Fall In Love With BANTU KNOTS [How to + 100 Pictures]

Bantu Knots styles are greatly known as protective hairstyles built with coils, braids, or natural curls. After enchanting the people of South Africa, these styles navigated toward America in the near past. Nowadays it’s one of the most popular, most used, smart, and cute hairstyles of African American women. It’s needless to say that Bantu Knots are synonymous with the phrase word ‘neat and clean’.

In this article, you will get to know almost everything about the Bantu knot styles ( origin, introduction, definition, how to do it, uses, durability, and many more). In the meantime, you will get 100+ knots hairstyles in the form of pictures that might help you select the prettiest and fittest one for you. These Hairstyles are specially designed for African American black women and collected through intensive research on the internet.

What are Bantu Knots?

Knots are one of the most used and tremendously popular hairstyles worn by the people of Africa, Europe, and America. Among them, women show the ultimate craze for these hairstyles. This hairstyle consists of several mini buns which are made of braids, curls, and straight hair. Moreover, you have the opportunity to use dreads and other locks to make these glamorous hairstyles. Although these knots look like miniatures, you have a vast opportunity to wear them in different shapes, designs, and patterns. On the other hand, there are a lot of accessories that can be used with these knots like beads, hair guarders, etc.

The Bantu knots are created by wrapping a small portion of hair locks or braids around themselves. This hairstyle has a clear definition of hair partitions and lovely small knots and it gets beautifully blended with your short hair. As a result, it is one of the favorite hairstyles for short hairstyle lovers. You can say that the main greatness of these hairstyles actually lies in the cleanliness and sharpness of them which is rarely available in any other hairstyles of African American women. So, to be franked, the African people with a really great sense of beauty and style had created these super sexy hairstyles in the far past.

Origin of Knots

The concept of popular Bantu knot styles was developed and innovated in southern Africa by the Zulu Tribal people. Years ago, they discovered a hairstyle with short hair to have a sharp and clean look. They would make small sections of hair all over the head and coil the small sections until the sections turned into a small bun. When all of the sections are coiled, the hairstyle is completed. In addition, they would use different colors and accessories with these lovely knots to make them look more stunning and gorgeous. This is the first theory of the origin of knot hairstyles.

Here’s another opinion regarding the origin of Bantu knot hairstyles. And that is, the Bantu people are the innovators of these hairstyles. These people are Bantu speakers and comprise hundreds of aboriginal ethnic groups. Geographically they live in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Africa across the African Great Lakes to Southern Africa. In fact, these people have a very keen sense of beauty and style with respect to hairstyles. Years ago, they innovated these knots which have become tremendously popular among the Americans and Europeans in recent times.

However, in both cases, it’s obvious that the Bantu knots have been originated from Africa. Because of its smart design, beauty, and effects, it has crossed geographical and ethnic borders to reach us. Nowadays, these knots are used with great craze by Asians, whites, and other races too. It’s really incredible that the innovation of the remote African people has reached this high. But whatever the place of origin, these knots are universal hairstyles with lots of modification and diversification.

How to do Knots

Make Your Natural Hair Ready

Like other hairstyles, the Bantu knots need your scalp clean and spotless. That’s why the use of shampoo is imperative before doing any kind of hairdo to African American people. If the skin of the scalp is spotted, and rough it will lose the ultimate appeal as the knots leave most of the part of your scalp exposed. So, you should prepare your hair with a sulfate-free shampoo that will heal the roughness of scalp skin. At the same time, you can use other hair care products you use regularly while applying shampoo to your hair. And this is the first step you shouldn’t avoid for the maximum number of hairstyles at a preparatory level.

In the second phase of hair preparation, you have to apply conditioners. Conditioners are recommended for mainly two reasons. The first reason is the frizziness-prone or flyaway strands of your hair. If you have these two characteristics in your hair, you can use conditioner to get rid of them effectively. The second reason is, the conditioner creates a protective layer around your hair to protect the hair from breakage while coiling, warping, and twisting the hair into the knots.

