Summertime Bantu Knotout Results

Humidity is just amazing.....

Summertime Bantu Knots

So after over a month of wet twistouts, I was wanting something less... bulky.  But the humdity today is off the charts, so I knew almost any blowdrying efforts would fruitless unless I did a tight bun & tied my hair down with a scarf.  After some thought, I decided to do Bantu knots after blowdrying as that would keep my hair stretched out...or so I hoped!
My regimen this week:

• Giovanni 50/50 Shampoo
• DC with ORS pack & Motions CPR
• Leave-in BWC
• Sealed with Shea Oil (YES LIQUID SHEA OIL)
• Applied Fantasia Frizz Buster Serum
• Blowdried each section about 75% dry
• Applied just one spritz of Set It Free to each section
• Twisted section in knot.....
• For some reason today, the knots were loosening, so I used a hairpin on each & every one of them.


• Of course, I had to remove the pins for sleep, but my hair was staying in place by then.
• In the morning, I took them down, but a few spots were still not 100% dry, so I went to work like this LOL:


• Pics to come of work fluff out

Bantu Knot Out Revisit

This week, I have decided to try the Bantu Knots again.  I really liked the outcome last time, even though I feel like I need to improve on my technique.  Regimen this week:

• Shampooed with Giovanni 50/50
• DC with Joico Moisturizing Balm with heat for 30 minutes
• BWC for leave -in
• Castor oil for sealing
• Blowdried hair 75% dry
• Applied Devacurl Set It Free to each section before doing knots (at bedtime I decided to sit under dryer for 30 minutes)
  


Undoing them the next morning, not 100% dry in several places:


Ready to go:

2 Day Old Bantu Knot Out - Bigger & Badder!

Ok, I did like this better as the week went on, it just kept getting bigger!  :)

Got weave checked today!

So today was second day with the knot out. I wore a scarf that coordinated with my outfit.

Two of my co-workers came by & said my hair looked so nice & full. One of them(always in a wig) said that's not your hair. I said yes it is, she said again no it is not, I should pull it to see and PROCEEDED TO LIGHTLY TUG AT MY HAIR....then she apologizes Oh I am so sorry, I really did not believe that it was your hair. I really could not believe she did that! If she wasn't an older lady, I suppose I would have have handled differently, even though at her age she really knows better than to tug at someones hair....

The other co-worker said she wanted to get rid of her perm, but always failed after a few months due to excessive breaking. She then began asking for transition tips once I told her I was perm free and how I had transitioned for a year before doing my BC, so I was supportive to her.

Here is my hair today:

I am so happy to have another style besides twists!!

Hair regimen this week

I am unsure of what I will do with my hair this coming week...I want to try something new, maybe like a chunky twist out puff, if that makes any sense.

Anyways here is what I did:

• Prepoo with NTM Deep Recovery Hair Mask with heat for 15 minutes
• Shampoo with Giovanni 50/50 shampoo
• DC with a mix of 3/4 Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol Plus, 1/4 Joico Moisture Recovery Balm & 1/2 tsp of salt under heat for 20 minutes

Naked hair pictures:

• Applied Giovanni Direct Leave in
• Applied AV gel & Castor oil to the front, brushed front flat & tied a silk scarf on the front
• Sealed each section with Castor oil, Bantu knots on the rest of my head
• Sat under dryer about 1 hour, so it would be dry by morning
• Still not 100% dry by morning
• In the morning, undid knots anyways, gotta go gotta go, finger combed into presentable
• Found a matching scarf
• 

One of my best comb outs!

After being somewhat frustrated with my hair last week, I did some researching on curly hair sites and came across http://tightlycurly.com/ . I tried Herbal Essence Break's Over, one of her suggested combing conditioners which is left in hair & not rinsed out. This combout was one of the easier EVER!!!

