After a few years of trial and error, I am finally ready to share a few tips on how to achieve the best twist out on natural hair. Whether you are installing 3 strand twists, two strand twists, flat twists, or looking for general twist out tips — there are a few basic things to keep in mind. Let’s jump in so you can start applying these tips to your styling routine!
Tools: This step may be overlooked but it’s super important to choose tools that will compliment your styling technique. Will you use your fingers to part or a rat tail comb? I use combs for parting when I will wear the twist as an actual style. When I am a doing a style like a chunky twist out, I typically don’t intend to wear these styles out so I use my fingers to part. I also like this technique because it’s easier to hide parts that are staggered (instead of just straight lines) when separating and fluffing my hair when I style a twist out.
When you’re installing the twists, using a detangling brush like the Felicia Leatherwood styling brush to thoroughly detangle your hair is key. My favorite natural hair tool for smoothing and prepping hair for styling is the Denman brush. Think of your hair prep as a blank canvas for painting a picture. You want to smooth your hair the best you can, to ensure that the style you will create can take form and hold the best way.
Products: I get the best definition and movement when I use lightweight products that won’t weigh my hair down. My go-to product combinations for a high definition twist out are:
- Leave in conditioners + gel
- Leave in conditioners + mousse
- Hair moisturizer + gel
- Hair moisturizer + mousse
- Light Leave in + Styling Hair Butter + Light Gel (optional)
For this twist out look, I installed medium sized twists and I used a light leave in and a gel. I have a start to finish styling video on my YouTube channel, showing how I achieved this look. Check it out here!
To achieve this look for my daughter’s hair, I used a light leave in and a styling hair butter.
I LOVED the final look for both twist outs. I knew however, that my style would not last as long because I used a styling product that had a humectant as it’s 5th ingredient. Not sure what this has to do with anything? This takes me to my last tip: know your ingredients!
Ingredients: It’s super important to not only know the best products and techniques, but to understand how certain ingredients work in your hair (and with your hair porosity) and how that will play into environmental factors like where you live and the weather outside. Living in the humid state of Florida, I can expect that any product that as glycerin, honey, panthenol, or any other humectant high on the ingredient list will not hold a style well. If you live in a drier state like Arizona though, your hair may LOVE these ingredients! Humectants draw moisture from the air into your hair, which can cause your hair to swell or frizz. In certain scenarios this may add volume and a “lush” look to your hair, but it can also cause your hair to droop, or look mushy or frizzy. If your goal is curl definition and making a twist out “last” stick with products that are not loaded with humectants.
Were these twist out tips helpful? Let’s chat in the comments!