Bantu knots have always been the go-to-hairstyle on wash day back home in Jamaica; only we refer to them as “chiney bumps.” My mom would shampoo and condition my hair, apply castor oil and chiney bump my kinky coily hair. I actually hated the style back then. I used to beg her to leave my hair curly after taking them out to create beach waves. But rather than letting my curls loose, she’d put it in pony tails and send me off to school.
Over the years I’ve grown to appreciate chiney bumps. Now that I’m a mom, I want to introduce this curly protective style to my daughter. So for our Curly Hairstyle of the Week, we are doing bantu knots and creating beach wave hair.
As I mentioned, bantu knots are a great protective style option to help retain moisture. It’s also a great style if you want to keep hair up and out of the way during the summer. Here’s a video clip to illustrate. Pleasure be sure to subscribe to Weather Anchor Mama and My fun Princess Life on Youtube.
Perfect bantu knots on curly biracial hair
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Make sure hair is wet
We normally do this on freshly shampooed and conditioned hair. But we decided to style on day two hair. We began by spraying curls with water and parting hair into medium sections.
Add product
The type of product used depends on hair texture and density. When it comes to styling my daughter’s hair, a little goes a long way. I applied a light gel to each section to prevent frizzing later on.
Comb through hair
Her curls were already fully detangled and if you’ve been following my blog and our Curly Hairstyle of the Week Series, you’d know that I rarely use a comb or brush. However in this case, I wanted to smooth the her hair out using a wide tooth comb starting from the ends to the roots. Then follow up with a fine tooth comb to reduce “flyaways.”
Begin twisting
Twist each section and wrap hair around and tuck ends underneath to create the bantu knot. Allow hair to air dry and cover with a satin bonnet at bedtime to avoid frizz.
How to create beach waves on curly biracial hair
Unravel and separate curls
Hair should be completely dry the next day (depending on texture and density). If not, you can sit under a hooded dryer for a few minutes or leave in bantu knots a longer, allowing hair to air dry completely.
Once dry, gently pull on each knot and untwist the section. It’s important to twist in the opposite direction from the previous twist. This will prevent hair from becoming frizzy, as demonstrated in the video. Then separate curls. The more your separate, the more volume you get.
Bantu knots is a great style for curly girls. But it’s also great for all hair textures. If you have straight hair, you can create awesome beach waves. If you have hair that’s kinky, coily, or curly you can loosen and stretch your curl pattern with bantu knots. And the best part about this style is that you don’t necessarily need heat.
Check out other cute hairstyles . Share your styles on social media with #weeklycurls.