When I was transitioning, I was lucky to get 6 to 8 days out of twist out, so when my first all natural hairstyle lasted 14 days, I wanted to do a happy dance!
I two-strand twisted my hair using Miss Jessie’s Curly Buttercreme and left them in for 7 days.
Then I wore a twist out. Here are pics of my hair on day 7.
The back of my hair probably would have lasted another week, but my scalp was extremely dry so it was time to shampoo after day 7 of the twist out.
So in total, this style lasted 14 days! And for the record, I do work out regularly. I don’t sweat profusely, but I do sweat enough that my roots get puffy, and I’m OK with that.
I Must Come Clean
Now, I should admit that I did re-twist about 4-5 twists on the sides of my hair on some nights. I’m a side sleeper, and since my hair is thinner on the sides (comparatively), it tends to flatten out very quickly. Not a good look.
But other than that, there was zero manipulation/maintenance other than moisturizing my hair with my essential oils mix. I should also mention that I sleep in a satin bonnet.
Tips on Making Your Twist Out Last
This is my first all natural twist out so I’m clearly no expert. However, here are some things I believe helped make my style last.
1. The Twisting Product
I love Miss Jessie’s Curly Buttercreme because it adds moisture and hold, but it’s not so much hold that may hair feels crunchy or has residue. It really does a good job of binding my strands together so I maintain some definition.
The only downside is price. I definitely plan on experimenting with other products because MJ’s products are very expensive. So if anyone has any recommendations for products that provide the same hold and moisture, let a sistah know! 😉
2. The Twisting Method
When I twist, I pull my hair very taught and smooth my fingers down the strands as I go. This gives me a tighter twist and provided more definition when I wore the twist out.
3. Coat Those Ends!
I literally saturated my ends with product as I twisted. Not only did that help seal my ends, but they literally felt like butta — even when I wore the twist out. Miss Jessie definitely gave that product the right name!
4. Separate Once
When I removed the twists, I just untwisted in the opposite direction and separated them one time. I didn’t fluff them out at all. In the future, I probably won’t focus so much on definition and will go for a fuller look by separating the strands more. I actually prefer a fuller look anyway.
5. Leave the Twists In As Long as You Can
This tip is probably too obvious to mention. I believe the number one reason my twist out lasted that long is because I let the twists set for a week. Right now, I am experimenting to learn the minimum amount of time I can leave them in and still get a lasting style.
As I type this, I’m wearing a 3-day old twist out after leaving the twists in for only 4 days. So far so good, so we’ll see. 🙂 Here’s a pic of my current 3-day-old hair.
Anyway, I’m enjoying the experimentation process and look forward to seeing how different products and methods produce different results. 🙂
i have a twa. . im a teenager and I don’t really have a lot of time in the morning so I was thinking of just putting my hair in twist for a week. but I don’t know how I can really maintain it. so I just wash , conditioned, protein treated, deep conditioned, and moisturized my hair and I jut put it in twist and im going to sleep with it and do a twist out. but I want to retwist my hair at night and just put my hair in twists for the rest of the week how do I do that and what should I do every night and morning for it to be moisturized and well maintained?
Hi Lisa,
I am very new in my transition, only 5 weeks in. Pray for me! Very thankful that I found your website. I have shoulder length hair. . I know you gave ideas on hair styles and products. However I wanted to know have you always used the Kinky Curly or Ms. Jesse Buttercream, even whiile your hair was mostly straight? Thank you in advance.
Hi Leah,
I did use Miss Jessie’s but I would use it on rod sets. If I did use the natural curling products while transitioning, I always had to put rods on the ends to make the hair curl.
Not sure if anyone else suggested this, but i use shea butter with a twist out. I put A LOT on, especially on the ends. So much so that you can actually see the stuff packed onto the twist when I’m done. But it saturates and smooths the hair nicely as it dries. I wait till about day 2 before I start sealing my ends daily, that’s when they start feeling a little dry again. You can get shea butter for about $5 per container. Also, if you stretch the ends of the twists to the opposite side of your head and secure with a bobby pin, you will have a nice twist out with extra length. i re-do my twists every 7 or days.
Great tip, Sonya. Thank you for sharing.
Hello. I’ve already made it to all natural hair (I kept my hair in cornr toow w/synthethic hair, then cut all the perm out). However, I hadn’ touched my own hair until three weeks ago. I’ve been braiding my hair and weaing an afro, but am concerned about breakage. Will a twisted work with braided hair or do I have to learned to two strand. I tried to do it and it was a mess! Thanks
Hi Phyllis,
You can also try a braid out.
Hehehe, she does, when I did them the first time, took me nearly 3 hours and they looked all right. But she did a great job!!! Thanks Sandy!!
Claysie from the sound of your post, I bet it is beautiful. 2.5 inches; your mom must have nimble fingers.