Here's what I did this time:

1. Prepooed with Ojon Restorative Pre-Cleansing Treatment. The label says leave it on for up to 5 minutes, but whatever, I put it on, went to the grocery store, & then rinsed it out.
2. Shampooed with Ojon Tawaka Rejuvenating Cleanser. Conditioned with Ojon Tawaka Rejuvenating Conditioner for 5 minutes. Rinsed out.
3. Sectioned hair into 4 sections and applied Giovanni Direct Leave-In. Applied HE Break's Over to each section as a leave-in. Combed out without very few tangles or knotting YEA!Sectioned each quarter section into 2 sections and did Bantu knots.
4. After this I proceeded to go get my hair cornrowed by my mother, in the two layer style so I can pop on my half cap whenever I want.

I will definitely be using this method going forward. The only other thing that worked this well was the oil rinsing method I tried a few months back. I can't wait until my BC, when I can try the fingercoil method with the conditioner like the tightlycurly.com site recommends for the ultimate curl definition with no friziness.

Wash day

Ok, so I haven't washed my hair in almost 2 weeks, I did rewet it with distilled water in a cheat attempt to decrease the volume...I have been wearing my kinky/ wavy half-caps with my front out since it matched from my bantu knots.

Today was really hectic and quite a few spontaneous things happened and I really wanted to wait until tomorrow, but tomorrow may be worse, so I am going to just do it this evening.

Sadly I didn't have a chance to pre-poo, I shampooed with Giovanni 50/50. For my DC, I used my Joico Balm(still love it!), EVOO & rosemary EO with heat for 30 minutes. My leave-in was Giovanni Direct and I sealed with castor oil.

I placed my hair in bantu knots to airdry over night and called it a day. Sometimes this hair stuff takes JUST TOO MUCH TIME!

Still lovin' my Maxiglide!

I was kind of wanting straight hair, so I decided to Maxiglide this week.

1. I prepooed with the Ojon Conditioning Treatment.
2. Shampooed with Ojon Hydrating Shampoo.
3. Deep conditioned with Joico Hydrating Balm with heat for 45 minutes.
4. Giovanni Direct for a leave in & Mizani Heat serum.
5. Sealed my hair with Castor oil.
6. Sectioned & detangled in 4 sections.
7. Twisted in 12 Bantu knots & air dried overnight.
8. Maxiglided in sections and put a flexirod on each section while still warm.

Today's regimen

1. Today I misted with water (minimizes hair loss when manipulating), then I applied OVT to scalp and EVOO to hair and sat under heat cap while napping.
2. I washed with Giovanni 50/50, then oil rinsed with a combo of EVOO and Jamaican Island Oil.
3. For the DC after oil rinsing, I used Matrix Biolage Ultra Hydrating Balm and Giovanni Tea Tree Hydrating Conditioner with heat for 30 minutes.
4. Giovanni Direct applied for leave in & sealed with Castor oil.
5. Detangled hair and put into 16 Bantu knots. Air dried overnight.
6. I have no idea what styling I will use this week, since I am off for four days.....maybe hats!

Wash day

Today I did a shampoo with Giovanni 50/50, oil rinsed, and deep conditioned with the ORS pack with heat. I used Giovanni Direct for a leave in and sealed with castor oil. My hair hardly tangled at all during the combout! Yea!!

I did about 12 Bantu knots & just airdried. I plan to wear my half caps this week.

Hair Day

Today's process:

1. I applied the Ojon deep conditioning treatment overnight.
2. I washed & deep conditioned with the Ojon moisturizing shampoo ultra moisturizing condition.
3. I couldn't help myself & so I added some Joico to the Ojon Conditioner & put on my heat cap for about 90 minutes.
4. I rinsed, applied OVT to my scalp and used Castor oil to seal in moisture.
5. I did Bantu knots all over, smoothed the edges & tied with a scarf.
6. Then I sat under dryer 30 minutes & let it airdry the rest of the way overnight.

Hair day

Today's regimen:

1. Applied a OVT/MT combo to scalp & massaged it in.
2. Then I applied a mixture of OVT and Joico Moisturizing Balm to my hair and Ojon treatment to just ends.
3. Put on my heat cap for 1 hour.
4. Washed with Ojon Hydrating Shampoo.
5. Deep conditioned Ojon Hydrating Conditioner & some Joico (just love this stuff!).
6. Heat cap 30 minutes.
7. Rinsed, detangled.
8. Applied castor oil to seal.
9. Bantu knots all over.
10. Tied with silk scarf and went to bed.