Beginner's Guide to Achieving the Perfect Twist Out

Have you ever attempted a twist out only to achieve a frizzy tress? Well, I have before. Throughout the four years of my natural hair journey, I have experienced many hair successes and failures. My failures have helped me learn countless tips for styling natural hair. My many twist-out failures have helped me create guidelines for achieving the perfect twist out.

Whether you struggle fighting the frizziness of your hair or achieving definition, this article will provide you with the essential steps to achieve the perfect twist out.

1) Wash Hair

Clean hair is essential to start this process. Since you will be applying new product to your hair to achieve this hairstyle, having clean hair will be necessary to prevent product build up and it will allow your hairstyle to last longer.

2) Deep Condition

Sulfate in shampoo causes hair to dry out and strips the hair of its moisture. To replenish the moisture you will want to deep condition your hair between 15-30 minutes. Since this hairstyle will be kept in for a while, deep conditioning will help to replenish the moisture and keep your hair moisturize throughout the life of your hairstyle.

After applying 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 out the conditioner with cold water to seal the moisture in your cuticle

3) Dry Hair

Use a cotton T-shirt to dry your hair instead of a towel or blow dryer. Using a T-shirt will prevent breakage and will reduce frizziness. Wrap the t-shirt around your hair and let the t-shirt absorb the water for about 30 minutes.

4) Moisturize hair

Once your hair is slightly dry then remove the T-shirt and begin to moisturize your hair by using the L.O.C (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 lock in the moisture to your hair, like olive oil, coconut oil, Jamaican Black castor oil, or even a mix of them all. Finally you will apply either a cream or butter base moisturizer to seal in the moisture with a hair cream of your choice, like whipped shea butter mix, Cantu Shea butter, Shea Moisture's Jamaican Black Castor oil Leave-in Conditioner.

5) Section and Detangle

Once your hair is moisturized it is time to section and detangle. First Section your hair into 4 sections and pin each section up. Then detangle each section by using either a wide tooth comb or your fingers to detangle each section. Once all four sections of hair are detangled, choose 1 of the 4 sections to separate into smaller sections to start twisting your hair.

6) Twist hair

Once your hair is sectioned into smaller medium-sized sections, you will apply the holding product of your choice to your hair. Before you begin twisting your hair you will want to detangle the section you want to twist to ensure a defined twist. Once twist is done repeat process until you have finished twisting your hair.

7) Dry

Now that you have finished twisting your hair. Let your hair air dry completely. You can do this by wrapping your hair with a bonnet and sleeping overnight. If you're running low on time you can speed up the drying process with a hooded dryer.

8) Unravel

The unraveling process is one of the most significant parts of achieving a defined twist out. To prevent frizziness you need to apply oil on your fingertips before unraveling your hair. Continue to repeat the process until you have taken out all of your twists.

9) Shape and Separate

When all of your twists have been taken down, then you will separate your unraveled twists. Once all of your twists have been separated, then you shape your hair into your desired shape

10) Maintain

To maintain this defined style, wrap your hair at night with a silk scarf or bonnet. Once you remove the bonnet, moisturize and reshape hair as needed