5 Reasons Why I’m Obsessed With Twists As a Protective Style
Over the last year I’ve been relying heavily on twists as a protective style and they’ve since become an uncontested favorite - and not by a short margin. To simply put it, twists are an amazing protective style, which leads me to the question: “why I hadn’t tried this hairstyle much sooner?”. I guess the main reason was that I thought that the style wouldn’t suit me. This goes to show how important it is to keep trying new products and hairstyles before forming a definitive opinion about them. A style that suits my neighbor won’t necessarily suit me and what works for my sister’s hair, doesn’t work for mine!
But why am I so obsessed with Twists?
Well, compared to everything else I’ve tried before - box braids mainly, but also weaves, wigs, you name it - twists have proven to be easy to apply, maintain and take down and the length retention I’m seeing is mind-blowing.
Applying the Twists to The Hair
How to apply twists as a protective style
My hair doesn’t have too much volume so I usually do my twists using synthetic hair. Today there’s a wide range of synthetic hair specific for twists, which make the application much more easier, especially if you’re DIY(ing). I usually buy my hair on Amazon and it usually is good value for money. An order comes with 8-12 individual packs and in my case, each application uses 2-3 packs, so each order goes a long way.
It’s been years since I’ve let anyone style my hair as I prefer to DIY my own hair styles. For years my go-to protective style were box braids, not only because I like the way they look on me, but also because they’re practical (ie, don’t require that much maintenance) compared to a weave, for example. To my delight, twists are quicker to apply and if you’re a beginner, you don’t really need that much skill for the final look to be amazing.
Hair Accessibility
Moisturizing and sealing your hair is easy when you have twists
If there’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way, is that my hair craves moisture (I have low porosity hair). No other protective style, apart from my non-glue wig, has allowed me to have this much access to my hair as twists have. And this is perfect because whenever I apply a leave in conditioner and/or oil to seal the moisture, the product can easily reach my strands. And when I take my twists down, my hair looks considerably stronger and shinier than ever because it’s been taking in all the TLC that I put into it.
Easy to take down
Compared to box braids, twists are easy to take down, but from my experience the secret lies on how you apply them. I apply my twists using a single strand method (another post will be made on how I apply my twists) and the fact that I do this makes the take down process run much smoothly compared to a two-strand process.
When taking down, I always dampen my hair (either by getting into the shower or by using a water bottle spray) and apply a conditioner with a lot of slip.
Low Tension on the Scalp
If someone is styling your hair and you can feel the tension on your scalp, there’s only one thing to do: RUN! Jokes aside, there’s no good reason why you should endure pain when getting a hairstyle, so it’s ok to ask the person to be more gentle. Maybe it’s because I do my own hair, but twists are by far the style that have caused the least amount of tension to my scalp, so if like me you have a sensitive scalp and are hesitant about trying twists, honestly you shouldn’t even think twice.
Maximum Length Retention
The cherry on top has undoubtedly been the amount of length retention I’m seeing. My hair has not only grown, but looks and feels healthy (thicker and shinier). But I can’t stress enough how important the take down process it. If you’re not gentle you’ll likely destroy all the length retention, so it’s fundamental that you take your time when taking down hairstyles and do your best to thoroughly detangle your hair (read this for tips on how to detangle your hair).
Conclusion
How you choose to style your hair is a personal choice, but trying something new may open the door to the discovery products and techniques will benefit your hair. Twists have proven to be a very affordable and amazing style due to all the benefits you’ll likely get, from the easy application to length retention.
