Alrighty ladies…it’s Tuesday and I’m already bunned up! Hell, I wore a bun yesterday too. You know why? Because unlike the trusty Twist-n-Curl, for me, the Knot-Out is knot as predictable (haha, I crack myself up!). I’ve done it 3 times with the same products, and have somehow managed to get 3 different results! My best so far was the set before the Hair Show…thank God.
This time, I may have done too many knots- I had around 27. The result was a volume lacking, piecey mess, with some curls hanging longer than others. Not a good look! So, after lots of fluffing, teasing, and frustration, I pulled it up into a bun…where it remains at this very moment.
On the flip side, I got lots of compliments on my bun/flower combo yesterday. I thought it was cute too…but after the fourth compliment I began to get suspicious. Could it be that my colleagues detest my big, frizzy out-styles, and find solace in telling me that my hair looks ‘amazing’, and ‘cute’, when it’s put up and out of sight? Maybe the change is simply refreshing for them…
Was that a Hair Tip, or a vent session? Should we start a Vent Thread… it’s very therapeutic.
Bottom Line: Maybe fewer knots produces ‘fuller’ results? The Knot-Out doesn’t seem to provide consistent results for me yet. Hopefully with more time and practice, I can take the time to knot without fear that my efforts will be in vain. I’m not giving up just yet though, this style is Fierce!
Later Gators,
Nik
Okay, I definitely feel better. I think the bolded text above is a good idea 🙂
Below, share your trials and tribulations- whether it’s the state of your hair in general, a failed style, or wasted money on whack products. Maybe your vent will prevent another Natural from making the same mistake…maybe your vent will show another Natural that she’s not alone in the fight! So let’s spill it, and move on 🙂
Okay, ladies. Got a small vent/question. Should I be offended if at church, this older Filipino woman says about my very fly TWA, that it looks like a Chia Pet? Should I be upset about a comment likening my very ethnic hair to a popular 1980s plant gift or should I consider it total ignorance and remember this is coming from a woman with the same bald spot as her younger brother? Help me, ladies. Thanks!
So, this is my 5th month in transitioning. Before I started transitioning I wore sew in weaves, braid extensions, etc. in my hair. Now, that I am transitioning I am trying not to do that so that I can take better care of my hair. Well, for the past months I have been rocking twist outs, braid outs, etc. Well here comes the venting….I wore a twist out all last week to work, towards the end of the week it began to get a lil’fluff so I decided to wear it in a puff. Note: none of my coworkers have commented me on my hair when I wear the braid outs/twist out styles…they always commented me on the weaves and extensions. So I decided to do something different in roller set my hair this week. What do you know everyone at work commented on how good the roller set style looked. I felt like saying “so what did you think of the other styles”? Also, I am the only African American in the company in a small TN town and doubt that any of these people know anything about my hair. I don’t know if I should feel bad for leading them on to thinking black women look good only wearing long and/or straight weaves. It is just so difficult…but I will hang in there because People are going to comment on things they don’t understand. Ignorance isn’t necessary born out of prejudice – some white people just DONT KNOW and so they ask. I’d rather they ask questions so I can CORRECT the ignorance then go around assuming that the ignorant beliefs are true. Well sorry such a long post…but I had to let this out some how.
I tried a bantu knot out for the first time, and it was AWFUL. I had a mini curly fro. I’m used to shrinkage, but that was just unbelievable. I want to try it again with less bantu knots and looser knots, but I’m scared I’m going to get the same results. I so wanted bantu knots to work for me. Maybe I’ll try it again next week :/
Thanks for the kind word ladies…and for sharing your hair woes.
Venting…Aaahh. You lovely ladies are definitely going to help me.
1) Props to Nikki for her site. I’ve added it to my Yahoo reader so I can get the scoop daily.
2) Rocking a curly TWA for almost a month and love it. HIF big time and many compliments, but…HEAT DAMAGE! I have it in the very front of my hair which totally blows a lot of my styling options. I have pretty much been wearing a head band (I color-coordinate them) EVERYDAY! It’s stringy and actually won’t hold a finger coil/twist. What do I do?!!? Is it a waiting game for it to grow out so it will curl back down or am I stuck with the two different textures? The back is soft, springy, and just like I want, but this front is giving me the Blues Clues. Any advice?
Thanks,
MeelaJE
Nikki,
I just discovered your site and I love it! I have been natural for about 15 years. Tried a twist and knot last night for the first time. The curls were pretty but very tight, and were not as consistent as the curls I get from just a basic old wash and go. I did not care for it loose but it looks OK as an updo. Not worth the time. Twist and curls, however, rock. I especially love the bun version which is quick and pretty.
1. my hair always looks dry no matter what i do to it!
2. i cannot obtain the glossy hair look
3. my hair laughs at twist n curls
4. i tried a bantu knot out the other day and half of my head was cute and the other half was crazy looking. this was due to the size of the knots on each side. i have a few inches and smaller knots work better for me than larger ones. i get NO kinds of definition with large knots
tdizzle
I’ve now been natural for more than half my adult life. So although I consider myself a veteran I’ve been learning a LOT of new things lately from folks like you, Nikki, and the YouTube natural hair community. So thanks!
