via Jennell Stewart of NaturallyCurly
One of the most common complaints by women with hair type 4a, 4b and
4c coils is frizz. I mean, dang, we have to accept that our hair is
coarse, gets really dry, has almost no natural curl definition, and to
top it off, we have to deal with frizz when we try to create that curl
definition? Ugh.
Because my hair type (4b) has little to no curl definition, like most naturals, I style my hair in twists and/or braids
and then loosen them to create a curly look, better known as a twist
out or braid out. Frizz is always ready to hijack a style, so we have to
learn to be creative when preparing our hair. It can take 40 to 60
minutes to properly prepare my hair for a curly style, only to wake up
the next morning with a head full of frizz!
Guess what? There are things that can be done to help keep frizz at
bay, but none of these are completely guaranteed to work. Try them all
to see what gives you the best results. Something is bound to work
because I am proof that is possible to get great curl definition with
low frizz. I’ll say it again, it IS possible!
Evaluate Your Technique
Twisting is very simple, but not all techniques are effective in
giving good, smooth definition. When you twist your hair, you start off
with two sections. You twist these two sections around each other
repeatedly, until you get to the ends.
I suggest, keeping your two sections of hair completely separate all
the way to the very end. It’s very tempting to “borrow” some hair from
the longer piece and add it to the shorter piece when you get to the
bottom, but keeping the sections completely separated ensures that the
hairs aren’t weaving together. This results in clean and smooth
separations when it is time to separate the twists, thus low
manipulation and low frizz.
Is it Time For a New Product?
Not all styling products are created equally. What may be a great moisturizer may do a poor job at giving good hold. If you want good curl definition for your twist outs you need a styling product with hold. This means you may have to get a brand new product or reach in the back of your cabinet and pull out that product that made your hair hard the
first time you used it and deemed it unfit for your hair.
Products that give your hair hold tend to make it feel hard, but if you moisturize properly before applying this product, your hair will feel softer then using the
product alone. Products with hold freeze the hair into place and helps
to hold your curl definition in place. The stronger the hold, the less
the frizz.
Wet Styling vs. Dry Styling
In addition to figuring out which products help fight frizz, try
styling your hair on soaking wet hair, damp hair and dry hair. For
textured like mine, styling my hair wet gives me the best curl
definition, at a price though: good curl definition also means lots of
shrinkage.
On the other hand, when I style my hair when it’s dry, I get
elongated curls that are looseer. Testing this out could help you
discover many things about your hair, most importantly your frizz
levels.
Time for a Trim
If you’ve tried everything and your ends seem to be the main area
where you have frizz, it may be time to trim. I know we don’t like the
sound of that, and it seems counter productive if you have goals of
growing your hair to BSL, but rough, dry, brittle, split ends will harm
you more in the long run if you don’t end the relationship with them
now. Any efforts you make in achieving perfect curl definition for that
banging twist out will be done in vain.
In the end, you can get a great twist out with little frizz. You just
have to keep at it. Practice makes perfect, curlies. Practice makes
perfect.
My type 3 hair DOES not want to yield a cute twist out. Whaaaaaatever.
i twist once a week….mimimal frizz & nice definition…able to wear 4 different styles with the same twists.
braid outs give me less definition(
Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for sharing their tricks of the trade. I have a true combination of hair types (seriously!! 4a in the middle of the back and on the right side, 4b/c pretty much everywhere else). Moisture was a problematic for me too. Here's what I do. I has worked wonders for me. After washing my hair, I use KC Knot Today as a leave in. I detangle with a denman brush. I then spray my hair with a mixed of water, vegetable glycerin, jojoba oil, and olive oil. It can get messy, but by the next morning it's fine (I sleep with a satin bonnet). Since my hair is already curly (except the back and front side…oh lawd…lol), I do a medium size 2 strand twist (on wet, moisturized, detangled hair). For the areas that don't curl, I use the blue perm rods on the ends as they are the exact curl pattern of my hair. Most of the time, I leave it twisted for a day or so. When I untwist it, I use Queen Helene's Royal Curl oil (I forgot the name) on my fingers to keep it from frizzing. I hope my method helps. God bless
Chellleh1
I follow naptural85's twistout. Any other way doesn't work. I've gotten consistent results when my hair is parted in small sections. Beautiful!!!
I also learned today, I can't use big sections or if I do, I have to keep them dry. I did it bigger last night and my twistout was very frizzy. 🙁 But I fixed it nicely into a frohawk 🙂 and it's pretty curly.
flat twist on wet hair looks great if i do say so myself
My hair is fine with little curl definition, so I use twistouts to get a coily chunky fro look. I twist on wet hair from wash day and continue to retwist on damp/dry hair most nights. I moisturize with shea moisture yucca & baobob growth milk or moisture mist, then twist with whatever pomade or butter I am feeling (depends on how my hair feels, the weather, how far it is from wash day, etc.) No frizz, but I do get rid of most of the definition because I pick my roots for fullness.
I have come to find that my hair likes to be styled dry. My dry twists outs results are a lot better than my wet. I have never attempted the damp styling. Now, its on the list to test 🙂
I wanted to add to answer Kia D's questions, I don't think that retwisting every night is too much manipulation at all!
