Growing Hair Long With Braidouts

[Isis]

Thanks, after i take scarf off, I just pick hair out with fingers. Fluff up, add serum and go

Thanks Sylver2 for your reply. I do that also (don't have any serum though) but your beautiful braidouts seem to last a lot longer than mine without having to rebraid. I'll have to figure out what I need to do. I want to always use the scarf method... :scratchch

 

[baglady215]

Mine seem to fall during the day too, and I have to re-braid at night. Do you ladies use anything for hold? Gel, anything like that?

Also, maybe that's because I do mine on dry hair. On wet hair, mine never dry completely overnight. Maybe I could sit under the dryer for a while and then go to sleep?

 

[Browndilocks]

I think you can do it Isis!

 

[byrdmail]

Isis, do you remember who has the step by step instructions on how to do flat twists? About a month ago I remember looking a fokti where someone showed what their hair looked like after each twist was done. i can't remember who it was. btw, my first attempt at a twist out looked a hot mess. I want to try flat twists this time.

 

[Isis]

Mine seem to fall during the day too, and I have to re-braid at night. Do you ladies use anything for hold? Gel, anything like that?

Also, maybe that's because I do mine on dry hair. On wet hair, mine never dry completely overnight. Maybe I could sit under the dryer for a while and then go to sleep?

Baglady215 - I don't use anything for hold, no gel and no styling lotion. I do have a bottle of Lottabody which was recommended by a lady on another hair board a couple of years ago. Maybe I need to blow the dust off of it and use it.

My braidouts hold up pretty well the first day. By day two it seems to be less wavy unless I rebraid. When I wear the silk or satin scarf, it smoothes my hair which is a good thing - I want my new growth smoothed down, especially when I'm stretching. But it seems to smooth down my waves too. It looks good but not as defined as the first day.

I have only done my braids on dry hair because I know it would take a long time to dry if I do it with wet hair plus there is more shrinkage when done on wet hair. However, according to some of the other ladies, the braids on wet hair produce very long-lasting braidouts.

 

[Isis]

I think you can do it Isis!

Thank you so much for the encouragement Browndilocks!!

It could be as simple as using a setting lotion like Lottabody (as I mentioned in the previous post) or maybe my braidout really does look good the 2nd and 3rd day without rebraiding (and wearing the scarf at night) and I am just not realizing it.

 

[Isis]

Isis, do you remember who has the step by step instructions on how to do flat twists? About a month ago I remember looking a fokti where someone showed what their hair looked like after each twist was done. i can't remember who it was. btw, my first attempt at a twist out looked a hot mess. I want to try flat twists this time.

Well, I remember Msportugal was thinking about making a how-to video on flat twists. I can't think of anyone else at this moment, Byrdmail and I would like to know how too. It could be in that "How To" thread if I can find it...

 

[baglady215]

Thanks Isis.

I have a dusty bottle of Lottabody too! Maybe I'll pull it out and try it. If I remember correctly, you have to dilute it by more than half. I think that's why mine was in the stash - my crunchy rollerset.

 

[DragonPearl]

I have only done my braids on dry hair because I know it would take a long time to dry if I do it with wet hair plus there is more shrinkage when done on wet hair. However, according to some of the other ladies, the braids on wet hair produce very long-lasting braidouts.

Maybe you can do the braids on dry hair, then slightly mist them with a combo of distilled water and oil, and let them dry fully. I would think the shrinkage would be less than if done on wet hair, and your braidouts would last longer.

 

[Sistaslick]

I use mango butter to set mine on dry hair... after I do the braid, I rub the mango butter down the braid. Due to the thick consistency, it molds the wave into place as it dries. That way you don't have to deal with the shrinkage of a wet braid and still get the light hold you need. Maybe you can try that

 

[Isis]

Maybe you can do the braids on dry hair, then slightly mist them with a combo of distilled water and oil, and let them dry fully. I would think the shrinkage would be less than if done on wet hair, and your braidouts would last longer.

Thank you for this tip Jessy55, I'll have to definitely try the misting. The shrinkage would be less on wet hair? I'm going to have to try it and see what happens.

 

[Isis]

I use mango butter to set mine on dry hair... after I do the braid, I rub the mango butter down the braid. Due to the thick consistency, it molds the wave into place as it dries. That way you don't have to deal with the shrinkage of a wet braid and still get the light hold you need. Maybe you can try that

Mango butter you say? :scratchch I've never tried mango butter on my hair. How long does your braidout last without rebraiding? I will look for it, thank you for the tip Sistaslick!

 

[sylver2]

Mango butter you say? :scratchch I've never tried mango butter on my hair. How long does your braidout last without rebraiding? I will look for it, thank you for the tip Sistaslick!

I've tried the mango butter and not too fond of it. It smells really good though

 

[Browndilocks]

I've tried the mango butter and not too fond of it. It smells really good though

I'd have to 2nd that. Mango butter smells great but after 1 day, it was dry city.