My main vents have always revolved around one o two things:
1) Having thick hair but fine strands. GRRR! I want to wear twists so bad but they look so thin and pathetic. If I did micro twists they’d look better but I haven’t had a block of 4-5 hours to put them in. I also don’t like how, because of my different textures, they naturally form a mullet.
2) My different textures. GRRR! I have unmistakably nappy hair but that’s not the problem. The problem is that generally the front and top are coily-nappy (shrinks over 80% but holds curls very well and stands out proudly when stretched) while the back and sides are kinky-nappy (shrinks about 50% but barely holds curls and prefers to hang, flatten out, and frizz out). I would gladly take either texture because both have good and bad points but…I just want ONE! lol
Well my vent is that I tried a TnC last night for the 2nd time and I’m resigned that it doesn’t work for my curls. It ends up in separate distinct pieces that are darn near straight. It just ends up being flat wavy pieces of hair. I think my curls are a little too straight for this style
Where do you get those pretty flowers you wear in your hair? My vent: 2 months post BC and my hair is growing into a mullet!!! What to do!?!
TTlove…I ain’t mad at ya’…I hate that stuff too! I have found I get much better results with Cantu Shea butter. It’s much smoother…
Kenya
I want my hair to hang down instead of PUFF OUT!!! I never see my length!
Oooooh, venting!!!
First: Nikki, your hair is glamorous!! Any of your co-workers that might be giving you false compliments just simply have to be jealous! Your hair is gorgeous, as are you 🙂 (and that’s real!)
Okay, time for venting… I’ve been completely natural for only a month now, but it’s frustrating buying products and crossing your fingers hoping that it works for your hair because it seemed to do wonders for everyone else, only to find that it hasn’t done squat! How terrible 🙁 I think I’ve gotten a lot better with moisture though, and my hair is growing faster than I expected! So that’s exciting… but I think the top/front is growing faster than the back (where all my damage was anyway) *sigh*
And @ Karua–don’t be afraid of the BC! I was terrified of how I would look as well, and when I first chopped, I wasn’t entirely convinced of the look lol. But it grew on me quick! Especially when I kept putting my hands in my head and realizing that I didn’t do anything to it to make it look the way it did–it was just its natural state 🙂 You can do it!!!
Oh my Goodness,
TRACY, I FEEL YOU!
Most of my hair is very curly…but on the front left side, a small handful of hair IS STRAIGHT because of flat-iron damage! it’s SOOO annoying, cause it’s such a small piece…except I REFUSE to do “The big chop” and chop All of my hair off when only a small portion is straight. I’m just going to have to live with it… *sighs*
krystal i hear you i have the same issues, i swear my hair grew sooo fast when it was relaxed, i feel like i am stuck at shoulder lenghth, and speaking of twist some of these girls twist look like ropes lol mine look so thin because my hair is fine too but i have a decent amount. Nikki i love this blog !
I just wanted to say that I love ur blog! I’m transitioning and still learning how to mess in my hair.
The Knot out works for me on 2 day old hair. I only put about 10 or so in. Some times it looks great and other times its sad. But the problem with my twistncurls is that my hair is too tight from the twist and doesn’t look good until day 3 or so. Any advice??
My vent: Heat damage!!!! I HATE it. A bad run-in with a straightening comb a year and half ago has left me with half straight half curly hair.
The upside was that I discovered (what we now know to be) twist and curls by accident, because a curler was the only thing that would blend the bottom half of my hair with the top.
I’m giving it another year to grow out, I think, then I’m chopping this mess off!
But I hate hate hate these stringy ends!
Here’s my dilemma (this is a vent/HELP me message): My hair is really soft and will not hold a style for long. Adding extra product is not the answer which I found was the wrong solution. So, I’m always in search of that product that will hold…and I’ve tried them ALL. When my hair was shorter, I could get about 5 days out of a wash-n-go using KT and KCCC and sleeping on a satin pillow case. Now that my hair is much longer and I wear a twist out, it’s a MUST that I put at least 10 big twist in my hair at night just to make my style last from day-to-day. I’ve been using conditioner to twist with, but I think on top of the conditioner, my hair may need a little gel (Aubrey Organics B5 gel or Plain Aloe Vera gel) – I don’t know…
Are there any other ladies that can relate or have some advice?
Thanks – T!
Yall might get mad at me, but I HATE the cholesterol. I want to take it back to get my $2.97 from Sally’s back!
I am 9 months in my transition (yay!) and I normally wear my hair back in a bun everyday but I decided to put some rollers in it and wear it out for Easter. Let me tell you, it was some big hair! We were taking pictures on Easter and my family had to keep telling me to hold some of that hair down because I was blocking other folks faces! LOL! I think I am going for a mini-chop in May to get rid of some of this un-needed length so that it can be more manageable and also not such a shock when I do the actual big chop!