Hello Ladies,
Weekend on the Way, Goodbye March & Hello April.
Ok followed my program with the Hair, and I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eco Styler worked exactly as I hoped!!!!!! First time in life, my hair came out just the way I wanted it, humidity was baddddd but my hair was badddder!!!! I had the twist in for 5 Days, from April 1st to 5th, took them out on the 5th and they were kicking.
What did I do, ok, washed hair with just conditioner, cheap one, VO5:
http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Breakage-Conditioner-Unisex-Alberto-VO5/dp/B000GCT2ZG/ref=sr_1_9?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1333726385&sr=1-9
Let the hair air dry for 30 minutes and applied Leave in Conditioner, I used this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Africas-Best-Rinse-Leave-Conditioner/dp/B003ZCOHPO
Then my Mom insisted on doing my twists, she just applied the Eco Syler Gel, dime size, and got twisting, took her 2 hours but it was gorgeous!!!! Did put my hand in my hair a few times to make sure she was doing it right and yes, hands got swatted!!!! Let Mama do her thing!!!
So, did the Twist Out, sis sprayed some sheen on it, this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Stimulator-Olive-Sheen-Spray/dp/B000EGMBWU/ref=sr_1_1?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1333726605&sr=1-1
So after all this work, we went out, came back home and I was beat, tried to twist some of the hair, but I was like forget it, I am sleepy, eyes falling out, so put on my hair net and slept like a baby.
Today, Twist out is intact and looks good as ever, that’s right Ms. Lisa, I am doing the hula dance, for the record this is on a 2 1/2 inch TWA, the style is super cute!!!!! You gals will love it. Now my personal challenge, make it last till April 14th 202 – Yikes, I want to do what Ms. Lisa did, make the twists, in out for 2 weeks! Will let you know how it goes!!
Enjoy the weekend ladies, any advice given to me is: needed, wanted and appreciated!!!!!!!
Earthbound
I just love your enthusiasm and I’m so happy it turned out right!! You’ve done two things I haven’t tried yet – twist out with Eco Styler AND a co-wash. Now that I have my dry scalp under control I may have to try that!! Congrats, I bet it’s beautiful!!!
PS: Ms. Angelique, sis has been transitioning for 6 – 7 months now, she has 3 inches of natural hair!! Sweeet!!
Oh okay, thanks for experiementing for me :). I’ll just stick to doing braid outs instead of twist outs and I’ll try to do it with the Eco styler. Way to go for your sis!!! Natural hair is the way to gooo!! I wish I would have decided to go natural years ago.
Buenos Dias Srtas.,
Ok, did the Twist-Out, loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee it!!!!!! Looks nice but next time will use Eco Styler, I was doing some research on this site and Curly Nicki, so then I will let my hair Air Dry for about 20 minutes, apply my leave in conditioner, apply Olive or Carrot Oil, then Eco Styler as I twist. I have a really important event to attend in a week, so I will do the Two Strand Twist on Monday, then Twist-Out on Thursday. YAyyyyyy.
Ok Ms. Angelique, tried the Eco Styler Gel on my sis’s transitioning hair, just won’t work on the relaxed hair, it just unravels, if you want the hair to hold, you will have to do the Braids. Sorry!!!! But try it dearie, it might work for ya!!!
Oh, to do the Twist Out and make it look super cute, it took me 20 minutes, I gently un-twisted and applied an olive oil lotion to my ends, and it came out nice…….. so….. I am loving it, Natural is the way to go Girls!!!!!!
Hello Ladies,
As to Ms. Lisa’s question, i used the ECO STYLER KRYSTAL CLEAR STYLING GEL MAX HOLD, here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Eco-Styler-Styling-Gel-Krystal/dp/B001QD4RUY.
As to Ms. Angelique’s question: I don’t know but my sister is transitioning, so I will try a twist out on her hair tonight with the Gel and let you know tomorrow morning!!
What I also love about it, it does not flake on my hair, I have 4b/4c, now if you apply shea butter or a leave in conditioner, there will be a white residue, DON’T FREAK, because after 5 to 10 minutes it just goes poof, disappears, the hair sucks it up!!!!
Keep those edges coated as Ms. Lisa said and you will be in safe waters.
Later Ladies!!!!
Claysie,
Thank you for the advice.. I hope the product goes well with your sister’s twist out. How long has she been transitioning so far? So far its been almost two months since I did my final relaxer.
Thanks for sharing that Claysie! I have never tried this kind, only the Olive Oil. The reviews were so great on this one, though! Will grab a jar on my next trip to Sally’s or Amazon. 🙂
Does the ECO styler work well with transitioning hair?