The Bantu knots experts usually suggest two types of conditioners for preparing your natural hair for knots. One is a rinse-out conditioner and the other is a leave-in conditioner. These two conditioners serve different purposes according to your hair type and characteristics. When your hair gets dried out easily but does not significantly flyaway strands prone, you can use a rinse-out conditioner. On the other hand, a leave-in conditioner is recommended for those whose hair dries out and gets frizzy while working with it.

In the third step of hair preparation, you need to detangle and groom your natural hair. You may need a wide-tooth comb to groom and detangle your hair while the conditioner is still applied to your natural hair. If this process seems to be harder for you, you can consider using the detangle serum. This grooming process will help you better accelerate the process of making Bantus on your hair. Moreover, it will make your knots as shiny and glamorous as possible.

In the last step of hair preparation, you need to dry your hair with a towel. Stylists suggest dry, damp, or dripping hair for making knots. But in most cases, people find damp hair more perfect and suitable for knots. Dry hair will be difficult to be sectioned and the dripping hair may leave the knots limp. But when you are using the damp hair to make knots, you will get easiness while doing and a glamorous effect when done

Make the Knots

The first step of forming knots is sectioning your hair. Generally, there are multiple sections in the Bantu knots hairstyle. You have to decide how many sections you are going to have with your hair. The size of the knots also depends on the number of sections. As a result, the bigger your section, the bigger will be the knots. However, you will need a Rattail comb to help you partition your hair for making knots. If you have experience doing box braids, these sectioning processes will be much easier for you as these sections are more or less similar to the sections of the box braids. But be careful about your scalp while making these sections, because you may harm the scalp during the work.

In the next step, you need to apply a setting product or a curl cream on your hair. In this case, you can pick a product with light to medium hold. It will help you make knots without becoming stiff. You can use your fingers or styling combs to coat the product on the entire length of your hair.

It’s the main part of making knots over your scalp. First, at the ground of the scalp, start twisting small coils. Twist each segment of your hair for a few turns in between your fingertips. The twisting will be just like screwing in a screw or turning a doorknob. Wind your hair enough to get lovely knots like a spring. It’s imperative that you should not twist all the sections of your hair. Because, although some are okay, coiling all sections can cause hair breakage.

Now Wrap the leftover part of the hair around the segment. And coil the remaining hair in the section around the ground coil systematically. When you have long hair to be converted into knots, it will take the shape of a pyramid or funnel. On the other hand, if you are working with short hair, you will get the shape of rosebuds or baguettes. But The terminal of each segment must be as close to your scalp as possible. This will hold your knots more efficiently and keep them aligned perfectly.

It’s time to tighten and position your knots perfectly. If you are using natural hair or kinky hair, you need to tuck the edges under the knots. If you feel that your knots are not strong enough to hold them or they are just loosened, you can redo the whole process. On the contrary, if you are using your fairly straight hair to make knots, we suggest you use hairpins or tiny elastic ponytail holders to hold the terminals of the knots in place.

Now just follow the previous steps in all sections of your hair. After completion, you will get glamour knots all over the head. Just be careful about the steps stated above to get the ultimate spring-like knots. And be proud of your Knots.

Uses of Bantu Knots Styles

Bantu Knots have versatility in designs and diversities in size, shape, color, etc. Some of which are formal and some are informal. And which one can be used as a formal hairdo is already familiar to you. As a whole, it can be said that the knots styles are used as both formal and informal hairstyles by African American black women. The formal knots are seen in corporate offices and work fields. On the other hand, most of the designs of the Bantu knots are used informally. In parties, tours, travels, get-togethers, or playgrounds, you will find most of the varieties of Bantu knots. In one word, these knots are great for both home and outdoor or formal and informal.

Popularity

Sometimes, popularity implies the inner qualities of a hairstyle. African American women wear hundreds of hairstyles among which 10-15 hairstyles are tremendously popular. And their popularity has spread over America, Europe, and Africa. To be frank, the Bantu knots style is one of the top 5 hairstyles with the highest popularity among black women. Although it is an Africa-based hairstyle, it has already enchanted the people of other regions with its soul-captivating glamour and effect. So, after compiling the popularity score from different sources, you will find these hairstyles in the top 5.

