Madeleine's Twisted Pages

Q My hair is very long/thick and I don't seem to be able to tuck it all inside the seam.
A You might be twisting too tightly. There are instructions for french twists on classic length hair where there is no "rope" twisted at all - the hair is just folded, then rolled. Play with the amount of tension from a tight rope to none at all to find out what's right for you.

Q I tried and tried, but it doesn't work!
A If your hair is generally uncooperative it might be too clean. A french twist is not a wash day style for me. I often don't bother the second day either and stick to a bun unless I dress up and feel like spending some extra time to fiddle around with my hair. For me french twists work best on third day plus hair that is already soft and tame from repeated braiding and bunning and natural sebum. The instruction pics and the video were done three days after washing.
Practice makes perfect! Try to attempt a french twist at least once a day, even if you take it down again right away.

Q I followed your instructions, but always get funny loops and loose hair on top of the roll.
A Yep, that can happen.
One cure is starting the twist by gathering the hair high at the crown instead of the nape and twisting downwards first. This tends to shift the loop problem to the nape area where it's more easily solved, especially if you use two regular sidecombs or a french twist kit to secure the roll.
However, I find that I get the neatest looking twists if I start at the nape.

You can secure loopy bits with extra hairpins although I usually try to avoid it (I'm just a sucker for being able to take my hair down by whipping out one or two pretty hair toys and shaking my head - that's why I hate hairspray too).

Another way that works is using a hinged clip that holds enough hair so you can close it over the total of your roll. I can do that with a regular fakkare concorde clip because my roll is quite flat. With thicker or longer hair you'll need a different clip.
Use it diagonally coming from the right, opposite of the seam, keeping the hair that's prone to forming loops down inside the clip. The navigation bar pic on the left shows this style with a curvy clip from Evita Peroni.

For twists that use combs, forks, sticks or concorde clips that are being slipped inside the seam (that's from the left in the version I show here), I found that one of the most important parts in avoiding top loops is the positioning of the upper anchor point (your middle or ring finger), and the height you insert your hair toy at.
Let me try to explain with some graphics:

	The rope of hair stops collecting hair from the right side at a certain height on your head and starts just being a rope. Let's call this height "A". You don't need a second mirror to determine this point, you can feel it with your fingers.
	Position your upper anchor point in height "B" slightly above A. That's essential! The top of your folded rope will be even higher ("C"). If A is too high on your head to place anything above it, start your twist lower at the nape or twist tighter in order to get it lower. If it's too low, start higher or don't twist your rope quite as tightly.
	This is what your twist should look like once you run out of length. You wrapped a figure eight around both of your fingers.
	When you create the actual roll and tuck your length inside the seam, point A will rise a little higher (I called the new height A'), which is fine. Just make absolutely sure A' is still lower than C, the topmost point of your folded rope. Don't allow the hair that's coming from the right side to slip over C, ever. If that happens, start over or be prepared to use extra pins later to fix it. One exception for advanced "twisters": If you pull the hair at A' extra tight and tuck it into the seam before you insert your hair toy, you can let that part glide over C afterwards, in a controlled way, thus hiding C completely. This gives you the neatest shape at the crown, almost as if you teased your hair beforehand. This does not work if the hair is too loose, it will form the dreaded loops!
	When you insert your french twist comb (upper side comb, diagonal stick/fork, ficcare clip etc.) make sure to secure the hair at A' well with it. Place the upper edge of your tool slightly above A' and pull those strands right inside the seam.
	The two fork style is even easier. Insert the longer fork first while still holding the roll with your hand. The shorter fork keeps the A' strands from slipping over the top of the first fork.
	Positioning your upper anchor point or your hair accessory too low will leave top hair loose. It will escape the roll, slip over to the other side and mess up the twist.