IF I CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT! Bee’s Marley Twist Tutorial

Let me just say this: I LOVE MARLEY TWISTS!

Ok. Now that I’ve shouted that from the mountain tops, let me explain. I recently wrote this post for Three Naturals, about the pits of protective styling. After getting some Senegalese twists done last month that only lasted me a few days, I learned how to do my beloved Marley twists, all by myself! I promised that I would do an updated post the next time I installed them, so here it is!

My first round of Marley twists weren’t perfect, but they were all mine, and they served their purpose for about 2 weeks. I took them down and left my hair out for a week, deep conditioning and rocking a cute twist out until it was time to Marley it up again. My video skills (and my Marley twisting skills, to be honest) need some practice, but I got HomieLoverFriend to play photographer so that I could capture my technique, step by step!

First, I got my tools together (purchased at Clore Beauty in Scarborough):

• Freetress Equal Marley braids in #4 (I used 3.5 packs)
• Cantu’s Shea Butter leave-in conditioning repair cream
• ECOStyler Olive Oil styling gel
• a wide tooth comb to part and detangle
• banana clips to hold parted hair up and out of the way

Next, I used my fingers and wide-tooth comb to gently comb out my twist-out into a ‘fro.

To do the twists, I began parting my hair section by section, starting at the nape:

My parting skills need work. However, I took the section of hair, smoothed it with the Cantu leave-in, then gently detangled with my wide-tooth comb.

I then smoothed from root to tip of the section with the ECOStyler gel, and separated into two for twisting.

I then took two strands of the Marley braids (they come separated in the pack).

Here’s where it can get a bit tricky. I line up the Marley braids along my hair, with the midpoint of the braid in the middle of my two pieces of hair. Using some gel, I take both pieces of my hair and twist OUTWARDS on both sides. This blends the Marley braid into your hair for twisting.

Once the Marley braid is twisted into my hair, I start my two-strand twist. I take the RIGHT piece and cross it OVER the LEFT piece, then twist all the way down, using a bit of gel to smooth as I go. I find that once I twist the Marley braids outward (in the last step), if I twist LEFT over RIGHT, it naturally wants to unravel itself.

Once you finish and let go of the twist, it will naturally spring back and might feel a bit loose. Don’t worry! This is because the twist itself is thick – it will stay put!

I used perm rods at the ends of each twist, and dunked in a jug of boiled water to seal and curl the ends.

Here’s the finished product from the front…

…and a quick shot from the back!

Now, as I’ve said before – if I can do these twists, anyone can. I am definitely not the most coordinated person, and while it took my hands a few tries to match what my brain wanted it to do, I eventually got it – AND I did a better job than last time! It took me about 3 hours to do my entire head, so my routine will be to leave them in for 2-3 weeks, remove, deep condition, then retwist. It feels great to have a nice protective style that I can do at home while I watch a movie! Also, it’s very cost-effective, as I was able to use the same twists over again for this second set of Marley twists. I do have to perfect the “anchoring” part (what I call starting off the twist), because some parts of my head are easier than others. I also have to perfect the front and try to get the twists closer to my hairline. But other than that, I’m loving my Marley twist work!

If you need a video to see the twists in action, here are 2 great ones that I watched before I embarked on my own journey:

  (via The Good Hair Blog)

 (via Curly Nikki)

Got ready for work in the morning, and rocked a cute ponytail – no muss, no fuss! Yay for Marley twists!

 Hopefully when I get better at the twists and can do them smoothly without succumbing to stage fright, I’ll try to create my own video tutorial, because I know pictures don’t always do it justice. If you have any questions or need help, let me know and I’ll do my best!