A Natural Hair Affair: Style Quickie: Two Strand Twists on Blown out Hair

I realized I've been straying away from the hair challenge that I signed up for last year!!! One of the points is to do protective styles to promote length retention. So from here out, I'll be making conscious efforts to stay away from puffs, wash n go's, and other loose styles.

It's been almost a week since I co washed and styled my hair. I really wanted to try a new heat protectant I bought, but didn't want to flat iron my hair. The style that popped in my mind was two strand twists on blown out hair.

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I blow dried my hair about 80% of the way, making sure the roots were the most dry. I also avoided putting too much heat on the ends of my hair. After sectioning my head I began twisting in the back of my head. The twists in the back are randomly placed. When I worked on the front section I twisted with more order. I chose this method so that the front section could cover up any gaps or un-uniform twists in the back.
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Products Used:

Vo5 Conditioner
Heat Protectant
Oils (I mixed in a bottle) coconut oil, grape seed oil, sweet almond oil
My shea coconut butter mixture
Water (to hold the ends of my hair)

Notes that helped me:

While twisting the back I would occasionally look in a mirror to make sure I wasn't making the twists too big. If there was too much space in between twists I just divided the over sized one in half.
The front section of my hair, in general, becomes loose over time easier than the back of my head. To curb this, I made these twists smaller than the twists in the back.
Once there was about a half inch from the end of my hair I'd dip my finger in water, and then continue to twist. To protect my ends I twisted as far as I could, and then twirled the twisted end with my wet finger. This made the end curl, and hold without the use of any gels.
To get the twists to lay a certain way in the front I parted the front section before I began twisting. I made sure the twists stayed on their side of the part while I styled.
Last time I did this style I noticed a lot of gaps in the back of my head that weren't caught in the styling process. To avoid this, I'd grab a mirror and check while styling the front. Adjusting as needed helped eliminate this.

At night there are a couple of options to help preserve your hair and this style.

Wearing a satin scarf or bonnet can help without drying out your twists
Using a satin pillow case so moisture isn't absorbed from your hair

I didn't want to risk flattening my twists too much, so I opted for the satin pillow case. In the past this was sufficient for me.

Since the scalp is exposed more than usual with a style like this, it can become dry. For me, a dry scalp and an itchy scalp go hand in hand! At night, I'll use my oil mixture and massage it into my scalp. After rubbing the mixture in my hands I'll gently massage it into the twists themselves -- concentrating on the ends. This can be done as needed.

I may try out a couple different styles for these twists. Whenever I feel like I need a change I'll wear this style in a twist out before washing and restyling! I'll be sure to post pictures in the "Hair I Did" album on Facebook, so be sure to check it out!! If you have any pictures of styles that you've done yourself -- post them on the wall and they'll be added!