How to Twist Dreadlocks & 17 Twist Dreadlocks Hairstyles

Dreadlocks are fast becoming an insanely popular style among blacks across the world, and the relative ease of getting one is to blame for that. With some 21^st century hairstyles, you don’t need to wait for tens of years to grow the Rastafarian style dreads.

One of the hairstyles closely related with dreadlocks is the two-strand twist. The style of locs that you form by leaving your twists to grow into dreads is what is now referred to the twist dreadlocks hairstyle, which we’re going to talk about it today.

Here, you’ll learn how to make the twist dreadlocks hairstyle to look as good as it can possibly be. In addition to that, I’ll answer a couple of questions about the style to clarify some misconceptions you might have about it.

How Do I Make My Dreads Stay Twisted?

The best way to ensure your dreads stay twisted is trying a retwist every once in a while. Retwisting your dreads sounds like an activity reserved for elite hairstylists, but it’s actually so easy that anyone that’s not in nursery school should be able to do it.

The most popular way to make dreadlocks stay twisted is palm rolling, and that name aptly describes what the process is about. You simply need to make out each of the sections in the twist, and when you do, roll it on your palms to renew the twist and that’s all about it.

How Long Does It Take for Twists to Grow Into Dreads?

As this article has shown and will continue to show, your twists will eventually metamorphose into dreads, but that doesn’t happen suddenly. The time it takes for twists to grow into dreads will differ based on the individual, but it should take anywhere between two and six months.

However, you should note that locs of two to six months are not very ‘mature,’ since trained eyes can still tell they’re from two-strand twists. It will take up to a year or even more to develop dreads that look as natural as those you see across the internet.

What Makes Dreadlocks Grow Faster?

For your locs to mature to the adult stage when someone can easily tell what kind of hairstyle you’re wearing, you’ll need to wait for one or two years at least. While that seems like a really lengthy wait time, you didn’t think it was going to be easy, did you?

Thankfully, there are always a couple of things you can do to ensure your dreadlocks grow faster. For one, you may want to take some conscious efforts to protect your hair physically. Protective care like wearing a silk scarf before bedtime and preventing overexposure to water will help you grow your locs quicker.

Also, relieving yourself of stress will go a long way in helping your dreadlocks grow faster. Stress causes the release of some hormones that are known to shrink your hair follicles, which is why you may want to make some effort to eliminate it.

Finally, keeping your dreads dry most of the time is another great way to make the hairstyle grow out faster, especially when you’re trying to keep it clean and healthy at the same time. Keeping it dry doesn’t mean you won’t wash it occasionally, but you’ll want to regulate that.

What You Need for the Twist Dreadlocks Hairstyle

Making twist dreads is actually a pretty similar process to making twists, if not the same even. For that singular reason, you can expect the item required for both hairstyles to be pretty similar, and of course they are.

If you’re already experienced with making twists, simply get all the items you typically use to install your twists and you should be good to go. Otherwise, here’s a list of all the items you’ll need to twist dreads.

A rat tail comb to detangle the hair and split it into the necessary sections for the twists to eventually metamorphose into dreads.
Residue-free shampoo for washing your hair before proceeding with the hairstyle.
A conditioning spray to moisturize the strand during and after installing the twists to keep the hair at its best.
Some organic hair products of your choice. This part is subjective, of course; you don’t need to add any hair products if you don’t feel like it.

How to Make the Twist Dreadlocks Hairstyle

As a haircare enthusiast, you should already have all the hair equipment listed above unless you temporarily ran out of supply. Either way, you should be able to get all you need for the twist dreadlocks hairstyle in no time to prepare for the next section of the tutorial.

If you are ready to make the hairstyle, it’s time to jump to the next part of making the hairstyle: prepping your hair. For dreadlocks, you don’t need to prepare your hair extensively; simply wash mildly with sulfate-free shampoo, use a conditioning spray, and you should be good to go.

After you’re past the prepping section, you can start making the hairstyle by following the steps below.

Section your hair into different one-inch parts

Just like with regular twists, the first step to making the twist dreadlocks hairstyle after prepping your hair is parting it into little one-inch mini-sections. To make your job easier, you want to part your hair into two sections before starting to ensure the rest of your hair doesn’t get in your way.

You should note that the one-inch sections is only a guideline and not a rule; you can definitely go littler or larger if you want different-sized locs. After sectioning your hair, it’s time to start twisting.

Twist to make the individual locs

After creating the square sections, you’ll want to start twisting continuously to form the individual locs on your head. If you have some dread wax handy, you can apply it to your hair while you twist to ensure it helps you form the kind of locs you want.

You can speed up the process of getting the dreadlocks by teasing the ends, which is the term for using a fine-toothed comb to run through each twist, pulling the ends apart, and retwisting. While that won’t make your twists several years old on day one, it’s a clever way to get that instant twist dreadlocks look.

Wait

The most crucial part of getting locs is the waiting phase, which involves staying patient over a long period of time for the hairstyle to lock in. Of course, you don’t have to go through this waiting phase since you can achieve a dreadlocks look without ‘mature’ locs.

If you want to know why waiting might be worthwhile, here are some examples of mature twist dreadlocks hairstyles that will inspire you.