for just that one day--I swear!  He came when I was feeling self doubt about myself.  He planted these people, most of whom I had never seen or spoken to before, in my life that day to send me love when it was needed.  He knows I don't talk a lot, He knows I rarely meet new people.  But all of a sudden on this day, people are talking to me... about my hair! All I wanted was to be accepted for who I was, for what I wanted my hair to be.  And I felt accepted by the end of the day.  So I thank God for always being there when we really need Him and I thank Him for the open-minded and accepting people of this world.

What this means to me today


Those experiences just go to show that although we naturally look for acceptance from others when it comes to something new (in this case, my new hairstyle), it takes confidence from within even leave the house with whatever style you conjured up.  It's your confidence that others are seeing, not just the hair.

End Of The Year Twists

Ahhhh... a sigh of relief. I can't tell you how much I love my two-stranded twists :-) Ever since I began sporting my natural hair back in '99/'00 I have been wearing twists of all sorts... thick, skinny, short, long, kinky extensions, twist outs, flat twists, etc... It's just a feeling of freedom I get from wearing twists, almost like they allow me to just "be." The downside is that they take me away from blogging because there's nothing much I am having to do to my hair. I did however want to say a few words before the year ends. As far as these twists I have in my head right now, I had a friend do them for me. My hair has just gotten to the length where I no longer desire to do such styles as twists on myself--my arms just aren't that strong! Also, I no longer have the time that I used to have when I was in college, so time is a luxury to me now. She is so far the best person I have found in L.A. to do twists because she's very into haircare. She carefully combed my hair with the right tools, used a great moisturizing cream to twist, and had me sit under my soft bonnet to set my curls on jerri curl rods. She did a swoop bang style on me with the rest of my twists curled all around. All this in less than 5 hours, whereas I would have taken all day while snacking and watching t.v. She styled my hair the weekend before Thanksgiving and I'm still rockin' those twists.

This is what I've been doing to maintain them:

• Wash once a week with a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, and a scalp shampoo/conditioner to keep my scalp flake free
• Use any leave-in conditioning liquid or spray I can get my hands on
• Moisturize with butter or oil-based creams such as The Roots Shea Butter Moisturizing cream, and Organic Root Stimulator's Olive Oil moisturizing cream (in the tall bottle, not the short round container... I don't know why but it's creamier and less greasy than the later).
  
• Follow up with jojoba oil or some light oil spray to seal in the moisture and for sheen (my hair rarely 'shines' per se).
• If I'm styling them, I'll roll them on my own jerri curl rods and sleep in them, or sit under my soft bonnet dryer.
  
• As time goes, I redo a lot of the twists myself to prevent my roots from showing so much.
  
• When I'm ready to throw in the white flag, I untwist my twists ('twistout' style) and leave them like that for a few days until they get really fluffy, and then it's time to comb them out completely and start over.
  

It's a fun process for me because it keeps my hands in my hair just long enough to do what I need to do. I love playing with my hair so I think twists allow me to do this without totally ripping out all my hair. Right now I'm on week 5 for this twist style and I've been wearing them in their natural state, meaning I'm not putting them on rollers anymore. They are fluffier than when I first got them done so it doesn't make any sense to curl fluff. It's a new style all by itself now. People always say twists start to really look good when they get old. I guess that's the stage I'm in right now. So I'm leavin' them free-form, must still take care of them to look cute of course! Anyway, I guess that's about as much as I could come up with without loosing my job, so it's back to work for me.

Weave OUT... finally

Today, I took some time out to remove my weave that I've had for a few months now. I have almost forgotten what my hair felt like. I grew what feels to be around an inch and a half of new growth which I feel could have been more if I focused on regrowth methods. I merely washed and pressed my weave on a weekly/bi-weekly basis and not much more than that. That's okay though, because the main purpose of this weave was to protect my hair from being damaged from the use of direct heat. I was in a pageant and knew that I would have to heat-style my hair on a daily basis. I'm glad I did it because there were several other events well after the pageant where I continued to heat-style my hair.

Now that my natural hair is back I'm contemplating all the possible style options I have for this winter season. I plan to simply wash and deep condition the hair to allow the elasticity to return. Then, in about a week I plan to have it styled in a twist or braided style (no extensions). I also have plans to color the hair either with henna or a dye, to brighten the hair a bit. I've been thinking about this for years so I'm not too sure that I will actually do this! I may hold off until the Spring before I bother lightening my hair. I may tint it a deep burgundy or brown though ;-) The possibilities are endless with my hair.

As I was taking down my hair, one major thing I noticed was that it is in dire need of a trim! It's very dry so a good deep conditioning session should do. In a few weeks, my hair should be back to its healthy natural state.