January 2014 Honorable Mentions for Twisting Hair

NuDred Sponge

My first honorable mention is the "Nudred" sponge.  It apparently was introduced a few years ago before natural hair styling really became a trend.  Now, that so many people are cutting away relaxers and sporting an afro, this "NuDred" twisting tool is perfect for hair that is 2 inches or LESS!  I repeat, it is for shorter afro lengths.  (i.e. TWA)

I have seen people on youtube who make their own sponge tool, but essentially, the original "NuDred" hair twisting sponge has holes in it like "Swiss cheese."  According to "NuDred demonstration videos," it looks like you just "shoe shine" your hair in circular motions and your hair starts to coil into its natural curl pattern.

For most hair types, I think it reproduces a full head of coils within five minutes.  However, if your curl pattern is extremely small in diameter and has 75% shrinkage potential - you are probably going to create more of a dreadlock than a curl.  This tool looks great for starting locks from a short afro phase.

You can find NuDred hair on Facebook as well as www.nudred.com

African hair Threading
My second honorable mention natural hair technique is called African hair threading.  It entails twisting the natural hair around and around with thread to gain control.  This technique is not the same as "Middle Eastern threading" for hair removal.  So if you want to watch youtube videos about it, then you would google "African hair threading" versus "threading" which is for removing unwanted hair.

The African hair threading method is more of a protective styling for medium to loose curl patterns.  Instead of plaiting or braiding hair in sections, you can use the hair threading method.  I would caution to keep your hair moisturized when using a thread to wrap around hair even if it is a sew-in weave.  The friction from the thread could cause breakage in extremely dry or brittle hair.

Have fun checking out these two"fresh" techniques!  They are not necessarily new techniques, but when they initially emerged, they were before their time.  Now, I think these techniques are becoming the new talk of the town for the new natural wave that people are embracing.