 |
| Not three strand twists... |
...that actually started as three strand twists. This post is more of how one style evolves into another one, which is then fixed again in the morning. Sorry, it's a long one today, folks...
I've been dying to try three strand twists because I've read they're more durable than sturdy than two strand twists. I need durable and sturdy on Baby O's hair. After looking all over YouTube for an instructional video I finally found a
really helpful one and it was really easy to do, once I got the hang of it (only took a couple of minutes).
This style was started on dry hair. The night before I washed (
my African black soap shampoo), detangled and moisturized (
shea butter mix). Then I pulled her hair up into one puff and quickly put her sleep cap on, so she'd keep her hands out of her hair, to help the style set and so she could go to bed. She wore her hair like that to daycare the next day. When I picked her up, she had the craziest hair and was all falling out of the band! I tried to fix it, but wouldn't you know it when I pulled the band out to re-do the puff the darn band snapped! We both started laughing and she ran through her daycare showing everyone her "crazy hair"!
That was when I decided to go pick up some
Jamaican Mango and Lime Locking Creme Wax from my local beauty supply store. I've been having people tell me that I need to try it on Baby O's twists next time I did them, because it would give more hold and make them look nice (in my head I'm all "excuse me, I think they look pretty daggon good for my first time twisting her hair without any bands or beads!").
I spent a total of 2 hours three strand twisting her hair. It was pretty easy because the hair was well stretched from being in a puff and it was dry. I used a little bit of the Locking Creme Wax because I've read a little goes a long way...and yes it does! I found the benefit of twisting on dry, stretched hair is that it doesn't shrink up, so it hangs nice and long (which is what Baby O wants...she likes her hair long like a princess--I think we need to lay off the Disney movies :-))
Here's the final result of our three strand twists after being under a du rag for a couple of hours.
I really wasn't crazy about them, I made them too big and for some reason she looked like a boy! A pretty boy, but she looked like a boy nonetheless. Soooo...I decided to just take each three strand twist and make it a two strand twist instead. I had my water bottle out and misted her hair (not completely wet and def not soaked) and re-did each twist, threw the du rag and sleep cap on and put her to bed.
 |
| The three strand twists were pretty when they were pulled back--very plump and gorgeous (pic doesn't do it justice) |
 |
| Finished with the two strand twists--look how long they are!!! |
Looking at them the next morning, they still didn't look right, they were too big and spaced out. Had to fix it!!! I took some, wet them down a little then untwisted them and made each separate strand it's own two strand twist.
 |
| The next morning, not looking right |
So, what does Baby O do when she's tired of sitting still and wants my fingers out of her head???
Yup, she rolls around on the floor!
Back to our regularly scheduled post...so, I've three strand twisted and then took those out, put in two strand twists all in the same night, followed by dividing most of the twists and re-twisting them the next morning. But the final result looked so good!
 |
| Who's the happy girl with new twists??? This laughing girl, right here!!! |
So, I used a product with petrolatum and mineral oil in it (Jamaican Lime and Mango Locking Creme Wax). Do I feel guilty? ...well, a little at first because I stopped using products that had the "bad" ingredients in them and started making my own. Ironically when I got home I saw the Curly Nikki post about
using grease in her hair and liking it. Char, from
Charlotte's Avenue, uses grease on her and her babies hair (and the growth don't lie :-)). This morning that guilt was gone because her hair held up so nicely and was beautifully weighed down from the ingredients, with just a slight curl in the twists. Even when I picked her up from daycare today there was minimal fuzz! While I was cruising through Facebook this evening I saw this
wonderful video by
Journey to My Roots--watch it, if you already haven't, it's very informative and took any and all of the rest of the "but it's not a natural product" guilt off my mind.
Yes, the Locking Creme Wax made Baby O's hair shiny--the oils will do that--but I believe her hair needs these types of products right now in order to hold a style that I want to last more than a couple of days. Will I use this for every style, no. Will I use this every week, no. Will I use it on her scalp--NO--hair only. Right now, I have no issues with the product--if you're going to use it, don't use a generous amount like the instructions say. A little really does go a long way! The smell...mmmm, it's like a tropical lime breeze, so good!
How about you? Do you *only* use natural products, or do you sneak a little grease in every once in awhile?
