My Nappiversary Do: Bantu Knot-Out

Happy Nappiversary to me! As of November 17, my hair is officially one year old! My anniversary came and went without much fanfare but lots of reflection and questions. My hair doesn’t seem to be growing as fast as it was. I blame the color … whose decision was that? LOL! My ends don’t look or feel very good. I stepped up my conditioning a while back – but I think it’s too late. So I may need to get an aggressive trim to get it back in shape. Arrghhh! In my frustration, I combed through the hair boards/forums and found this great post about retaining length on naturallycurly.com. The question was posted by SuburbanBushBabe and includes responses from CurlyNikki and several other natural curlies . Read the whole string if you can – it’s very informative. But the revelation for me was that I need to dry my ends stretched. Between the color and my tight corkscrews – the wash ‘n go was starting to take a toll on my hair because I couldn’t properly moisturize or seal my ends. I’m NOT a fan of protective styles (twists, braids, etc.) … I never have been. I appreciate them on others – but not on me. So I’ve been skirting this issue for a while. But the phrase ‘dry my ends stretched’ opened up a world of hairstyle possibilities that I wouldn’t have considered ‘protective styles’ because they’re still loose. Things like twist ‘n curls, roller sets, and Bantu knot-outs! I’m still experimenting with my technique based on bits and pieces I’ve borrowed from various YouTube videos. But so far, I think this is the winning combination for setting my hair dry:

1. 1) Moisturize hair with Curls by Sisters Smith Quick Fix Spritz (includes water, glycerin, aloe and castor oil)
2. 2) Smooth/rake butter and oil blend into my hair in sections: Shea butter, Jamaican Black castor oil and virgin coconut oil (Tropical Traditions)
3. 3) Two-strand twist hair in sections; seal ends with coconut oil; create the bantu knot (approximately 10 bantu knots in total)
4. 4) Wrap with a satin scarf and air dry.