MY SHEALOE SUMMER TWISTS
I decided to discover my "Midsummer Mixtress" this year, so for about 2 months during the previous season, I set myself the challenge of styling my hair in twists and mixing my own styling product using shea butter and aloe vera gel.
These were my aims...
AIMS:
- To try and mix the perfect Shealoe mix
- To reduce single strand knots (SSKs)
- To minimise pulling on the edges of my hairline
My reasons why...
THEORY:
- Slow the damage of my already damaged ends
- If hair is detangled in small sections and twisted off there should be less opportunity for tangles and SSKs.
- See if I can eliminate the need to trim by taking care of the ends
- Styling my hair in twists could reduce the amount of pulling by comparison to styling my hair in bun styles.
- Could save cash by mixing my own Shealoe
- Using Shealoe could give my twists the smoothness and hold of Eco Styler but without being as drying and wont contain so many chemicals.
My Plan...
METHOD:
- Wash hair with usual routine up to and including applying a leave-in conditioner, then twist hair using my Shealoe mix, once weekly.
- Maintain twists for at least 5 days. (Twistout/ loose styles allowed for 2 days of the week)
- Spritz hair daily (once or twice as necessary)
- Keep a record of #HOTD Styles (#HOTD = Hair Of The Day)
- Wrap hair at night.
- Blow dry and trim hair on week 3
These were my results...
WEEK 1:
The results of my first Shealoe twists were so good that I decided to turn it into a 3 week challenge.
These twists were really smooth and had surprisingly impressive hold. They also took about an hour to do which is not to bad compared to how long it usually takes me.
WEEK 2
Absolutely awful!
I figured if I washed my hair while it was still in twists, I could simply finish by re-twisting.
It might work for some people but it didn't work for me. It's the second time since going natural that I've tried this - Never again!
My hair just gets matted and tangled and this time twisting my hair took me at least 3 hours.
I wasnt too pleased with the end result and to make it worse I ran out of Aloe Vera Gel (AVG).
WEEK 3 & 4
So I slacked on the picture taking but decided to make up for it by extending the challenge.
I bought a different type of Shea butter, and a different brand of AVG from my original, and I wasn't quite sure about the lumpy texture I got.
I dont have a picture of the twists but you can tell from the twistout that they were definitely not neat.
It's a good thing that messy twistouts make a good puff.
I decided to continue my challenge and put a bit more effort into it for another 4 weeks.
To Be Continued.....
