How to Achieve the Perfect Twistout

About a month ago, a friend of mine told me she doesn't know how to braid her hair--she didn't mean with the addition of hair extensions, but she literally does not know how to braid her own hair. That shocked me because I assumed it was something everyone inherently knew how to do. And just a week ago, a different friend was telling me about her plans to get Havana twists professionally done. "Havanna twists are so easy to install!" I told her, to which she responded, "I barely know how to twist my own hair." These two recent occurrences have inspired me to bring it back to the basics, starting with a post about twisting natural hair and achieving a bomb twistout as a result.

What you need:

• Spray bottle
• Water
• Oil
• Leave-in conditioner
• Hair butter or cream

Steps to achieve great twists
1. Start with dry, de-tangled hair; damp hair is okay. I usually don't like to do twists on soaking wet hair because they shrink a lot and don't give me the length I prefer.

2. Fill an empty spray bottle mostly with water. Fill the rest with a bit of your favorite oil (I used meadowfoam seed oil), and a dollop of your favorite conditioner.

Water, oil, conditioner mixture.

3. Divide your hair into 4-6 sections. It doesn't really matter how many and they do not need to look neat. I usually end up with 6: three along the front of my head, one above the nape of my neck, and two on the crown.

4. Doing one section at a time, take about a 1 to 2 square-inch piece of hair, shake your spray bottle, and spray your hair about 3 or 4 times with your water/oil/conditioner mixture. Be sure to shake your spray bottle before each use.

5. Take a teeny bit of your favorite hair butter or cream, and moisturize that 1 to 2 square-inch piece of hair, focusing on the ends and smoothing it over the entire length of your hair.

You really don't need a lot.

Be sure to focus on the ends, since they get the driest and need more attention.

6. Separate the 1 to 2 square-inch piece of hair into two equal parts and twist in a downward direction, making sure to smooth over each half of the 1 to 2 square-inch piece after each twisting motion. Twirl your hair around your finger once you reach the end of your twist to secure it.

Hair should look smooth. Notice the contrast between the twisted part and the ends.

7. Repeat the process until all hair in your section is twisted. Repeat for all other sections.

It's said in Step 6, but it's worth repeating: The key to great twists is really making sure your hair is moisturized from root to tip, smoothing your hair with your fingers after each twisting motion, and twisting in a downward motion.

Steps to achieve a great twistout
8. For a great twistout, I like to keep my twists in overnight. Just put a satin cap over your head and get that beauty rest, girl!

This was taken the next morning.

9. Simply unravel each twist. Don't worry... It might will look a little funky.

Not my best look, but we're not finished yet!

10. Next, just separate each half of the twist into two. (Essentially, that one twist you started off with becomes 2 pieces of hair when unraveled. You want to separate each half of the twist, so that one twist ends up being four pieces of hair).  I start from about an inch from the root and simply separate with my fingers. This will provide some much needed volume and make your hair look fuller.

And, voila!

See, that's not so bad. Easy as 1, 2, 3, .... 10!

Fun Workwear

Today, I am blogging about my awesome bright cobalt blazer! It is an unstructured jacket so it works very well with both t-shirts and collared shirts. I'm very pleased with the fit and look of the jacket, and the ability to dress it up or down.

Daydreaming about COLOR!

I actually ordered matching scallop-edge shorts, but they are a little too short to wear to work, which is where I was coming from when these pictures were taken. I bought the matching jacket and shorts from SimplyBe, but it looks like they're currently sold out. Here is how the whole ensemble looks on the model though.

I decided to pair the blazer with some form-fitting black dress pants, a neon tee, and my new brown flats. I loved the  incorporation of a trend (neon) and the balance of fun (cobalt and neon) and business (black pants, brown/"nude" flats). The outfit is work-appropriate, yet still has some personality.

My sister's friend was walking by while my boyfriend snapped photos. I love her floral blazer!

The purse adds some much needed PATTERN to this ensemble.

Don't be mistaken - black and brown do match!

Outfit details:

Blazer: SimplyBe (sold out; similar here) // Tee: JCP // Pants: JCP // 

Shoes: JCP // Handbag: NY&Co (old; similar here) 

"Miracle" Products Don't Exist

For many  women, going natural and choosing to opt out of chemically relaxing our hair becomes a rite of passage and is the start of a long journey of self-acceptance and love. Personally, embracing my natural hair has paved the way to embracing a healthier lifestyle, including paying special attention to what I put on and in my body. Though I've had a few bumps in the road (heat damage, not knowing how to retain moisture, etc.), the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. I love all my strands, including the weird super spirally ones, the S-curl ones, the ones with barely any curl pattern, and the unruly gray ones. This woolly, unruly, beautiful hair is the hair God gave me and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Me, having a pretty decent hair day.

Kind of a wash-n-go. Not sure what I did here, but it definitely wasn't a twist-out or braid-out.

Close-up of my texture.

Well, that's the attitude most of us have, right? But there are those few women who are plagued with hair envy, looking at "hair porn" of women with curl patterns their hair will never achieve. They think to themselves, "If only I could find that miracle hair product that will make my curls pop." Sorry honey, that miracle product does not exist. I admit to being guilty of hair envy, but I try to look up to naturalistas who have similar (not necessarily identical) hair patterns to mine. These are the natural hair gurus I adore:

India of My Nautral Sistas

Whitney aka Naptural85

Chime aka HairCrush

Obviously, my hair is not as long as theirs, and might never get there. I like to look at these women's pictures, videos, tutorials, blogs, etc. because they all have 4-type hair, their hair is tightly coiled and curly when wet, and honestly, they give me something to aspire to. But there are key differences of which I am well aware. All of these women have a looser curl pattern than I do. I think my hair is about a 4b or so... these women are probably all 4a/3c. Also, these women's hair seems to retain more length than mine does when wet: my hair shrinks beyond belief; it could be 9 inches straight and 2 inches curly in some spots. I think the key is being aware of these important differences. My wash-n-goes won't ever look like India's, Whitney's or Chime's, but aspects of their haircare regimen, such as their moisture routine, with a few tweaks, can also work on my hair too.

In my humble opinion, the key to identifying naturalistas who you can relate to is choosing women who have similar hair patterns as you do, but also recognizing that your hair is very unique and it's probably near impossible to find someone with the exact same hair pattern as yours. Recognize those differences, and stop searching for a "miracle" product that will make your hair look just like so-and-so from Youtube. The sooner you learn to accept your own hair texture and stop trying to attain a look your hair cannot achieve, the sooner you will actually start taking care of the hair you've got on your head: the beautiful, unique, lovely hair that God gave you and you only.