So, last week I mentioned that I would be doing something a little different to combat the encroaching dry weather. Until now I have chosen very low manipulation styles that take about 10 minutes on average to do and only last a week, but because I want to both protect my ends and have a little more access to my scalp, I’ve decided that for the next three months of dry weather I’ll keep my hair in longer term protective styles for the majority of the time. I’ll continue to show a different way to style my hair every week but instead of loose hair I’ll be styling my long term protective styles.

Twists are a great protective style because you don’t have to manipulate your hair too much to create them and depending on how well you plait them they can last a long time. They also allow you to moisturise and wash the hair while they are installed. When the weather is dry the hair suffers from lack of moisture. This can cause the ends of your hair and scalp to dry out and harden. Most people will reach for the extensions during this season but I’ve decided not to use any this year so I needed an alternative.

I plaited the twists on stretched hair. My hair was stretched by threading last week and in order to keep it that way I opted to clean my scalp with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, honey, water and tea tree oil. I moisturised the ends of my hair while it was in a puff so that I could retain the stretch. I needed a bit of length for this style.

African threading

I was very strict about getting clean lines this time so I used the metal end of a small tooth comb to part the hair. I started by braiding so that the twists would remain tight for longer, the plan is to keep these in for at least three weeks, four at the most. I braided about half a centimetre before I started to twist. I loosely twisted the hair making it tighter as I got to the end so that it is less likely to unravel. The style took about 5 hours to create.

This is the first time that I’ve tried this method and I absolutely love the results!