If you want curls or waves without heat, twist outs, braid outs, and bantu knot-outs are all great ways to get there. One of our favorite ways to curl The Princess's wavy-straight hair is with three strand twist into bantu knot-outs.
This is a style you can do on wet or dry hair. On this occasion, we were working with dry hair. Hair was washed the previous day and conditioned with Shea Moisture's Curl and Style Milk.
Then part the hair, and apply a hold product. (I used It's Perfectly Natural's Basil Lemongrass Coil Glaze.) 3 strand twist the section you are working with down to the end.
Then twist the 3 strand twist into a bantu knot. Just twist around and around and tuck it under until there is no hair left. Tuck the remaining hair under, if it doesn't stay use an ouchless band to keep it there.
Then part another section of hair, and do it again. I make diagonal parts, so the parts don't show when you take it all down.
When you are done, you have something similar to this:
To take it out, just untwirl the bantu knots and CAREFULLY untwist the twists. I don't separate the twists too much, because The Princess's hair frizzes easily. The less you manipulate this style, the better it will look. Here is the finished product:
Look at those curls!
Some things to keep in mind with this style:
- If it is raining or super humid, expect frizz. Just like any other 'down' style, this one is at the mercy of the elements.
- If you do this style on wet hair, give it sufficient time to dry. If the hair is even slightly wet when you remove the knots and twists, there will probably be frizz. And lots of poof by the end of the day.
- Part the hair diagonally to avoid the 'scalpy' look.
- Experiment with different products for hold. Some will add more shine, some will hold better than others.
