In a previous post, I wrote about the things I do to keep my hair moisturized and pliable while wearing two strand twists for over 3 weeks. The twists, and then the twist out can both create the environment for knotted ends, matted roots, and basically a tangled nightmare. After having a ball with my two strand twists, I also expect to retain the length that I gained. This means that I have to be careful not to rip my ends when I go to take them down. MOST IMPORTANT: DON'T WET YOUR HAIR UNTIL ALL TWISTS ARE TAKEN DOWN AND KNOTS ARE REMOVED.
- The preparation gets my hair ready for the detangling. Preparation such as: softening with oils and conditioners, removing shed hairs while finger detangling all play in important role in safely getting rid of all traces of the twists.
- Ideally, when taking down two strand twists, they can each be taken down in sections. The idea is to take them down in some kind of order, so as not to miss any twists. Once the hair is wet, any twists that are still there, can and will probably knot up with the loose hair. Also, because two strand twists are difficult to take down while wet--it's best to try to untwist each and every twist before starting the wash process. Truth be told, I never have a few hours in a row just to take down each one. The take down process usually takes me about 2 days (an hour here, an hour there).
- While unraveling each twist, it's always a good idea to run your thumb and pointer fingers down the shaft of the hair from the roots to the ends a few times. This will help further untwist the hair, and will also remove shed hairs.
- Any knots that are not able to be resolved by finger detangling---will need to be cut off. YIKES--so you definitely don't want too many knots. If the knots are not cut out before the hair gets wet, this can result in breakage, which results in thinning ends--which requires trimming. All knots are ideally gone before the hair gets wet and any detangling tools are used. Lots of times, the detangling tool will just rip the knot out.
- Finger combing before using any tools will help avoid any ripping during the take down process. It's best to finger detangle with conditioner on the hair. While finger detangling each section, be sure to feel for knots, any matting or anything else that the comb or brush will be sure to rip and cause damage to.
- Using a seamless wide tooth comb after finger detangling is one safe option to complete the take-down. This is like a 2nd step to the detangling process. Start at the ends and work slowly upwards with the comb.
- After the seamless wide comb, I use my Goody Finish Gel Paddle Brush to complete my detangling. Before I even use this tool, all knots, matting, tangles and problem areas would have already been taken care of. I use my goody finish brush while in the shower under running water with conditioner saturated on my hair. All of my detangling is done with conditioner and oils on my hair.
This is the full process that I take to safely take down and detangle my hair after wearing two strand twists on a long term basis. Doing this helps me to avoid ripping and breakage, which are the types of damage that later require cutting or trimming due to thinning ends.
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| Well Moisturized 2 Strand Twists: Co-Washed Only During 3 Week Wear |
The first year that I was all natural, I did many long term twists. I suffered some damage due to trial and error. Mistakes that I made: Washing my hair with shampoo while wearing two strand twists. My hair would immediately lock up! No deep conditioning was able to help it out either. Another mistake I made was to think that I could just pull down my twists and start washing my hair. WRONG! There are a few detangling steps to be done to ensure no damage is done to the ends of the hair (as outlined above).
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| Moisturized 2 Strand Twists= Moisturized Twistout Later |
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| The Beginning of the Detangle Process (after a workout) |
And as always,
Stay Beautiful --------------------------tia
How much hair did you shed when u took down your twist after 3 weeks?
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