Hello All you Lovely Ladies,
Ok, love the two strand twist!!!!!!!! It looked good till Day 5, looked really sad, so then there I was thinking what to do with my sad little twists, decided, I will re-twist them and this time use the ECO Styler gel. For the record, on my afro, I don not like the way the Eco Styler leaves my hair, but LOVEDDD it on my Twist out. It defined it really well and this was just a re-twist, got tons of compliments from my friends, some even said it’s longer!!!! I was like reallyyy!!! Seemed the same to me, but I was doing the Hula Dance!!!!
So ladies, the Eco Styler made my ends super smooth, defined twist and adds length which I am very happy with.
Tomorrow, will do the Twist Out, really excited about that one, even got cute headbands, then next week Thursday will try the Twp Stand Twist, will apply leave in conditioner, some oil and Eco Styler.
Thanks Ms. Lisa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s a great tip! I haven’t tried re-twisting with the Eco Styler. Did you just use the regular, Argon or the Olive Oil?
Hi I’m in the transition from perm to natural hair. Its been 9 months since I last put perm in my hair. I braid my hair and have my hair twist at the salon. I had long hair and cut some of it off because my hair was uneven and damaged. I want to know what natural shampoo, conditioner, detangler and treatment and leave in oil I can use on my hair to have long lasting twist and moisture and healthy growing hair? Can you please help me and I’m on a budget too?
You can email me back at s.percy.22@hotmail.com
Sheena and others in this process. Every head of hair is different and has different needs. That said, it would be better if you could follow some general guidelines and then experiment until you find just the right combination and product line which suit your budget and hair needs. That said:
1) Sheena, since you’ve been transitioning for a long time, I think you need to use a moisturizing and conditioning shampoo for dry or damaged hair.
2) As far as a conditioner any leave in will do, you also need a deep conditioner. Also some leave in conditioners are also detanglers as well. For styling you can use a small amount of oil or butter(like shea) to rub through the landscape of your hair.
3)There are so many lines of products. What I recommend to my friends, especially if they are new to this journey, is to find a reasonably cost line, and use the products within the line that compliment each other. That way you get the full benefit of each of the products as they work with each other. So find a line(there are many: shea moisture naturals or Jane Carter Solutions …maybe others can suggest lines) and within that line get a shampoo for dry or damaged hair, a conditioner for damaged and dry hair, a leave in conditioner(hopefully you can use it as a detangler and an oil) That’s the best way to do it since it sounds like you haven’t experimented with lots of products.
I’m hesitant to advise you on the products I use because our texture and hair needs could be different. That’s my take. I hope you don’t mind me leaving my suggestions here so others can benefit.
Great answer, Sandy! When I began my journey I used to be obsessed with other people’s heads and the products they use but quickly found out I had to experiment. I’ve personally found that conditioners that say “moisturizing” and are thick work best for my hair but then again my texture is different than someone else’s. Really good advice about starting with an economical line and using products that compliment each other.
HEllo Ms. Lisa,
Well ladies, tied the twist out last nite on my twa, it is 2 inches and thick, spent 2 hours 50 minutes, was dead tired on the verge of saying, I GIVE UP!!!! But that did not happen and ta da, finished!!!! I love it, did not like it that much last night, but loved it this morning when I glammed up!!!!! For the record, I am by my job, so I did get out the house, herhehe, going to take some pictures.
Now, I applied a Leave In Conditioner, applied Olive Oil & used Organic Root Stimulator, Twist & Lock Gel, I let the hair air dry, for 2 hours, then went to bed, started around 5.30pm, finished 8.20pm, so I was tired!!!! This morning I applied my own concoction of leave in spritz and olive oil, so far so good.
It took time Ms. Lisa, but if I can keep it in a week, I am happy, then I am going to do the twist out and see how that goes.
Did I say I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee your site??!!!!
Thanks for all girl, and keep it up ladies, I am loving the journey, and lovingggggg being natural!!!!!!
Ciao Ladies!!!
I am sooooooooooo happy for your Claysie!! Yes, if you can keep a style for a week, I always consider that getting mileage out of a hairstyle. Way to go and keep me posted!
hey i have a question my hair is really soft have a wavy pattern and im still trying to get us to natural hairl. when i do my twist out some are not gettin curled right when i take them a loose should i do my twist small to defne more curl pattern. and i love ur steps u took with ur hair going natural i saw ur video’s and u did a amazon job with ur hair.
Although my hair is not wavy it does react the same way when I do twists. Here’s what I found: If you do the twists to small you don’t get much curl because real small twists mimic your hair’s natural pattern. The same holds true for if you do the twists to big. If you do real big twists you barely get curl. So what you need to do if find the right size of a medium twist to do. But here’s the thing: You’ll probably need to get perm rod rollers and set the ends of the hair if the ends won’t stay curled or stay together. I’ve found that if the hair is cut say in a bob style and all the ends are even, then they won’t hold a curl at the end? is that what is happening for you? if not the hair doesn’t hold on the ends if the ends are damaged and split. That said some people who do small twists they roll them on perm rod rollers but to keep the ends in place (they use end papers) and roll them, as Lisa did in her video in a peppermint type pattern. One other thing to try for the ends is to rub them with your index finger and thumbs til it knobs on the end and then pin curl it down at night. Hopefully during all of this you are using some type of product with moisture in it; dry hair is resistant to curled ends also.