As I mentioned before and someone else mentioned as well, I only use water and whipped shea butter to retwists. I have never had a problem with breakage and my hair is almost shoulder length after a 10 month transition, and 7 months of being totally natural.
~caramelcurls
I consider myself a twist out Queen–lol! It truly is my staple style.
Once or twice a week, after prepooing, washing, conditioning and detangling, I put my hair in large twist while it is wet, then sit under the dryer for about an hair. After that my hair is mostly dry, but still has moisture in it. I take it down and divide it up in smaller sections. I coat each section with a small amount of CD Loc Butter and then twist!
I can take down the twists after about 4-5 hours or leave them in overnight, and I'm good to go! I am left with a soft, fluffy, twist out full of definition and frizz free. I retwist nightly with just water infused with rosemary and lavender and whipped shea butter.
Eazy,peazy!
~caramelcurls
P.S.–After my moisture balance was recently thrown off by a protein treatment I did, I notice that my twist out was frizzy afterwards! It was because my hair was dry. After I kept conditioning and it returned to normal, it went back to not getting frizzy like it normally does. Therefore, I think that having hair that is not moisturized enough can lead to frizzy twistouts. Just a thought…
To moisturize, achieve hold, and combat crunch on my 4a/b/c hair, I apply leave-in to wet hair, then tackle twists one by one (medium sized or chunky). I finger detangle the hair, gently rake gel through to get definition from root to end, then apply Shea Moisture Hair Milk and twist. As long as it dries completely, very little frizz.
i have a combo of peppermint water and my own mix i call hair custard. i usually end up with 15-18 twists. i spritz each section with the peppermint water, than apply a little coating of the custard. smooth through the hair to remove tangles and shed hairs. separate the section in half then twist from the root to the ends. i coat the end of each twist with taliah wajiid detangler, then evoo. put on my silk scarf, then satin bonnet. to take down the twists i coat each twist with a little custard then gently separate and untwist the section, then style.
I have not tried a twist out yet. I did do a twist and curl but didn't like the results. I prefer braid outs on my almost 6 months transitioning hair. – discoveringnatural.blogspot.com
Also if I don't want my twists tight, after washing my hair, i'll roll it in the biggest rollers(grey ones) and let air dry throughout the day or sit under the dryer for 45 mins to stretch my hair. Then i'll twist. My hair is more wavy & loose. Luv it but on hot humid days, it grows bigger & bigger so i only do dry twists out when its 70 something degrees outside.
I've perfected my twist out also! On soaking wet hair, divide my hair into 3 sections, a part down the middle to the middle of my head, then a part going across from ear to ear. I then do 3 or 4 flat twists on each side. I put coconut oil on my scalp and castor/grapeseed oil on my hair as i twist. I also put shea butter on my hair. Then i put the smallest flexi rods on the ends of the twists. For the back i put 5 or 6 flat twists going down. Let dry over nite or sit under dryer for 30 mins, and take down the next day. The twists are big bouncy & no frizz. At nite i just pull my hair back as if im putting into a ponytail, tie it with a piece of string(from an old scarf) and then put a scarf on my head. Wake up & put some grapeseed oil on my palms and shine my hair up and im out the door! I do not twist every nite. Twisting when wet gives me crazy definition.
@ Kia D, when I retwist at night I just mist with water (no adding more product, combing, brushing or smoothing) and twist. When finished I seal the ends with a little oil or butter. I think doing all that other stuff would be a lot of manipulation, especially nightly.
for me, sealing my ends with my OH Burnt Sugar Pomade help keep my ends from frizzing. But honestly, with my thin hair, I actually like a little frizz…overfluffing (and thus frizz) gives the "appearance" of volume. ***shrugs***
Man, I have had the BEST twist outs ever this week with Naturalee's Olive and Jojoba Buttercream! My 4a/4c hair has SUPERB definition EACH and EVERYTIME I've done them. I do my twists on damp hair, apply about a dime sized amount to each section, put a little more on the ends, let them dry over night, and unravel my twist with a dab of pomade or a butter (today I used Koils By Nature Citrus twist butter). I am really liking the short/curly look, not too focused on elongated twists yet.
I've just tried my first ever twist-out this week. I did it on freshly washed damp hair and used ORS Lock & TwistGel. It came out decent, but I def could have used this earlier 😉 but I'll keep this in mind for next time.
nice information ,share some tips for my oily hairs.. female hair loss treatment
Great tips!
I twist on either wet or damp hair using my shea butter mix with a dab of aloe vera gel for hold. My hair isn't long enough for true pineapple so I do two on the sides before bed. I do start to get frizz by the second and third days and I do like definition but I feel like if I twist every night that might be too much manipulation. Do you ladies that retwist nightly have any problems with that as far as length retention /damage goes? Also when you retwist are you re-adding product and smoothing the hair out by either your hands, comb or brush? This is what I've done so maybe I am doing it wrong and over manipulating! oh yeah and my hair is 4a/b.
