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Home • Hairstyles

How to Preserve Your Flat Twist Out (Without Retwisting Every Night)

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How to Preserve Your Flat Twist Out (Without Retwisting Every Night)
By Sabrina Perkins · Updated March 16, 2016
Photo by Steve Debenport — Getty Images
I love a beautiful flat twist out. They are harder to create than twist out but they give a more defined and controlled style. With any style there is a nighttime routine and while some styles can be pulled up into a pineapple for safekeeping, others require more work to retain the style of the previous day. Curlyhairisbae from Curly Q&A is getting tired of styling her hair every night.

Question

How to preserve a flat twist out? I did a flat twist out on my hair and I really like it. Last night I put my hair back in into larger flat twist outs to keep the style. The thing is, I don’t want to have to do that every single night until I wash my hair again. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to preserve my flat twist out? I would do a pineapple like I usually do but the back part of my hair tends to flatten out straight it’s really hard to make that little part like the rest of my head.

Answer

No one feels for pain as much as I do when it comes to failed pineapple nighttime routines. I cannot keep the pineapple from stretching my hair’s coils out either. Needless, to say I found other ways to preserve my style.

Most everyone is going to either say retwist at night or slap on a satin bonnet to preserve your style but those two options do not work for everybody. The object is for your twists to last as long as possible while still looking fresh, frizz-free, and intact. You will want buildup free curls, a good twisting technique, the right product, and sealed ends for the best flat twist out.

If twisting every night does not work for you then flat twist every other night. This will help in keeping them fresh enough through interval retwisting. You can also flat twist or create two-strand twists the section that loses the most definition. Here are some tips that will help on that end to lessen your need to retwist nightly.

Twist as you go down

Jessica Pettway has a unique and helpful tip for twisting your hair. This helps to give the twists more definition. She has a great video showing her gorgeous flat twist out on dry, stretched hair that is a great guide for a flawless style.

Wet or dry?

Article continues after video.

Some swear by starting your flat twist on wet hair. Others swear by damp, dry, or even stretched hair but the true winner is whatever you prefer. Trying a flat twist on wet or dry hair is the only way to see which gives you the preferred look and lasts longer. This will help you determine which is more likely to have better longevity.

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What you use to help set your style is just as important as you flat twisting technique. Setting or twisting products help to control frizz and set your desired style. If you find your flat twists do not hold the style as long as you would prefer, you may need to opt for a better twisting product like As I Am Twist Defining Cream or Jane Carter Solution Natural Twist Out Foam for a flawless finish.

Roll the ends

Many curly girls have opted for rolling the ends of their twists with perm rods to help keep the ends curled, sealed, and uniform. This also gives your hair a beautiful shape, especially if you have uneven ends.

Do you have some tips for decreasing the need to retwist nightly?

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