My vent: It seems like my hair is taking its sweet time to grow! When I relaxed, my growth seemed so much more significant, but now that I’m natural, shrinkage hides the growth. Also my hair strands are very fine. Though my afro looks full and dense, my twists and braids look puny compared to other folks’. It really is a test of patience for me right now, lol.
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who has not mastered the Bantu Knots..
My vent: I can’t get the darned Twist N Curl to do right in my head. I’ve tried 2 times to follow the directions to a T and still – I get strange hair… hair that must be immediately put into a bun.
I’m gonna try Curlformers every week until June and then get some kinky twists for the summer.. By November – my hair should be ready to try the Twist N Curl again.
Wow, this is a godsend! I was feel pretty crappy about my hair today too. See though, I have 2-4 inches of permed ends left and I always love how the twist and curl makes my natural hair but my permed hair is just too much of a hassle! Sometimes the curls hang limp, sometimes they don’t dry properly, and they get looser/frizzer as the days go by and they seem to suck the moisture out of my natural hair! I’m sooo frustrated I could cry sometimes. It’s been almost 13 months of transitioning and think I’m going to BC next week but I’m terribly afraid of how I’ll look… I really, really want to BC though…. 🙁
I can’t speak for your co-workers, but as someone who loves your tnc, bantu outs and big hair I really love the up-do as well. It looks really elegant. I get so many compliments on my tnc and bantu knot outs and I know it looks more polished than my wash n go, but I think people also like the change. Your hair is gorgeous regardless of how you wear it.
I sweat CN’s fly styles faithfully and attempt them on my own but because of my insane schedule, my hair never gets a chance to dry fully. Day 2 hair is non-existent to me because I’m looking like The Shaggy Dog by the end of Day 1. I am determined to find a way to make it happen!! BTW…Nikki’s girl Wes has posted pics of her recent knot-out and it is the official bidness!! Check her out!
my vent is that i wish i had more time to do my hair. i've been wanting to try the TnC and the knot out and do more twistouts, but i barely have time to wash & dc my hair 🙁 it is so annoying and i'm tired of leaving my hair in twists all the time.
btw: i love the HH as a leave in when i can do an occasional twistout
@shelley: your hair may not grow down as it longer, it may grow out, but when you do a TnC, or a twistout, it'll fall down better, don't fret
Great idea!
Here’s my dilemma: My hair is super soft and will not hold a style for long which is why my thinking was to add more product…I found this to be the wrong solution. So, I’m always in search of that product that will hold…and I’ve tried them ALL. When my hair was shorter, I could get about 5 days out of a wash-n-go using KT and KCCC and sleeping on a satin pillow case. Now that my hair is much longer and I wear a twist out, it’s a must that I put at least 10 big twist in my hair at night just to make my style last from day-to-day. I’ve been using conditioner to twist with, but I think on top of the conditioner, my hair may need a little gel (AO B5 gel or Plain Aloe Vera gel) – I don’t know…
Are there any other ladies that can relate or have some advice?
Thanks!
I find using less knots make my knotout better.
Ohh and I would love a vent thread!
My vent: I wish my hair came with a Hair Care Manual: Products To Use with Your Hair
Its annoying to buy products after reading great reviews(shea butter, evoo, coconut oil, essential oils, blackstrap molasses)and then find out your hair hates it, lol.
I love to vent. My issue is I’m four months natural and my hair does not fall into place the way I envisioned. I’ve incorporated the TnC into my routine and my twist out sticks up…not down. I’m thinking (and hoping) that as my hair starts to grow it will grow down. Right???? My curls are so tight that the shrinkage is unbelievable. The curls are cute but I transitioned for ten months because I wanted to retain length. It’s really growing a lot…it’s just the shrinkage is hiding the growth. So everyday I wear two bands wrapped around my hair into a puff. I’m just not quite comfortable with my hair being free. Now don’t get me wrong this frustration will not make me run away from my natural hair. I love the texture and how soft it feels. I just know I need more time for growth. I know deep down I’m going to have a funky head of hair once the length is where I want it to be. Whew….I feel better. Thanks Nikki!!!!
I’ve been wearing a twist-out or a twist-n-curl as my staple for a while. Decided to try the knot-out and was okay for the first day. After the humidity got it…well, it was a poofy mess. It took forever to dry (my hair holds water anyway) and was not good for sleeping. The second day I wore a headband and today (day 3) I’m in a simple bun.
I thought about trying it again, but would be mad if I had the same results. Guess I’m going back to the twist-n-curl. Oh yeah, also hated the HH as a leave-in, thought I’d throw that in for good measure 🙂 Since we’re venting, lol!
Back to my trusty Suave Tropical Coconut as my leave-in.
I did my first knot out this week and I did too many knots i think. I followed the idea of doing 20ish and my hair was not that great. Day 2, today, it’s better, but not nearly as nice as day 2 hair on the tnc. My hair is about shoulder length, but shrinks a LOT. I think that if i do maybe half as many, I’ll get a fuller look.