I'm pleased with my frizz free twist out too. I mini twist on freshly washed hair, then apply my leave-in and twist with styler shea moisture enhancement or murray lock loc gel I keep the mini twist in for 2 weeks and 2-3 days before wash i unravel with jojoba oil curls define and sometimes i bun it or just let it flow. I keep my twist moisten all the time it helps with the frizz. I have 4a type hair too.
My formula: After I wash and condition, with Loreal EverStrong, I put on the Turbietwist towel for about 1/2 hour. This absorbs the water and makes my hair stretched and damp. Then, I twist on damp hair with Cantu Oil Moisturizer. I retwist everynight by misting my hair with water and applying a quarter size of the oil moisturizer to my entire head. I get great results.
@Anon 10:05 pm. I was saying the same thing to myself. LOL
sigh……after trying ALL! I've arrived at the realization that I may never really have detailed definition unless I compromise how soft my hair feels. Therefore…I opted out of definition a few dreams ago….
I just do the fluff and preserve the curls that are spared 🙂
4a has natural curl definition.
I normally twist on wet hair with Uncle Funky's Daughter Curly Magic. My twists last 3-4 days but they're noodle like. Last night I twisted on damp hair, the twists are thicker, now if the still hold up 3-4 days. I flat twist to get volume and definiton for a twist out. I re twist at night to keep the tangles away.
I like these tips; I've mastered the no frizz twistouts BUT if its humid they don't last. So I don't put a lot of stock in twistouts. I enjoy them until the weather takes them away…such is life…But for special occasions they are fun.
I don't like dry twist outs, that definitely leads to frizz for me. I usually re-twist every night. I don't like the look of slept on twist outs. I've tried Anonymous @ 6:24p and have had good results.
I have my twist outs to a science. I twist on soaking wet hair, I apply a leave-in and oil outside the shower. Twist neatly with a butter and twirl the ends of each twist. The key for me is the set time, I usually wait 2 days to untwist. One day leads to a chunky afro. 3 days – usually frizzy on the borders. My twist outs last a full week. At night I just moisturize and tie it down with a scarf. Fluff in the morning. It is shrunken, but I don't mind.
I've only tried it on wet hair with a gel and it turned out a hot mess. I'll try again a couple months from now once my hair grows a little more.
I think I've finally gotten it down too! I do my twist outs on damp hair, as in lightly spritzed with my water-castor oil mix, add coconut oil while twisting. I'm going to try the Garnier Sleek and Shine and see how that works for untwisting.
A cure for shrinkage?? I stretch my hair for a half of morning once its washed and then keep it in a high puff (my hair's not that long at all….just long enough. The high puff keeps the hair stretched and my hair now has that blow in the wind thing going on! So exciting!
My hair is 3c/4a and just below CBL when stretched.
I did a twist out after DC'ing yesterday with great results today.
I started with hair that was 90% dry. To start, I spritzed each section with water and applied Shea Moisture's curl enhancing smoothie to the ends. I worked the smoothie thru the section with my fingers, detangling at the same time. Once the hair was smooth, I did a 2-strand twist. I pinned each twist at the root to cut down on the shrinkage effect. I ended up with about 16 twists. I let the twists air dry for a few hours, then tucked them into my satin bonnet for the night. I woke up with very defined, chunky twists. I separated each twist into 2 pieces but didn't do much fluffing.
I'll retwist tonight, using the same technique. Fingers crossed…
I love twist outs on damp or dry hair my hair is stretched and I get great curl definition too! I also retest at night with a leave in conditioner spray and rub my olive oil/castor oil mix on my twists. My hair is moisturized and the curl definition is awesome!
Thank you for this post. Us 4b/c's need a lot of support out here. Many of the advice, techniques and information I find doesn't apply to my hair type. I like what you said about keeping the two sections separate and not borrowing hair. And also about products. I find that I need something different on the top of my head that doesn't curl unless forced, then I do on the rest that has the really teeny weeny curls that just clump together. All of it has to be "molded" to get a defined or loose curl look. Thanks again
I agree with the wet twist outs wayyyyy more definition
I like doing twist outs on damp hair, Its less shrinkage and less frizzier that way. I re-twist every night if i want to keep the same definition, it doesn't take long either because I do about 20 chunky twists using my shea butter mixture and spray bottle
I think I've gotten my twist outs pretty much to a science, when doing my rendition of a twist in curl I grab larger sections to flat twist and I end up with 11 or so twist. I use the just for me honey milk styler that is a great cheapie product with decent hold. Being that this product is so creamy and the first ingredient is water I do my twist out on damp hair not soaking wet, or my hair will never dry. I wait about 15-20 minutes then I proceed with puttin the red and blue flexi rods and the ends of my hair to the very root. When I wake up I untwist my hair carefully with garnier fructise sleek and shine which is awesome at combating frizz and cheaper than my favorite oils. Then I shake and fluff and pin according to my mood and hello awesome frizzless hair.
May 1st I will be 8 months post relaxer with 4 inches of new growth I prefer my braid outs on dry hair, rolled the ends with stain covered sponge rollers, I just dont like handling my relaxed ends wet.