Bantu Knots!

[Saldana]

Not going to post a pic because I did this on the spur of the moment without really carefully sectioning etc. And I probably wouldn't go out with my hair styled in these knots, mostly because at my age, weight, and whitebread blandness, it might make me look a bit ridiculous. Someone younger would probably look adorable. :)

BUT - all that being said - this is probably hands-down the most comfortable updo I have ever had! The 'knots' (basically, mini-buns) are small so nothing is too heavy or pulls. It's quick and easy to do. Apparently if done on damp straight hair and left to dry, the result when taken down is beautiful waves and curls (ha - we'll see about that). If done on curly hair, it has somewhat of a straightening and smoothing effect when taken down.

For me, it's a great at home hairstyle when doing a pre-poo oiling. So comfy! It's been like this for hours,and I'll most likely be able to leave it untouched until I take it down to get in the shower.

Note: It's not something I could take down quickly. I guess if I have to leave the house in a hurry, I'll just tie a scarf around it. :)

Second note: I apologize if the name of the updo seems presumptuous or upsets anybody - I couldn't find it listed under any other name. I mean no offense - just want to share a fun, easy, comfy updo!

http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Bantu-Knots

[lapushka]

You could call them small cinnabuns or small bee-butt buns, depending on how tightly you coil them. :)

[Saldana]

Those names would work as well. :)

I just took them out, and even though my hair was completely dry when I put them in, this head of 1A/b hair is quite wavy and full of body! Wow.

[Freija]

Cinnaknots or bee knots, maybe? I'd love to try them for the curls, though I don't think I would have the right to wear them outside my home.

[-Fern]

:applause: Photos, pleeease!! I think a lot of us were scarred by Torrinpaige's experience (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7XXlh9QfXw), so it's great to hear a positive review, too!

[Saldana]

Omigosh! I watched Torrinpaige's video, I had no idea! OK.....well, her hair is like a 2B C iii, mine is shorter, finer, and straighter......I'm not really prone to tangling. (1A/b, M ii) So, I will try to get a good 'before' pic, and then do the style right (not just fling it up into twists!), let it dry, carefully take it down, and post the 'after' pic. :) I'll have to get some picture help, as my camera phone is crap, but I'll try. :)

[Colochita]

That's great that they work so well for you. :) In the black community we tend to call them bantu knots or China bumps.

[longhairvixen]

Rihanna pulls of bantu knots! Well that woman can pull anything of hehe

For your hair type i suggest doing it on "dirty hair"

A couple days before your wash day. Never on freshly washed hair.

[Lirona]

I love bantu knots! :D These loose waves were from four big bantu knots, done on damp hair, set overnight:

http://i.imgur.com/xXyJ7kk.png

[YvetteVarie]

As a Bantu from a long line of Bantus, the name doesn't offend or annoy. That's wat they have been called for ages

[Saldana]

Lirona, that is so pretty!!

[TrapperCreekD]

Lovely results, Lirona!

Despite Torrin's terrible experience, I braved this it and I think I found *the* method to give me big ringlety hair. I did have a few tangles but that from not being super careful with the sectioning and some neighboring hairs ended up joining the wrong party, but nothing major and not something a little practice won't take care of.

http://i.imgur.com/U3bqVqp.png


*snip* If done on curly hair, it has somewhat of a straightening and smoothing effect when taken down.

Really? http://i.imgur.com/NOA2223.gif Granted I'm only a wurly but I got 3b-ish curls from them...

[Larki]

Oh my gosh, that's absolutely beautiful!!!

How did you secure the knots? Tiny elastics or bobby pins?

[Saldana]

Omigosh, TrapperCreekD, that is some SERIOUSLY gorgeous hair!


Granted I'm only a wurly but I got 3b-ish curls from them...

I would totally go with your experience and result....I was only quoting something I'd read, and you have the real thing. :)

[TrapperCreekD]

Thank you! My dad saw me taking them down and said I looked like Medusa. :lol: I used bobby pins to secure the ones that needed it but a lot of them held by themselves thanks to my taper - I did this during the day, I'd probably use something to hold them in place if I planned to sleep on them.

Hmm, maybe they "straighten" in the sense that type 4s get bigger looser curls than regular texture?

