A twist out is a great choice of style for natural and transitioning hair. Twist outs are a low manipulation hairstyle and can help maintain the health of your natural hair. It is a fun hairstyle for all kinky curly hair types.

Twist Outs last between 2 and 7 days . The longest-lasting twist outs are small twists done on wet hair using gel as a holding product.   Twist Outs with small twists and set with gel can last up to a week. Chunky twist outs done on stretched hair with a moisturizing styling butter will only last about 2 days

Keep reading to learn more about different twist out methods that impact the longevity of the style.

Twist on Wet Hair for Long Lasting Twist Outs

Twist outs on wet hair set longer than twist outs on dry hair. Water temporarily weaken the naturally occurring bonds in hair and the bonds strengthen as the hair dries. So when you do a twist out on wet hair the bonds strengthen in to the twisted style.

Adding gel while twisting wet hair will keep the set longer. Gel can make your hair feel stiff. It can also weigh your hair down so it won’t have as much volume as a twist out on stretched hair

Make Sure Hair is Completely Dry Before Untwisting for long lasting Twist Outs

Twisting your hair is the most time-intensive part of a twist out. It is important to make sure your twist out is completely dry before untwisting your hair. If you untwist your hair while it is still damp, the style will easily lose definition.

In order to ensure my twists have a chance to dry, I style my twists on hair that is at least 50% dry. Sometimes I sit under a soft bonnet dryer to help speed things up. I find my twist-outs last a little longer when I use heat to set my hair.

Many naturals avoid heat because of the fear of heat damage, but I have not experienced heat damage using a soft bonnet dryer. It is a similar amount of heat (actually probably less) than using a diffuser attachment of a blow dryer. A few minutes under a bonnet dryer ensures my twists are dry and ultimately leads to longer-lasting twist-outs.

Set Dry Hair with Styling Mousse to Extend the duration of Twist Outs

Doing a twist out on dry stretched hair is a great way to show off the length and volume of your hair. However, a twist out on dry hair does not last as long as a twist out on wet hair.  You probably want to avoid adding water or gel to stretched hair because it can cause your hair to revert and weigh your hair down.

If you are okay with your twist out only lasting a day or two, styling butter or styling creams are a good choice for twist outs. This will result in a soft fluffy twist out. Since styling butters and creams provide little to no hold, you will need to retwist your hair every night or every other night to maintain the look.

Using a styling foam or mousse for additional hold can extend the life of a twist out on dry stretched hair. The styling foam adds a gentle lightweight hold to twist outs on stretched hair. This will extend the life of the twist out to about three days. You can retwist your hair but styling foams and mousse can build up on the hair making your hair feel a little bit sticky.

For the best results choose an alcohol-free moisturizing styling foam. Alcohol can be drying to natural hair so it is best to avoid it.

Use Small Twists  for Longer Lasting Twist Outs

The amount of definition in a twist out depends on the size of the twists. When you use small twists for a twist out there is a lot of definition. As the week goes on some parts of your hair will lose definition, but since there are a lot of curls, the overall style will still look great.

Chunky twist outs lose definition more quickly than small twist out. However, it takes less initial styling time to achieve a chunky twist out. It is also possible to quickly re-twist a chunky twist out at night to maintain the style for up to a week.

Re-Style your twist out for longer lasting twist outs

As the week goes on even the best twist outs can start to lose definiton. If you find this is the case but you don’t have time to retwist your entire head you can do a few things with an old twist out:

1.) put it in to a puff

2.) Retwist the front of your hair, and twist, roll or braid the back of your hair.

3.) Retwist the back of your hair and roll twist or braid the front of your hair to create a half up/half down look.