Natural Embrace: Mini Twist Challenge begins!

Alright so I know I said I was going to start in June, but I just want a break from my hair! I felt like I was messing in it or changing the style two or three times a day and that was just toooo much. So Tuesday afternoon I decided I wanted to start twisting. I started on the front of my hair in between jobs, making sure to keep my parts clean so as to not borrow hair. I also made sure to keep the twists tight so that they don't unravel. I put on a hair net with a flower thing to hide my hair while at work and afterwards, I went home to finish twisting the front. So that first day I worked about an hour and half in between jobs and then another hour after work and didn't get to bed until 130 in the morning. The next day I just wore my hair in a bun and tucked the twists back into it. It looked pretty cute. I had every intention of twisting in between jobs again, but I realized I could work on the back of my hair while at work! I sit there doing this scanning thing and the computer is doing most of the work, so while it was processing each scan, I would twist my hair and was able to get a good chunk of the back done. When I left I just threw it all up in a bun again. In between jobs I twisted some more for an hour and then pulled my hair back and went to job number two. While here at this job I twisted off and on...if I were to guess it probably only took another two hours...but I kept having to get up and do work related stuff so I only just now finished. The back half of my hair I wasn't as meticulous with parting, but I did try to make sure I was twisting even strands of hair, that way the take down process can be easier.

Overall I really like them and I can see that my hair has grown somewhat...no where near where I think it should be but oh well. While twisting I noticed that a lot of the ends were tapering into thin points which I think means breakage....so I'm going to make sure I moisturize and seal these twists really well while they are installed. I don't want to wet them too much though since that will result in shrinkage and I feel like they won't last as long if they are wet all the time. Also I feel like my hair doesn't look as full as I would like. According to my hair analysis my hair is pretty much "normal." Average density, average porosity, and average elasticity...so my hair isn't "fine" but apparently it's not very thick either and I wish it was. Mini twists and two strand twists would probably look a lot more luscious if my hair was thicker....but oh well, I have what I have. I'm going to try and use curl formers on them tonight so make the hair look fuller so hopefully that will help. In the evenings I plan on following Naptural85s wrapping method.

So today is May 23, at the minimum I would like to keep the twists in until June 16 which will be a little over three weeks. Ideally I'd love to keep them in a full month or even 6 weeks if possible. If they still look pretty fresh and if my hair doesn't appear to be "locing" than I will definitely push for the 6....but I'll be happy just to make it to three. If this works out well, than I may make this my summer routine. I have discovered, even though I never actually adhere to my own rules, that my hair thrives on low manipulation/protective styles. When I had yarn braids and removed them, my hair thrived and when I wear my hair out a lot or cowash and a lot or twist a lot....then I see more single strand knots, thinning, shedding and breakage....so what does that tell the girl who wants long hair? Protective Style! If I can get this to thicken up a bit than I wouldn' mind so much...and putting them in over a couple of days is a lot better than doing it in one sitting.

Anyway, if this works out well, than my plan will be to mini twist for 3-4 weeks, take them out for a week to give my hair a break, wash, deep condition and or henna, and then put them back in. If they work out for me, I have a feeling that come September when the GOC part two ends, I'll have seen some significant growth...now if my hair does thicken up, I may not always do "mini" twists and may opt to do small/medium twists that I can style into some sort of up do.

I also think I need to trim my hair more frequently, instead of every six to eight months, I might aim for every four until I stop seeing such thin ends. After I remove this set of mini twists I plan on getting a trim.

Wish me luck in keeping these in the next couple of weeks. I will say that the only reason I would take them out on the 16th is because my birthday is the 21st and I kind of want to rock big hair...but we'll see. Also some twists may be retwisted in a couple of days if they start to unravel....hopefully they wont. Currently my hair feels pretty soft. Before putting in the twists I had put some Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose in overnight, used my Bobeams Honey Shea to wash, used Oyin Honey Hemp as a leave-in, sealed with castor oil and followed that with Hairveda's Almond Butter. Soft, soft and moisturized hair! I put it in a bun to stretch a bit and well....got to twisting a day later.

On a side note, I think the reason the edges on my right side are so thin is because that's the side I sleep on. I'm sticking with my castor oil challenge and I'm going to try sleeping on my back more to help.

Check it out!