[Hairkay]

My grandmother used to wash our hair on Sundays and promptly put the hair in bantu knots. Later she'd undo them and plait/braid the hair as normal. We'd be extremely embarrassed if guests decided to visit us when we had the knots in. We didn't dare go out in public with them. It's possible some of our friends might have had the same hairstyle at home but we never talked about it. Then I grew up and found that people like wearing this hairstyle and for some it's popular. It does stretch my curls a bit. I rarely do them just because I'm likely to try to go to bed with them in and they're not the most comfortable way to sleep. They're probably more comfortable than curlers at bedtime. Here's some 3s and 4s bantu knots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asIr9rU5z34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu2X6OgrFxk

[Lirona]

Thank you, Saldana and TrapperCreekD!

TrapperCreekD, that looks AMAZING! Absolutely gorgeous!! :thudpile:

[lillithnight]

Hmm, maybe they "straighten" in the sense that type 4s get bigger looser curls than regular texture?

That's precisely the way they straighten, just like twists and braids either change the pattern or elongate the existing parttern of Kinky hair.

[Larki]

Did you do them on wet, damp or dry hair? How long did you leave them in?

[Duchess Fuzzy Buns]

I love bantu knots! :D These loose waves were from four big bantu knots, done on damp hair, set overnight:

http://i.imgur.com/xXyJ7kk.png

Wow! :thudpile:

[Duchess Fuzzy Buns]

Lovely results, Lirona!

Despite Torrin's terrible experience, I braved this it and I think I found *the* method to give me big ringlety hair. I did have a few tangles but that from not being super careful with the sectioning and some neighboring hairs ended up joining the wrong party, but nothing major and not something a little practice won't take care of.

http://i.imgur.com/U3bqVqp.png



Really? http://i.imgur.com/NOA2223.gif Granted I'm only a wurly but I got 3b-ish curls from them...
Also, wow! :thudpile:

[Saldana]

OK, I tried to damp-knot my hair last night, but when I tried to sleep on it.....well, let's say that lasted about 2 minutes. But I did take a pre-knotting pic, which is the first pic I have of my length this time around. I inserted it in my sig file. I think. We'll see.

Edit: Well, I guess I didn't insert it after all. Will try again...

Edit2: There we go!

[TrapperCreekD]

I love your ombre, Saldana. :crush:



Did you do them on wet, damp or dry hair? How long did you leave them in?

Damp hair - dry then damped with diluted conditioner and sealed with a bit of oil. I think I left them in about seven hours, give or take.

[Scarlet_Celt]

TrapperCreekD - those curls are gorgeous!

[Saldana]

[QUOTE=TrapperCreekD;3015757]I love your ombre, Saldana. :crush:

Thank you, TrapperCreekD! Would you believe it's actually kind of an accidental ombre? When I first started my current job (about 2.5 years ago), I put a semi-permanent color in my hair to hide the grey. But it actually lightened my hair, and it has stayed! So what is it is actually a grow out of what was supposed to be a wash-out color!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I love bantu knots! :D These loose waves were from four big bantu knots, done on damp hair, set overnight:

http://i.imgur.com/xXyJ7kk.png

This is so beautiful - I dare anyone to NOT love this hair. I have just put my hair into four Bantu knots - one at each corner. We shall see how it turns out this evening. After seeing this photo I just HAD to try it for myself.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

They seem to work ok for me too.

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/DSCF1405.jpg

[3dgfan]

All the pictures posted are so pretty! This is perfect as I was trying to figure out how to get heatless waves. And I guess it will work on shorter hair as well. I need to try this!

[maborosi]

Wow!! I love everyone's results. I'm trying this tonight. Hopefully, if they look good, I'll post pics tomorrow. :)

[Lirona]

Thank you so much, lauren_alia and Sarahlabyrinth! :blushing:


They seem to work ok for me too.

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/DSCF1405.jpg

Oh WOW. That is stunning. The way the waves came out, your spun-gold hair... and the flowers make the whole style look absolutely ethereal. It's like you stepped out of a fairytale.

[Saldana]

They seem to work ok for me too.

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/DSCF1405.jpg

:agape:

I'd say so! GORGEOUS!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Thanks Lirona and Saklana:). Lirona, I was hoping mine would come out as sleek and glossy as yours but it didn't. It is my SO and my second anniversary this Friday and I am wondering whether to wear my hair like this out to dinner...

Bantu knots are easy to do and if I do them more often I will become quicker at doing them. I would never sleep on them though, I would just do them in the morning ready for going out in the evening.

