Help Me Transition- Bantu Knot Outs

Hello ladies! This is yet another series of posts I will be doing, by popular demand, about transitioning from relaxed to natural hair. I am going to be bring back old styles and tips that were helpful to me as I transitioned as well as tips and styles from other bloggers. What works for one may not work from another, so you can count on variety with this series.

 I understand it is a very difficult struggle to transition at times, from experience. I remember when my hair hit that weird stage where the length was uneven, jagged and my ends were straight and significantly thinner than the rest of my hair. Not to mention dead ends that were so weak and ready to break at any moment! Trust me, I KNOW it gets rough.

I do understand that styling half relaxed/half natural hair can be a task, so I want to give you some style tips to help you endure through this process. This post is going to focus on Bantu Knot Outs.

Variations on Bantu Knot Outs
Bantu-knot outs are very simple. You basically twist your hair into a small bun while it is wet or damp, remove the buns when it is dry and the result are curls. The only downside to this style is that you have to allow your hair time to dry. Let me explain 3 different variations I used while transitioning.

1. Large Bantu Knots

You need to allow almost a complete 24 hours for these to dry because you will make 10-12 large bantu knots to create a shirley temple like curl. I loved to wear my hair this way for church. I would wash my hair on saturday morning and leave the bantu knots in all day (and I would put on a cute bow or flower so I could still go outside and look cute lol), all saturday night and took them out sunday morning. This is a very cute style and you can keep the curls maintained for several days.

2. Corn Rows and Bantu Knots

This is a very simple style. It takes a bit of time to do, but it lasts for an entire week. You want to prepare this style at night so it can set for the next day.

• First, I corn rowed both sides of my hair to create sort of a fo-hawk.
• Next, I spritzed my hair with water (if dry) applied leave in conditioner and I put small bantu knots all over the rest of my hair. If my hair was wet I just used leave in conditioner.
• The next day I took out the bantu knots and pinned them up if needed.

3. Small Bantu Knot Out

This was an absolute favorite transition style of mine. I wore this for months on end when I first started transitioning (literally) My husband loved the curls and I loved the convenience of it. They can last for an entire week and all you have to do is fluff, shake and put on a flower lol.

I would wash my hair on Saturday morning/night and put in small bantu knots all over my head (20-25). Took them out on sunday and walah! This picture was taken on day 3 or 4. So they last. To maintain them, I just tied my hair up with a silk scarf. In the morning I shook and fluffed!

 I did them so small because through the week, your curls loosen and fall so you have a nice curl to enjoy the entire week! And you don't have to re-curl!

If you are interested in writing a post to help our transitioners please shoot me an email at mrs.kthaler@gmail.com. I am more than happy to hear and share your feedback!