Curls make you feel cute, you know it’s true! Hence why we tend to describe curls as flirty or fun and straight or wavy hair as seductive or sleek.
How many women have you watched on YouTube who preen and fluff their curls to within an inch of their life after doing a twist out, braid out or any other curly style? You know they are enjoying their natural hair when it’s so bouncy with lots of movement.
If you have 4b or 4c hair that has tiny curls but they don’t clump, you will know that movement is very difficult to come by when your hair is in it’s natural state.
Curly hairdo’s essentially force your hair to clump thereby giving each little section more ‘weight’ and suddenly you are in windswept hair heaven (ok I’m exaggerating a bit, it really depends of the length of your hair).
Twist Outs Vs Braid Outs
Now when it comes to curly sets for very shrink prone highly textured hair, braid outs and twists outs are certainly the most popular. It has been interesting researching these two to find out which style rules the roost.
I found numerous examples of braid outs and twist outs on 4b/c hair but I picked two really good examples of successful results for both styles to showcase for you here.
Below is a twist out tutorial from glamfun
And here is a braid out tutorial from Nyla K
Now I don’t consider myself an expert at what constitutes a cute style because of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Instead I try to think about the best way to style natural hair to support length retention. For that reason I feel that braid outs win hands down.
You may think me a bit biased since I usually style my own hair in braid outs way more often than twist outs and I probably am. But aside from styling my own hair, I have also been responsible for styling my sister’s 4b high shrinkage hair for her since early this year and in our experience, braid outs are way cuter, give more stretch and because of the reduced shrinkage they also tend to be shinier.
Having said that, twist outs, when not separated too much, tend to last way longer and because they encourage a lot of shrinkage, they also tend to remain more defined than braid outs.
Also for some reason, twist outs tend to look better with age, more so than braid outs in my experience!
Certainly on YouTube searching for twist outs turns up more than double the results of braid outs and I suspect that it’s probably because twist outs are much easier to do and take down.
In any event, the popularity of a style does not really determine how well it will work on your own hair simply because of minute differences in texture even when two heads of hair look similar in appearance and of course your technique and products used.
I will always faithfully remain a braid out girl and I cannot recommend them highly enough but you won’t know for sure how well they work for you until you try and compare the results for yourself.
Jeanette Robinson says
While my go-to style is a twist out, I really love the elongation I get w/braid outs on my 4a/b hair
Sandra Marie Felder says
My hair type is the same. I like both styles.
Chandra Ephriam says
I like twist outs on my hair better. Braid outs on me get real frizzy n messy. Idk if I need to change my products or more oil on my fingers when I separate my hair.
Eunice Johnson says
my braid outs look better than my twist outs because of my texture. but i rather wear twists instead of braids.
Michelle Agee says
Both are cute
Victoria Clemmons says
Team Twisted Knot-out; it looks like somewhat loose curls on my hair.
Ilesha Sewell says
I like both but braid outs add a bit more length,definition and volume on my 4a hair.
Porsha Tyson says
whooooo is the girl on the bottom???? We have the EXACT same hair… length, texture, and ALL but I can NEVER get my twist outs so defined!!! What ARE her products????Teach me oh wise one!
Danaya Sanon says
its glamfun
Crystal Hubbard says
I like twist outs better
Latrice PraiseGod Doxey says
Dat braid out iz fly
Trevia Myles says
Braid outs look better on me but twist outs are always so pretty…when other people do it lol
Terrian Thompson says
Porsha Tyson you can search her on YouTube “glamfun”
LaWanda Ogunsade Eiland says
I braid out and roll the ends
Rhonda Brown says
Like both but really love braid out
Juandy St Jean-Dupuis says
i like both
夢月子 says
Love a braid, but I have to wait for my hair to get longer. When it was 12 inches, braid outs were the bomb.
Godiva Rich says
Braid out/Roller set
Sherrisha Michelle Simpson says
I prefer BRAID OUT for me #BEENNATURALALMOST2YEARS #IMLOVINGIT
Danielle Jeter says
Braid out = less tangles for me
Genette DeBose says
Team twist out for me
Miriam D Dyer says
Pretty!!
Lacroixc Gladys says
Which product do you use ?
Shantel Glover says
I still don’t know what hair type I have and I’m confused by this whole 3c, 4a, 4b. Help!
Terri Kelton says
thank-you for the tutorials
Tameka Ferrebee says
Twist