[-Fern]

Okay, okay, I re-visited these last night and slept in them... I have to admit, this is the first heatless waves technique I've tried that actually still has visible waves after brushing! And they gave my hair a TON of volume. So those two things are definitely cool... but maybe once I have longer hair. Having huge volume at not-quite-BSL gives me triangle head in a bad way. :lol: But my ponytail looked very epic and lovely.

[PixieP]

I've tried this before, but I gotta give it a ago again. I have a side part though, should I take that into consideration when doing them? Or should I just part my hair down the middle when doing it?

[lapushka]

I've tried this before, but I gotta give it a ago again. I have a side part though, should I take that into consideration when doing them? Or should I just part my hair down the middle when doing it?

I think I'd style the hair how you want it to fall, so yes side-part!

[Hairkay]

My grandmother used to do them on our hair every Sunday morning. We found it embarrassing. I feel differently about them now. I want to practice doing them because I like the fact that I don't really have to get anything to do them, just use the hair I've got. That suits my minimalist hair care and look.

I like these ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asIr9rU5z34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbXwnXiXcNo

With two strand twists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6-tGGaz2kQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOUyeWj4n4

[PixieP]

I washed my hair yesterday evening and decided to try this after my hair dried, because my hair looked like ugh when it had dried. I smoothed about a drop of almond oil through my hair, and made only two knots; my hair was parted on the side and I made one knot on each side, very close to the parting, at the crown of my head. And then I slept with them (I fastened them with satin scrunchies instead of pins btw). Here's the result:

Right after taking them down this morning, only combing through with my fingers:
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t503/misherusedai/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsnfq0nmkd.jpg

After brushing:
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t503/misherusedai/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbqwhafsr.jpg

Smothed a tiny bit more almond oil through my hair after brushing and this is what it looks like two hours later:
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t503/misherusedai/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps4duimhab.jpg
My ends look really bad in the picture, but they're not that fluffy IRL

I ABSOLUTLEY LOVE IT and I will keep doing this instead of my regular sleeping bun! My hair is 1a and this is the texture I've always dreamed off, I'm in heaven :D

One thing I experienced while loosening them up though, is that after unwinding them, you need to start loosening them at the bottom, at the ends. Because I started a bit higher up at the start, and that made my ends tangle and that's probably how the woman in the youtube video got her horrible tangles. So start gently with the lower 1/4 of your hair, and then do the rest :)

[alishaxmarie]

I'm planning on using the Bantu knots to create big curls for a birthday dinner. TrapperCreekD and SarahLabyrinth: how many knots did you guys do to get your gorgeous results? PixieP already said she only used two and I know I get good wurls from a single cinnabun alone but I want my hair to look curlier than it usually does since it's a special occasion.

[lapushka]

They look amazing. I would only finger detangle, though - not brush them out. :o

[PixieP]

I liked the waves I got aftr brushing and oiling better than just after finger combing, but I'll try to skip it tomorrow to see how it looks after being down for a while :)

I have to brush my bang-area though, because my bangs was standing almost straight up, lol. The ends had been caught right at the bend of the knot I think, it was funky to say the least!

[alishaxmarie]

I'm going to be wearing the knot-out wurls tonight but I also wanted to do a waterfall braid with it so I'm wondering if I should do the braid before I put my hair in the Bantu knots? I don't want to ruin the wurls trying to do with braid or have my ends stick together so much that it's particularly difficult to braid... Just wondering the opinion of whoever is online

[Hairkay]

I'm going to be wearing the knot-out wurls tonight but I also wanted to do a waterfall braid with it so I'm wondering if I should do the braid before I put my hair in the Bantu knots? I don't want to ruin the wurls trying to do with braid or have my ends stick together so much that it's particularly difficult to braid... Just wondering the opinion of whoever is online

I'd say do the braid first then the bantu knots.

[PixieP]

Third days of bantu knots and I'm sold forever. I've had thre GREAT hairdays in a row. That is unheard of for me! I usually have on ok day, one okish day, and then meeeh until next wash. Wow.

I tried not brushing my hair after taking it down yesterday, and oddly that make the waves disappear alot faster. Today I'm on third day without shower, the time where my hair usually us rubbish at holding a wave or curl because it's getting slightly greasy (my hair doesn't know that it's supposed to be the other way), but after brushing and oiling my hair today, I still have had amazing waves the entire day. I tried parting it down the middle instead of the side today, and put it back in a sideparting when I took it down. My bangs didn't like it, but otherwise no difference. So I'll keep on sideparting to keep my bangs happy.