 

[shortness]

I put jojoba oil on first, then a little mango butter. Not dry due to jojoba

 

[Sistaslick]

yeah mango butter smells yummy It works much better with a light oil to seal it in, since it is a waterbased moisturizer. It does give me extra hold on the braidouts though- without it going too hard I wash my hair every 3-4 days and it usually holds me til then without looking too limp and trashy. I don't know how long it would go beyond that though without rebraiding.

edit to say... any kind of butter/pastelike product will probably give you hold on dry braidouts if you have an issue with the mango one. But experiment and let us know!

 

[Lady_Lioness]

I've tried the mango butter and not too fond of it. It smells really good though

I'm not too fond of it either...it made my hair hard and dry after 1 week of using it.

 

[Isis]

Since I'm washing my hair tonight, I almost ran out to buy me some mango butter at Walmart (I saw on another thread their prices is good) but I may rethink this since most of you who commented on it experience dryness. All of you ladies are the wise ones!!

Sistaslick - I wash as often as you do but I may look into other butters or pastelike products, as you suggested, or try the mango butter with jojoba oil.

 

[Sistaslick]

yeah let us know how it goes! This thread made me do a braidout today

 

[patient1]

I'm not relaxed but when my natural hair was longer I did braidouts or twistouts on a regular basis. Let's say every other night or third night I'd rebraid or retwist.

For mine, I would use a shea-based product like CD HHB and then later on, Asha's Mane Attraction. When it grows out a bit more I'll go back to this routine and probably use something by Oyin like the whipped shea or the whipped pudding.

I think the braiding process is helpful at night because your strands move around a lot less in your sleep (since they're anchored to one another). Also, I hear that slight, gentle tension is good for stimulating the scalp. So I imagine one could get lots of that by being braided at night.

I think the dry braiding and misting is a good idea. I also like Sistaslick's idea.

p1

 

[byrdmail]

yeah let us know how it goes! This thread made me do a braidout today

Sistaslick, do you have any pix of your braidouts?

 

[Sistaslick]

Sadly, in my album I only have pics of my very first failed braidout attempt from '04 and it was not cute at all Though they've greatly improved as has everything else since then , I don't have any updated pics of those. I'll be sure to take some updated ones for my album soon. I do have more recent twistout pics though. I use the same techniques and products, just twisting down instead of braids. I actually think the twists look better on me. So I do them more often.
I'll post an example...I hope these pics show up...

This pic is the set I used for the twists (Yes it looks kinda ruff and I probably shouldn't be putting myself on public blast like this):


And here is the end result . . . much better! ​

My braidouts look similar to this but the waves are usually more angular than S-like, if that makes sense. Honestly, I prefer twistouts.

 

[LaNecia]

I can't wait for my hair to do this!!! Beautiful!!!

 

[byrdmail]

Wow!!!!!! Sistaslick, your twist out is awesome! I had to look at it several times. When your hair is in the twists, you have sort of a spiral at the end. Does your hair naturally spiral or do you put a roller in it?

 

[Sistaslick]

oh! I put plastic rollers (w/ duckbill clips) on the ends to prevent the twists from unraveling. That twistout was done on freshly washed hair, but it works well on clean dry hair too. I used mango butter and probably my vatika oil to hold the set. I just placed the butter on down the twists and on the ends to mold it around the roller. It dried quickly (overnight) and when I undid the twists, they were very soft and moisturized and held for a few days.

 

[shortness]

I attempted twistouts. I am currently sitting at work with my twist outs. I like the result, however my only problem is getting the ends to stay neat. I tried rolling them. They just stay frizzy. How do I keep them nice all day long

 

[Isis]

oh! I put plastic rollers (w/ duckbill clips) on the ends to prevent the twists from unraveling. That twistout was done on freshly washed hair, but it works well on clean dry hair too. I used mango butter and probably my vatika oil to hold the set. I just placed the butter on down the twists and on the ends to mold it around the roller. It dried quickly (overnight) and when I undid the twists, they were very soft and moisturized and held for a few days.

Your twistout is beautiful Sistaslick! One of these days I'm going to learn how to do twistouts. Do you wear a satin scarf over your twistout to maintain it while sleeping?

 

[Sistaslick]

@ shortness

. . .well for mine, this is where the sticky consistency of the mango butter comes in I mold the butter onto my ends and then mold the ends in a spiral shape on each roller. Its almost like a gentle glue. My ends always dry perfectly and curly like I like them. At first the sticky nature of the mango butter bothered me especially with my bunning. Mango butter and bunning did not work so great for me. I hated the way it made my ends stick to each other, but I figured out how to make it work for another style. It really helps my ends on the twistouts.

 

[Candy_C]

About how many twists do you do on your head in all. My mom used do like 6 i think...And this is when your lounging around the house or sleeping right?

Hey, yeh i do about 8. 4 each side. i do it b4 bed, or when i get back from college i do the twists again and clip then cover them

 

[Sistaslick]

Your twistout is beautiful Sistaslick! One of these days I'm going to learn how to do twistouts. Do you wear a satin scarf over your twistout to maintain it while sleeping?

yeah! I always wear satin scarfs at night no matter the style But, I like to breakout the grandma satin bonnet though for twistouts/braidouts.