Have you ever tried a twist just to achieve frizzy hair? Well, I have before. Throughout the four years of my natural hair journey, I have experienced many successes and failures with hair. My failures have helped me learn countless tips for styling natural hair. My many twisting failures have helped me create guidelines for achieving the perfect twist.
Whether you’re fighting frizz or gaining definition, this article will give you the essential steps to achieving the perfect hairstyle.
1) Wash hair
Clean hair is essential to start this process. Since you will be applying a new product to your hair to achieve this style, it will be necessary to have clean hair to prevent product build-up and allow your style to last longer.
2) Deep Condition
Sulfate in shampoo makes hair dry and strips it of its moisture. To replenish moisture, you’ll want to deep condition your hair for 15-30 minutes. Since this style will be in for a while, deep conditioning will help replenish moisture and keep hair hydrated throughout the life of your style.
After applying the conditioner, put a plastic cap over your hair. Then sit under a hair dryer for 15 to 30 minutes to allow the product to penetrate the hair follicles. Then wash the conditioner out with cold water to seal the moisture into your cuticle.
3) dry hair
Use a cotton t-shirt to dry your hair instead of a towel or blow dryer. Wearing a t-shirt will prevent breakage and reduce frizz. Wrap the shirt around your hair and let it soak up the water for about 30 minutes.
4) Moisturize the hair
Once your hair is slightly dry, remove your t-shirt and start moisturizing your hair using the LOC (Liquid, Oil, Cream) method, this will give your hair the best results.
Since your hair will already be damp, you can skip the first step of adding liquid to your hair. Then apply any hair oil of your choice to help keep moisture in your hair, such as olive oil, coconut oil, Jamaican black castor oil, or even a mix of all of them. Finally, apply a cream or butter-based moisturizer to seal in moisture with a hair cream of your choice, such as Whipped Shea Butter Blend, Cantu Shea Butter, Shea Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave-in Conditioner Moisture.
5) Section and detangle
Once your hair is hydrated, it’s time to section it off and detangle it. First divide your hair into 4 sections and pin them up. Then untangle each section using a wide tooth comb or your fingers to untangle each section. Once all four sections of hair are detangled, choose 1 of the 4 sections to separate into smaller sections and begin twisting your hair.
6) Twist hair
Once your hair is divided into smaller, medium sized sections, you will apply the setting product of your choice to your hair. Before you start twisting your hair, you’ll want to untangle the section you want to twist to ensure a defined twist. Once you have finished twisting, repeat the process until you have finished twisting your hair.
7) dry
Now that you are done twisting your hair. Let your hair air dry completely. You can do this by wrapping a hat around your hair and sleeping through the night. If you’re running out of time, you can speed up the drying process with a hood dryer.
8) Unravel
The detangling process is one of the most important parts of achieving a defined twist. To avoid frizz, you need to apply oil to your fingertips before untangling your hair. Keep repeating the process until you’ve removed all of your twists.
9) Shape and separate
When you have removed all the twists, you will separate the unraveled twists. Once all the twists have been parted, shape your hair into the desired shape.
10) Keep
To keep this style defined, wrap your hair at night with a silk scarf or cap. Once the cap is removed, moisturize and restyle hair as needed.
