How to Do a Wavy Twist Out on Natural Hair
Last updated on July 3rd, 2024 at 02:37 pm
Because stretched hair is the best hair (as it relates to decreasing tangles and knots), the best way to do a twist-out is to do it so your natural curls appear loosened. Below you’ll find the tips for how to two strand twist natural hair for a wavy twist out on dry hair.
Natural Hair Styles
There are so many natural hairstyles to do on naturally curly hair. These include:
- finger coils also called single-strand twists
- bantu knot outs
- braid outs
- regular twist outs
- curls done with Curlformers or Waveformers
Each of these are a good hairstyle but if you are looking to keep tangles and knots at bay the best results come from doing a style that keeps your hair stretched.
A stretched twist out as well as Culformers and Waveformers also stretch out natural curls.
Finger coils do not lend itself to stretched hair. Bantu knot outs can work if done on stretched hair and so can braid outs and regular twist outs. The key if you haven’t caught on yet is STRETCHED HAIR.
Stretching Preserves Length
I’ve experienced so much more length retention with doing two-strand twists or even flat twists on dry, stretched hair. When I’m ready to remove my twists, I will rock them for 2-3 days as a wavy twist out.
When I need to refresh my dry twist outs, I will wet my hair every so slightly. Actually, I just apply a small amount of water from a spray bottle to my hands so that when I retwist, I have only damp hair.
While you may not want to use heat on your hair, if you have a hair dryer that’s gentle on curly hair, you can afford to safely blow your hair out. I use the RevAir twice monthly to do so.
Process for How to Do a Wavy Twist Out
So, it all starts on wash day.
I prep my hair for the style by first cleansing and deep conditioning my hair. Once a month I’ll use a protein treatment.
When I deep condition I’ll either use my plug in deep conditioning cap or my microwavable heat cap. If you don’t have one of these you can always sit under a hooded dryer.
The Prep Work
It is important to set your twists on clean hair and conditioned hair.
After cleansing and deep conditioning, on wet hair I will:
- Lightly finger detangle (the heavy duty detangling takes place in the shower just after I am done shampooing).
- Use my wide-tooth comb (I use a seamless comb) to section my hair.
- Apply my leave-in conditioner while working in small sections
I do not use an oil to seal moisture into my hair at this point like I normally would. That’s because the RevAir can be damaged from oil.
If you are blowing your hair out with a different dryer, feel free to apply a little of your favorite oil to each section of hair.
The key is to eliminate your natural curl pattern for a loose natural look.
See: The Best Hair Dryer for Black Natural Hair
Here’s a video where I demonstrate this entire process:
After I’m done “revving” my hair, it’s time to move on to the best part. Twisting!
Tips for Doing Two Strand Twists on Natural Hair
To do a wavy twist out, you want to make sure you use the right products before you actually twist. What you don’t want to do is use a product that causes your freshly blown out hair to revert. So, that pretty much eliminates using a curl cream.
Most curly creams are heavily water based. Save these types of products for protective hairstyles and hairstyles you want to be more curly.
While a protective style isn’t heavily focused on setting curls, curl creams are great for moisturizing the style.
Also, make sure you use a really good heat protectant when blowing your hair out. This is especially important for those with high porosity hair because this type of hair is prone to losing moisture quite easily.
Another important thing to point out is the techniques you use to twist.
5 Twisting Points to Keep in mind:
- When twisting, you naturally twist one side of your head in the opposite direction of the other side. For a more uniform look, twist both sides of your hair in the same direction.
- Because you are twisting stretched hair, you want a good twist on each section of your hair. Don’t twist your hair too loose but also don’t twist it too tight. Too loose and the twist will unravel; too tight and you will have more of a curl and less of a wave.
- Be careful not to leave any strands of hair out of the twists. It’s so easy to do!
- Create larger vs. smaller twists. You will spend less time twisting but you’ll also get the looser wave. Small twists give you a curlier look.
If your twists unravel, you can secure the ends with a small elastic.
Related: How to Prevent Two Strand Twists from Unraveling
How to Preserve the Wavy Twist Out
For bomb next day hair, you want to make sure that you protect your wavy twist out so the hair texture isn’t lost and you aren’t left with less definition than you started with.
The first way is how you twist. The second way is to protect your hair from frizzing and your curls from over-loosening while you sleep.
There’s a few ways to do that:
- Put your hair into one large loose braid and tie your hair down with a satin scarf.
- Put your hair in 4 large twists
- Put your hair in a loose bun secured with a satin or silk scrunchie.
Unlike with curly hairstyles, you shouldn’t need to wear a satin bonnet. A silk scarf is sufficient. Especially, when you are sleeping on a satin or silk pillowcase.
Final Thoughts
The wavy twist out can be done on long or short natural hair. However, your hair must at least be able to lay flat when stretched for best results.
The wavy twist out can also be done on straight hair or relaxed hair. The results appear quite different for natural hair vs. relaxed or straight hair.
My hair is naturally coily. So, even though my hair is blown out, unless I flat iron it, the appearance of the style still has some of my coily appearance. And, that’s A-OK!
The key for natural hair is keeping it stretched so tangles and breakage don’t occur. That’s why learning how to do a wavy twist out is a great way to retain length.
The straighter your hair is, the better results you’ll achieve and you don’t need to use up your favorite products to it. A little oil or hair butter is sufficient for each hair twist.
Actually, let me correct that. It’s not better results. It’s different. The twist out is looser because of the straight hair.
However, while you’ll get more of a looser wave with straighter hair, it isn’t necessary to straighten your hair. Blowing your hair out until your obvious curl pattern is removed will still give you consistent wavy results.