I’m throwing a lot out here because without seeing you hair its hard to determine if you are getting any hold at all; some people have wavy hair which slips and doesn’t hold and others have more texture in their wave. Hope this helps. This is just one perspective.
The twist outs look great. Do you spray them with anything throughout the day?
Thanks! No, about every 2-3 days I will moisturize with natural oils (castor, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil mix)
what roducts do you use for dry hair and for hold for the twist?
Daysha not sure if you were asking for Lisa to answer the question. But I found that whatever your hair type, it will respond to either a gel or a creme or moisture cream product like cantu shea butter, ms. jessie’s and a multitude of others. What you want to do is test both: some people use a little gel with a little oil mixed (hair needs oil for dryness, as gels can flake) For my hair which is super dry, I need a moisturizer with shea butter in it: so Cantu works for me. Now Cantu doesn’t work for someone whose hair already has a lot of lipids or oils(it would be to heavy)
1)So buy a cheap gel use with a light oil(olive oil or coconut oil)
2) Buy a moisture creme product
set your head in twists on one side with one type of mix.
See which one gives the better hold and doesn’t feel heavy or flaky.
Tips:
1) use only a little of any product(not more than dime size for a 1 inch section) and make sure your hair is “damp”(not wet) you can spritz the hair some.
See which one works best.
2) If you can keep the first set of twists in for one extra day then do the twist out, your twist out will last more days. The longer you can keep the twists in a protected style the better , then do the twist out.
3) If you can’t protect it for even one day, you may have to twist every night to once in a couple of nights. So at night, to keep from re-twisting: just grab a section (about 5 sections overall) and put a rubber band(small coated black twisty band) at the root(wrap a couple of times(this makes mini pineapples all over the head) Tie hair up at night.
In the morning take out the pineapple groupings and use your fingers to push hair back into place.
Try it and see if it works.
Also, Lisa if you’re reading this: I see you have changed designs. Trying something new? The green is restful for the eyes(at least, these old eyes)
Great advice, Sandy. The key to the long-lasting twist out as Sandy says is to leave them in as long as you can. I always try to leave them in at least 3 days at the very minimum. I also use Organics Root Stimulator Lock and Twist gel mostly and Taliah Waajid’s Lock it Up. I get the best hold with these. But as Sandy said, you have to experiment to see what works best for your hair.
Hi Lisa,
Since you’ve started doing more twists on dry hair, have you used the Ms. Jessie’s butter creme on dry hair. I wonder if you get the same effect.
Thanks
Hey Sandy,
Ya know… I haven’t tried it yet and mainly because I know that the Curly Buttercreme is good for moisture, but not as good for hold. And I like keeping my twists in for 2-3 weeks. So maybe I’ll try that when I am only going to keep the twists in for a short amount of time.
Hi Ms. Lisa,
Tried this last night, it came out not too bad for my first time!!!!
Kinda uneven but I guess I will improve with time, took me 1 hour and 30 minutes to do all my hair, but I was happy.
Thanks a lot for all the advice and tips!!!!
Keep trying! It’s all about practice. Trust me. I had plenty of botched styles in the last couple of years. LOL An hour and a half is not really bad for natural hair. Funny how I used to think that was way too long but now I do mini twists and it takes me 6+ hours!! Yikes!! But it’s worth it. 🙂 Hang in there, chica!
Trying to go natural, I have my hair in a short hair cut. I tried twist last week and used the Taliah Wajid curly curl creme. With my hair being short and still having relaxer on my ends the twist lasted for a day then I did the twist out…it lasted for one day. Any suggestions for women with a short cut trying to go natural?
If you have enough hair(at least 3 inches) you could twist your hair in small twists and use “perm rod rollers”. Wind the hair on the rollers with end papers. When you wind it should have a peppermint pattern. In other words don’t wind the hair on top of itself but on a angle. You want to create spiral curls. That’s what I did for many months. Good luck.
Agree with Sandy. When you are transitioning and doing twists you always have to put rods on the end. Otherwise it won’t last. I used the blue or yellow plastic perm rods from the beauty supply store.
Looks good girl. How much buttercreme do you use for each twist?
I may have to revisit buttercreme. I found with some of Ms. Jessie’s products that I could just rub one tablespoon in my palm and then apply to all of my hair at one time and then twist and I would get good hold. ( I used the Meringue by Miss Jessies)
Love your hair.
Thanks, Sandra! I’ve never used the Meringue. That’s on my list to try!