Hello people, what's been on this weekend? Hope you all had fun! I remember I promised to do  a series of posts on natural hair styles.
Well I've been inspired by a new naturalista, Yetunde to do a how to post on Bantu Knot (out).

When I was little, the bantu knot (though we called it okoso ) was one of my mum's go to styles to get our hair (my sisters and I)  out of our faces. She would first thread small sections of  hair then twist it round until our heads were covered with about 10 to 15 knots.




 As I grew older, I began to appreciate these knots because during take down I would have a head of smooth shiny bouncy curls. We had done the bantu knot outs without even knowing it!
At about 7 years old,, bantu knots were no longer cool but silly. God forbid I sported such clownish hairstyle..lol!

Then in junior secondary school I somehow revisited the bantu knots. The popular hairstyle in school then was mini braids/twists done without extensions.
Well, my naturally kinky hair had this tendency to curl up tightly in ringlets when braided dry but when it got wet (from showering/bathing), the ringlets would disappear leaving me with coils only at the tips of my hair.
I really loved the ringlet look because it made my mini twists/braids different. While other girls with relaxed hair had straight mini twists/braids, mine would look curly.
So when I noticed my curls falling, I would bantu knot each braid/twist carefully the night before and then release early the next day for school. I would make sure I slept on my face so I wouldn't squash the curls...ha ha!
It paid off because I had bouncy curls everyday.

I have never really tried bantu knot outs on free hair.....okay I think I did once but it didn't work out and I threw out the idea.

Fast forward to this moment and I'd say that the bantu knots isn't a staple for me because I still don't get consistent results and it doesn't last more than 48hrs for me. Then some days I'd get smooth popping curls and on other days my hair would be like "what the heck do you call this???!! Definitely a NOT a bantu knot out..."

With the help of a video and constant practice I can now say I've got it covered.


Before we start with the tutorials,
-I noticed that bantu knot outs look smoother and curlier on blow dried hair. -I got better results on dry hair than wet hair.
- It took longer for wet hair to dry in the knots and so come morning, I could only get poofy, whatdaheck bantu knot outs. ---The longer the knots were left in, the more defined and longer lasting the curls were.
-Bantu knots turned out better on well detangled and split free hair.

What you'll need
- Leave in conditioner
- Styling butter, setting lotion or mousse
- Detangling comb
- Oil for separating
- Pick or the tail end of rattail comb for fluffing roots.

I started with blown out hair and made 16 random Bantu knots.

Could not resist making this pic look vintage

Here's a link to the video I found helpful.

How To do Bantu Knots on 4c Natural Hair 



Here are pictures of style ideas for your bantu knots/outs.

Bantu Knots and cornrows Source:blackwomennaturalhairstyles.com

Bantu Knot Out Source: Beautybylee.com