Much Ado about Protective Twists

Some people that know me and my hair know that I am always on one protective style or the other. Ever since I learnt to twist my hair myself (believe me when I say that this was no easy feat for me), a large part of my styling problems have been solved. Once I learn how to weave and braid, then the sky will be my limit. Please, people pray for me, I think a vigil needs to be held on my behalf. I must learn this weaving by fire by force.

So why do I love the twist so much?

My styling regimen as a working class Nigerian is to twist my hair on a convenient Saturday and this style will last for two weeks. Two days before twist is supposed to ‘expire’, I just untwist it and rock twist outs.

By this time, the frizz is very obvious. For this reason, if I have an event, I make sure I don’t carry the twists for long before doing the twist out.

Here are some of the reasons why I love protective twists

1. I don’t have to think of styling my hair every morning before rushing off to work. An alice band here, an accessory there and I am ready to go.

2. I don’t have to bother my head too much about single strand knots

3. The fact that I don’t comb or brush my hair regularly will reduce the case of split ends

4. It’s easy to reach all parts of my hair when moisturising with my daily spray (a mixture of olive oil, water and glycerin)

5. It is also very easy to style

So, do you love protective twists? Yes or No? And why? Thanks in advance for sharing.

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7 comments

Coilybella27 March 2012 at 00:16
Hmm, BTW, your twists are lovely:)
I have been protective styling my hair since the beginning of age (okay, I am a little exaggerative) and honestly, I so sick of them. I am getting bored with my hair and have been experimenting with anything but protective styles. While protective styles discourage daily brushing and prevent unnecessary breakage, some protective styles can actually cause split ends(twists do that to me). I have managed to retain some length but now, I want to try other styles as one can get bored with those protective styles.
femmelounge27 March 2012 at 18:55
you can twist your hair yourself? i have never been able to do that as much as i like to.
the protective twists seems to be working well for you .
P.E.T. Projects11 April 2012 at 12:25
I've always loved twists even when i wasnt natural but since the big chop in December, I havent done it cos the lenght of my hair suddenly made me sad, on the flip side, I did a 2-in-1. I had the all-back weaving in front and twisted the back, came out nice and I loved it!
Mo'16 April 2012 at 00:52
Just stumbled upon your blog, courtesy Google and I'm mighty glad I found it. I have something of a major issue. I'm presently transitioning and I'm wearing kinky braids as a protective style. I never knew the hairs at the edges are not to be braided on too tightly. Well, mine were. Now, I noticed the braids seemed to be pulling at my hairs on the edges so much. I removed 4 and found that the braids had tangled them so much at the point where the braids met the hair. I tried detangling with a comb but this only caused the hair to break at that point and that's a lot of hair! I'm worried about the rest of my edges. How do I detangle the rest and stop breakage before I loosen the braids? Many thanks!
Anonymous16 June 2012 at 10:46
I'm a newbie n I don't live in Lag or else i would have looked for a natural hair salon that can do it. Pls can u post a blog or video on steps to achieving this type of twists? I've only learnt how to do Bantu knots. Tnx