by Shelli of Hairscapades
I was asked to be a guest at a High School Natural Hair Workshop. So, of course I wanted to rock “impressive” hair. I was still wearing the twists that I installed on Sunday and, though they are fine for day to day, they just weren’t going to cut it for this! Therefore, I released the twists (which I’d set on rollers on Sunday night) to get the defined, but flat twist out in the picture on the left. It was fine, but just not what I was going for as it was too tame and flat for me.
So, I decided to “volumize it” and here is a video explaining how I did it!
How do you achieve twist-out massiveness?
A little bit of water goes a long way with my hair
Not sure this would work with 4C hair. Wetting my hair after a twist-out has not produced good results for me.
WOW- I can't believe how many ppl commented on shelli's ends. What about the video? Is the point of your comment to help and uplift others or tear them down? Not only has she posted a video to share a tip, to help others on their journey -she was on her way to give back to the community! Nikki, Shelli and all the other lovely naturals share their hair journey's with us and if its not your cup tea, PASS but to make insensitive and pointless comments is just not cool.
Lightly spritzing with water always does the trick for me! I also make the bathroom real steamy from my shower. I make sure the door is closed, and I just shake my hair around until it's fluff to the volume I like. Then I seal with EVOO.
I'll respectfully add my voice to those that feel Shelli's ends are appear a bit thin….I kinda like the flatter look on her actually. Shelli's texture [fine,] I believe looks better either just letting the twists fluff out on their own OR as LBell mentioned, separating larger sections of the twist into smaller ones and using an oil to retwist.
Maybe flat has something to do with length, the longer it is the heavier and thus it will be weighed down and also cause the ends to look thin as mentioned by Anon – April 9, 2012 – 4:45 p.m.
I'm sorry but I firmly believe we can't have it all and so I let my hair do it's thing and it still looks good to others even though at times, I might not agree and less hair stress.
P.S. For those who would like to wear their hair straight but fear the dreaded heat damage, I have found the remedy…Use Amla or Brahmi powder to restore your curls. My hair is 4a with strongly suspected 3c from the entire back of my hair (mid-ear to nape) and after a week of flat ironing, no straight ends!
Shelli, your hair is gorgeous! However, in my opinion, the "fluffed" look is not flattering. You have volume on the top, but the ends look thin.
I think to some extent, volume looks best on hair that is naturally voluminous. I have 4a/4b hair, and volume is not a problem for me—it's not something I have to create.
With your hair texture, which again, is really gorgeous, it looks better less manipulated.
Great comments. I wore my hair big and fluffy today and I hadn't thought about adding a mix of products as shown in your video. When I do want it to look big rather than really defined I braid out on dry hair by misting with water, oil, and shea butter, which gives it a big fluffy look. Your hair looks gorgeous and thanks for sharing tips on how to add fullness to fine hair!
Anon @ 3:30, I want to try a flat two strand twist out so badly, because everyone seems to get amazing results! But, I just haven't been able to get the hang of it! Thanks for sharing!
Monique and Anon @ 4:39, thank you for sharing your methods too!! Anon. @ 4:39, I do that too! But, it doesn't really give me a big twist out *booh-hoo!* LOL!!
Oh, and here is a post with pics of a TnC I did in January. You can see how the TnC takes my hair up to a little higher than shoulder length.
http://hairscapades.com/2012/01/15/bet-honors/
Thanks everyone!!! The workshop was nice! I really hope to be able to do more of them as there are so many resources out there now to help young ladies who want to transition or just learn more about caring for their hair.
LBell: Thanks for sharing your method!
Anon: I actually tend to wear my hair in updos 5-6 days out of the week or TnCs when it’s down (which brings it up to shoulder length). Layers tend to aggravate the mullet situation I have going on in the back due to the different curl patterns. I could get some around my face, but not too concerned about it right now … again, because I wear it up most of the time or do TnCs where I curl my hair all the way to the root. I will be getting a trim this month though (I mentioned it in the description box of the video), because I am overdue. Been searching and destroying for a year, so time for an all-over pro-trim. New stylist though, so we'll see how it goes.
After seeing what Antoinette's self-cut layers did for her volume, would love that! I'm totally scared to cut my own hair in an actual cut and have had difficulty finding a good, local stylist. We'll see how my salon visit goes this month. If not well, may have to head back to Tameekah at Christos Fifth Avenue in NYC this year to get a pro curly cut. It's steep for me [about $130], but she really knows naturally curly hair (she has it herself) and does great work that grows out very well.
Shelli's hair always looks so beautiful and healthy, but these pics are showing me that I don't want to grow my own hair that long.
I'm almost 2 years all-natural and my hair is just past CBL when fully stretched. I usually wear twistouts or braidouts and my hair hangs about 2 inches above my shoulders. After a few days, it stretches out more and is almost shoulder length. The front is shorter than the back and sides.
I'm almost 44 with a thin, oval-shaped face. I think too much length will pull everything down and age me. So I think I'll stop growing my hair when it's all the same length and hits just past my shoulders when freshly styled. Maybe I'll even add some layering. That way, I can have length and lots of volume, without the pulling down effect.
and some layers would look great too
Actually, I think she needs a hair trim. Her hair would look more attractive with shoulder length. Otherwise nice video.
The concept of hair getting bigger when it's dampened (or even when it's more humid outside than usual) only applies to those whose textures don't experience significant amounts of shrinkage. Doing the method Shelli describes would result in my hair getting smaller, not bigger.
How *I* make my twistouts bigger: I use my fingers to separate large sections into smaller ones. If I use a product, it'll be an oil or something else that doesn't contain water as an ingredient.
A High School Natural Hair workshop? They should've offered those when I was in school…
Great VIDEO! Thanks for posting!
Love the video, but I've even more estatic that you went to a High School Natural Hair Workshop. I'm sure the young girls and boys who are interested in or are wearing their hair naturally were enlightened. Thank you!
*Loosely, not lossely*
Thanks for the video Shelli!
I get my biggest twist outs by doing the following:
In the morning: After co-washing/washing, I towel dry my hair until damp, place leave-in conditioner of choice, place sealant on bulk of ends, place my hair in a bun. I wear it like that for the day.
That same night, I take my hair down, fingercomb it out then twist into 8-10 fluffy twists. Pull them back into a ponytail , lossely, with satin scrunchie. Cover with satin bonnet and go to bed.
In a.m, I put a bit of oil on my hands and take the twists down. They are stretched, full and ready to go!
Hey, this reminds me kind of what I do, except you use a spray bottle to do it.
I actually like the "flatter" defined look at first, but then once it starts looking old what i do is I "wash" it. mostly just rinse with some conditioner, but sometimes I shampoo first, but I don't mess up the pattern that is left from my previous twist out. I find that it gives a REALLY nice wash go. Both big, and pretty well defined.
Great video =).
Nice…Thx for the video
Nice video. I'll have to try your method. I don't have the length but my twists look like yours when I take them down. I've been flat two strand twisting at night to get the bigger hair…this looks much easier!
~greatgraneecurl~