Bantu Knots were a style I wore often when I was relaxed as it gave a cute textured curly look without the need of rollers or rods.  Since I’ve been natural I can count on one-hand the times that I have worn this style.  The main reason is that I usually style my hair wet, but I hate sitting under the dryer.  My hair takes forever to air dry so my bantu knots are often still damp on the second day.  I also find it much too difficult to sleep with knots in my hair.  All that said I made a resolution to step my style game up back in January so I am working on tackling this style.

A while ago I wrote about how my friend Brokey did her bantu knot-out style.  While I did not follow her steps I took her advice to do them on dry hair eliminating the problem of having wet hair for several days.  Here is a breakdown of my process:

1. Start with cleansed, conditioned and detangled hair.  Allow hair to air dry until it is about 90% dry.
2. Section off a desired amount of hair.  Apply Darcy’s Botanicals Pumpkin Seed Conditioner to each section, detangle and smooth using tangle teezer.
3. Twist each section in a clock-wise motion then wrap around the base to form a knot.  Secure with a bobby pin if necessary.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have completed the entire head.

I used a mix of both large and small plaits to get a more textured knot-out look.  I did not use any hold product, just conditioner.  I parted my so that I was able to sleep as comfortably as I could. I parted with a space in the back of my head so I could rest my head down flat without a knot being their and made sure the knots around my headline were pushed further back so I could lay on my sides.

I wore my knots to work the next day and received a lot of double takes along with the standard questions: “how did you do that?” and “did you cut your hair?”  My favorite response came from a co-worker who obviously had not caught word of my ‘do and said when he walked in my office, “O-M-F-G that sh*t is awesome!” and proceeded to give me a fist bump, lol. I did have an issue with one particular knots refusal to stay so I picked up some Conair Polybands (small non-rubber ponytail holders) to keep it in place.

The next morning I decided to take down the knots and rock the knot-out for the day.  I used Koils by Nature Hair and Body Butter to smooth and separate each section.  My hair was SO FLUFFY!  And baby, when I tell you it was soft, please know that I had my hands in it all day!  I will definitely be incorporating a dry set using these products to my twist and braid-out routine.

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