Kinky Twists Done by Me

Hi People,
 Compare this (pic. above) with what I got from the professional stylist below. I bought 2 packs of Noble Gold Natural Braid Extension (Color 1). I love the texture of this brand and the curl pattern is just as tight as my type 4b.
The problem I had with it was finishing the twists. This is because of the way the extensions end. To solve this problem I had to do what is called "picking" by Nigerian hair braiders. The technique is to hold on to the ends of the extensions and pull out some individual strands to create an uneven finish at the ends. This would help keep the twists from unraveling after you are done.
Unfortunately, I learnt this after I had done almost half of the left side of my head. So most of the ones I had already done were unraveling. Read on to see how I stumbled on the solution.
The beautiful thing about doing your own hair is that you work really carefully with the sensitive spots and you can control how tight or loose you want the twists to be. I wanted to do havanna twists but I was too impatient to start learning something new today. So I worked with the old technique I knew really well; attach the extensions by braiding the roots and after some inches you twist all the way down.

                            TECHNIQUES: 
Styles at the back of the pack
Now if you look closely you would notice that the roots look scalpy/scanty but some inches after, my hair looks full. What did I do? Simple. I...
-Cut out a section of my hair
-Attached the extensions by braiding the roots and then twisting tightly until after my hair was completely twisted with the extensions.
-Then I loosely twisted the rest of the hair using Ms. Alicia's loose twists technique.
To Protect my hair strands I...
-Sectioned my hair using my fingers first and then a sectioning comb to create straight fine lines
-Applied Shea butter to my hair strands (from root to end) and
-Applied some Shea butter to the Noble Extensions. Why? Kinky extensions dry out my hair. Even daily water spritzing isn't much help. But once I began applying Shea butter to the extensions, twisting with the coarse texture wasn't much of a problem; take down was much easier and my hair faired better after weeks/a month of been rolled in kinky extensions.
 
 Finishing...
Like I said, some of the twists were unraveling because I didn't start begin by 'picking' the ends of the extensions.  And because I was too tired to loosen, pick and retwist, I decided to deep the ends in hot water to see if what worked for Expression extensions would work for Noble Natural Braid extensions.
So I boiled water, poured some in a bowl and dipped the ends into the hot water. I left it in for some seconds and when I took it out the ends had shrunk tight and felt hard to touch.  By the time I did the other half of my head, the water was not hot enough to seal the ends tight so I boiled the water again and repeated the process. That Simple!
 I plan on carrying this style for the next two months. I would co-wash when the need arises and style as the weather allows me to.

So what styles are you wearing for the HOT dry season? I hear it is raining in some of the western states of Nigeria but as far as we Abuja people are concerned, the Sun won't gree us rest. Lord give us strength.

31 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to following your two months in twists. Please be sure to post pictures along the way.

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    1. I would try my best to take pictures and share with you :)

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  2. I like Kinky twist!! I've done it twice (few years ago), and did it by myself, both times. Kinky twist is pretty easy to do, especially with kinky hair. It's versatile to style too.

    You did well!! :)

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    1. Thank you Seun and yes it is easy to do and style. A great style for the busy months.

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  3. I have my hair only braids I made myself. I think you did a much better job than the stylist, the result looks great.

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  4. Wow, your twists look really nice! I am in the states. It hasn't gotten hot yet. But when it does, I may rock mini-twists.

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    1. Thank you 1BlessedNatural. I Hope you get a professional to help with yours because mini twists can take forever to do.

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  5. I thought you have to pick the ends of all extensions?
    you are a really good hair braider. How long did it take you to do this style? My nxt hair style is kinky twists or genie locks, but i don't feel like spending the time right now. Lightly lubricating the extension gives it a shine and makes the hair slide smoothly in your hands while braiding or twisting.
    i look forward to the different styles you wear the hair in!

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    1. Hi Mane Captain, it took me 6 hours to twist my whole hair and no you don't have to pick all extensions. Some, especially the kinky ones, come ready to use. Like I told JazzWife, I would try my best to share pictures of the different styles I create with you. Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. yes, that's true. I just did Marley twists/kinky twists and I kept thinking wow, this hair is so clumped together, how was she able to pick the ends without roughening the hair? I used 2.5 packs for mine. Your pack must have had a lot in it!

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    3. Hmm....maye i should do a video on this. If you pick the synthetic hair strands individually, you shouldn't have much wahala. you say you used 2.5pack? Wow...maybe mine has more hair or you made your twists fuller than mine.

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  6. I didn't know you were in Abuja, booooo!!! I was in Naija for 2 weeks and spent my time equally split between Abuja and Benue, would have loved to meet you :(

    It's pretty cool that you can twist your braids yourself, i fix in my weaves and even tried braids once but vowed never ever to do it again cos it took to damn long! I currently have on braids that i got on in naija ONLY because it is waaaay cheaper, braids range from $100-300 here. Can you imagine?! Please, please, please, upload pictures of how you style your braids, i never know what to do with mine :(

    Have a blessed Easter weekend :*

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    1. Eiya...see life? No worry sha, next time dey. Amen
      Thanks for the complement Sis! I believe that with patience and practice we can take better care of our hair than anybody else can. As a student or a job seeker who needs over priced/ stubborn stylists who know very little about black hair care? Just keep at those braids and I'm sure you will find an easier and faster way to get them done.
      Blessings Dee! (that's what I call your namesakes) Hope to see you soon:)

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  7. It's beautiful! I love the lenght. You did it way better than the stylist. I wonder what her reaction would be if she saw this!
    It's like we think alike! I have on kinky twists too and I hope I can make the two month mark!

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    1. Thank you Hadassah! Maybe I should stop by the stylists place and show her what we Naturals can achieve when pushed to the wall.
      Lol...I hope so too o. You know what, why don't we encourage each other? Say we have a two month challenge for keeping our kinky twists in. What do you think?

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  8. Really Beautiful. How many packs of hair did you use and how much is a pack? I want to use them for Havana twists.
    Thanks in advance

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    1. Thanks KK :) A pack cost 1000 Naira and I used 2 packs although I didn't use up the 2nd pack.

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  9. Really Good Job!! maybe I will come to abuja for u to braid mine cos I loads of hair and it will take me a full day to do this on my hair

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    1. Thanks Anon! You can try twisting bigger sections to reduce time spent. Yesyou might have scalpy twists but twisting the roots tightly and the rest of your hair loosely would give the illusion that you have done full hair. This should save you your transport fair:)

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  10. Na wa o. When will I become a pro like you?

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  11. You did such an EXCELLENT job missy. Dang!

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  12. This is niiiiiiiiice!! You did a GREAT job!
    Love it! Would need to properly study this technique.
    Funny enough, I also just box braided my hair by myself for the very first time. Can't say the results were this impressive but it feels good to do it yourself (well apart from the tremendous fatigue).
    Kudos!

    DATFUNKYFRO

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    1. Thank you Funbi :) Yes, it gets tiring but the thought of pain, irritation and no hair gives me the strength to strive on. Let me go look at your work....

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  13. Hey where did you get your Marley twists??

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  14. Hi Bukola,
    I bought the extensions from the market.

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