To all my naturalistas out there, What’s your regimen like? Mine fluctuates, depending on my level of commitment and dedication. In a perfect world, I would deep condition and detangle my hair every week, especially in the winter, when hair tends to need more moisture. But, of course this is not a perfect world. During the weekends, when I make these grand plans, I usually end up running after my son making sure he doesn’t wreck the apartment too much, looking at anime, and sleeping when I can. Before I know it, its Sunday evening and no real time to do anything fancy along with cleaning, meal prep, and getting clothes ready for the next day/week. So what do I turn to, my tried and true twist out rotation.

This regimen was formed by accident. I started twisting my hair about 8 months, to year after I did the “big chop”. Before I had enough hair I would do a twist out, but I wasn’t comfortable wearing twist as a style until I had enough length. Once I did, it was the perfect style, because you get a 2 for 1 special. I get 1-2 weeks with my hair twisted, then 1-2 weeks afterwards with a twist out. Once again, in a perfect word, this would only be a 2 week process. I week with twist in and another with twist out. But I tend to try to stretch that time out, usually I get 3 weeks out of it.  During the winter I tend to leave the twist in longer or not do the twist out option for protective styling. Only at my busiest or laziest times to a let it go for 2 weeks each. After a week the twist are fuzzy and don’t look that great. The fresh twist out look only really last a couple days, before my hair reverts.

My monthly regimen now is centered around this cycle. I will typically do a hot oil treatment with EVOO. Then I shampoo with a sulfate free product, I like Organix Coconut Milk ( listed on the “products I love” page under Natural Hair Care). I detangle with a silicone free conditioner (Aussie Moist), then I deep condition with my own concoction. My deep conditioner consists of whatever conditioner I’m currently using, mayonnaise, EVOO, and coconut milk. I let this set on my hair for at least 30 minutes up to sometimes the whole day! The longer, the better. Afterwards I rinse, and do my twist. Sometimes I do the twist a little thicker, if its a vacation or holiday when I’ll probably only be running a few errands, so they’re in strictly to dry and take out the next day. My hair NEVER dries over night because its so thick. I always need at least 24 hours. If I intend to keep the twist in for a week or two I do them as small as I can stand. When I do the twist I use either eco styler gel and coconut oil or eco styler gel and Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. After I’m done with the twist I usually clip the scraggly ends off. This was how I slowly cut the color off my hair over a 1 years time. I’d twist my hair monthly and cut about 1/4 inch off each time. But that’s my 2 for 1 special.

When I do he twist I get mixed reviews. I have one friend, in particular, who absolutely loves them. She raves about them every time I do it. But this is not the thought process of all. I’ve been compared to Celie from “Color Purple”. My father in particular has some particular views about natural hair. He often taunts my mother and I, mostly out of fun, but also from some old school standards of beauty. I don’t think there is anything wrong with wearing twist in my hair. I would love to get to a point when I’d be comfortable doing the same cycle with bantu knots. But I am not at a place where I am comfortable wearing bantu knots as a style. Maybe that means I still have growing to do in my natural hair journey, or maybe its just my style preference. Some people are more conservative than others. Some keep their hair straight, in a bun, braids, or weave. I try not to judge anybody. This is my natural, this is a process I’ve formed that works for me, my lifestyle, and budget.  So for my natural sisters out there, tell me, “what YOUR natural look like?, What are your go to styles?