×

Protective Styling | Marley Twists

Marley Twists
Now that things have picked up at school, finding the time to do my hair this semester will definitely be a challenge! I've been on a hair growth journey since my bout  with hair thinning back in October. Taking five English classes this semester (yes...FIVE), I won't have a lot of time to dedicate to rewtisting my hair every night and styling it, so I decided it was time to put in a protective style, one that I wouldn't have to worry about touching up every few days, which I tend to have to do if I'm wearing my hair in flat twists.

I opted for Marley twists! I was on the fence on whether or not I should go get my hair professionally done by my African hair braider, or if I should just try to put these bad boys in myself. If I payed to have them put in, they'd last a bit longer and would be more secure versus me trying to do it myself and having the twists slip. Knowing how tight they braid, I decided to do them myself. I didn't want to risk losing hair or experiencing thinning because of the extra tension on my hair and scalp. They snatch every little piece, and while the end result looks nice, it's painful for the next few days! My hair has thickened up a bit and it's growing, and I don't want to go back to where I was in October. Besides, I kind of know how to braid with extensions from when I would touch up my braids in the past, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I also know how much tension my hair and scalp can take, so my braids were secure, but not tight to the point where my scalp hurts(that's never a good thing!)


I bought my hair from my local beauty supply store. I knew I wanted medium sized  twists, so I got six packs of hair ($5.99 each). I ended up only using three packs and a maybe five pieces from a fourth pack. My beauty supply store had quite a selection of Marley Hair to choose from. The one I bought was the only Marley Hair in my beauty supply store that felt soft and more like my own hair. Other brands felt super coarse, dry, and rough, which I didn't like.

It took me about five hours to install the twists. I watched lots of Youtube videos on how to make your twists look natural and seamless using the invisible method to blend the Marley Hair with your own hair, but I could not figure it out to save my life! The Marley Hair kept slipping, and I just didn't have the patience to try to get it right. Instead, I just stuck with what I know. I braided about a half an inch down, and then twisted the rest of the way down. At least this way I knew for sure that my twists would be secure. They kind of look like dread locs, but I love them!

To moisturize, I spritz my hair with my water, aloe vera juice, and olive oil spritz. Then, I use either my Kimmaytube Leave in Conditioner Mix (love this stuff! I use Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream as my base) or Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner and EVOO or Coconut Oil to seal in the moisture. I only moisturize a little less than half way down the twists, which is where my hair ends in the twist. Whatever's left over, I'll rub down the remainder of the twists just to soften the hair. I then oil my scalp with my oil mixture, and that's it! I do this every other night.

I washed my scalp last week because it was super itchy! I used this method here from BlakizBeautyful, better known as Jenell Stewart, using Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo and Conditioner, and my scalp loved every minute of it!

I'm loving my Marley Twists, so I plan on keeping these in for maybe another three weeks, and then I'll take them down right before my birthday in March, give my hair some TLC and let it rest for about a week, and then put them right back in. It's just easier not having to do my hair, especially since I have a busy semester ahead of me. And I just started doing T25 this week (deets coming about that soon), so I don't have time to co-wash every day.

So far, two thumbs up for Marley twists!

No comments

Copyright © Napturally DanyCREATED BY ThemeShine