Difference Between Knots and Knots Out

Though there is a similarity in name, Bantu knots, and Bantu knots out are completely different hairstyles. In Bantu knots hairstyles, you will find small knots positioned close to the scalp. Moreover, they are spread all over the head. On the other hand, the Bantu knots out are not like the knots hairstyles. Rather, these hairstyles are made with coils and curls. The length of these knot outs is medium. But in both cases, you will get flawless beauty with a glamorous effect.

Classification

Well, it’s tough to find out the exact differences in knots hairstyles. As these hairstyles originated in the wild in the long past, it has come a long way to reach the modern people of the USA. In this journey, the knots have been modified, diversified, and polished a thousand times. So, it’s really difficult to classify these knots exactly. But we can make some categories to categorize them. And that’s what we have done here.

Knots with Braids

Braided knots and beads are common elements of the braided Bantu knots. The same Bantu rule is applied here for the knots and their appearance. Additionally, these braiding features have been added to this knot’s hairstyle to bring out some craze and enchantment. Like other knots, here the hair is partitioned and in each section, the knots are made with braids. Moreover, some free braids are also created with lovely beads to make them more perfect and glamorous.

Knots with Short Hair

If you have short hair and are confused about choosing a hairstyle that best fits you, we would certainly recommend you wear these knots. Where making any kind of hairstyle is almost impossible with short natural hair, Bantu knots can be a great solution to that problem. Look at the images up and down and consider the knots hairstyles with lovely, tiny curls. Isn’t it sexy?

Knots with Coils

Coils are the main ingredient in making Bantu knot hairstyles. Coils are warped around the selected section and beautiful knots are created. Besides the braided knots and the dreadlocks knots the knots with coils are greatly popular among the people of Africa and African American ethnicity. Most of the time, coil knots are supported by the hairpins and other accessories like a ponytail holder.

Knots with Curls

Curls and Bantu Knots have awesome chemistry with each other. The tiny knots with the wavy curls create a heavenly effect on your hairstyle and appearance. In Africa, the Bantu knots were worn all over the head with a pattern or zigzag nature. But the combination of knots and curls is a modern approach to hairstyles that has been innovated in recent years to make these hairstyles playful and more attractive. If you are a curls lover, these hairstyles will be a perfect choice for you.

Bantu Knots with Accessories

These hairstyles allow you to wear a wide variety of accessories like beads, ornaments, hairpins, holders, etc. And that is the beauty of it. Firstly you can add braids, buns, curls, dreads, and so on with the Bantu knots. And on the other hand, you are allowed to add a large number of accessories with these knots. As a whole, it is a hairstyle that is flexible enough to let you play around with it.

Users of Bantu Knots

A wide range of people around the planet are using Bantu knot hairstyles with great craze and zeal. Among them, most of the people are women and are of black ethnicity. As these hairstyles were discovered and innovated in Africa, African women wore these to a large extent. On the contrary, women of African American ethnicity also find it interesting and glamorous as a neat and sharp hairstyle. Apart from these, people of white, Asian, and Indian ethnicity are using these knots greatly these days.

Why Use Bantu Knots?

Well, till now you have already understood the beauty and effect of the knot hairstyles. Now see some bullet points pointing to the reasons for wearing Bantu knots styles.
1. Less time-consuming.
2. It gives you a sharp and clean outlook.
3. It has thousands of variations in designs to make you not feel bored.
4. When you want to go natural but have short hair, you can try these knots.
5. It gives you a classic and modern look at the same time. So you are traditional and up to date always with these knots.

More Knots Hairstyles for You

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Conclusion

We are done here and it’s time to conclude. These 100 Bantu Knots styles have been collected through user preference from social media. Our main purpose is to help you take the right decision regarding picking the right hairstyle for you. You can pick one of these greatest knots hairstyles and become proud of your hairstyle.