Two Strand Twists: I've Come a Long Way Baby

I have come a long way from my first natural two strand twist. I have always had issues with the top of my head looking thinner than the rest, so it appears I have large spaces at the top of my head. I have since tried to gather large amounts of hair at the beginning of my twisting and started twisting from there (instead of starting at the bottom or front of my head). I usually use pure aloe vera gel, found at any drugstore or I use root stimulator’s loc and twist gel. They both are fairly inexpensive and don’t leave buildup. It usually takes me several hours to do two strand twists in my hair; I take my time parting, oiling, and twisting small amounts of hair. I am exhausted by the end. It takes me so long to twist my hair I never do twist outs, because I want to get good wear out of my twist (about 3 weeks), then I co-wash. Here are photos of then and now.



Year One





1.5 years

  

Summer 2011



So I have been trying to take a more active role in styling my hair. I have been so lazy since my hair has surpassed my shoulders. I looked up natural hair styles on youtube and this is the style I decided to rock Labor Day weekend. Courtesy of Beautiful Brwn Baby Dol, natural side french braid style tutorial. It is so cute on this young lady, my hair did not come out quite the same, but I was pleased. The young lady appears to have maybe 7-8 inches of hair; I have close to 18 inches if not more, which may account for the varied outcome. Here is the link to her video http://youtu.be/850-RN4YxPM and here is my finished product.



Inspiration



It took only 2.5 hours to do, I did not care about parts, and I did large twist and large cornrows on the side. I was a little disappointed in my cornrowing abilities; I guess if you don’t use it you will lose it.  I could get used to these less than perfect fat twists, especially if I will just be styling them anyway. Tutorial does suggest using Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In Condition and Curling Custard for the two strand twists. I have never used these products in this manner. I am very interested in how the product will react once I unravel the twists. If there is no flaking I will style my twist out and try some different styles with that, otherwise, I will co-wash immediately. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for the idea Beautiful Brwn Baby Dol, check out her videos on youtube.

Earrings available at www.raedianncedezigns.com