One of the biggest headaches Naturals face has to be single strand knots or fairy knots. They are just knots that can form on a single strand or even a few strands on our tresses. They are annoying and pretty common in our kinky, coily, curly hair. Many may just choose to cut them out or yank them out but there are better ways to deal with them that won’t cause you to lose your hairs.
Saturate the knot and surrounding hairs with conditioner and rub the knot between your fingers to help loosen it. This may seem tedious but if you are prone to many of those little boogers you will want to try this technique. Who wants to keep cutting your hair out? I sure don’t.
Be gentle! This is your hair. This is why conditioner must be used to help loosen the knot and make the act of ripping the hair unnecessary.
Seal your ends with butter or oils and this may prevent some knots from even forming. Sealing is important anyway so this is a win/win and may possibly keep those pesky knots to a minimum.
Stay away from styles that cause you more knots. Some feel that would be wash and go’s but as an avid wash and goer, I have learned several techniques that prevent the knots from even forming. I’ll discuss these techniques in a latter post.
Stay away from brushes and combs. I know, I know…here I go again telling you something you may not wanna hear but just listen. Brushes and combs “will shred and pull hair and fuse the open cuticles that then attach to each other like Velcro.” curly girl, the handbook. Yes, I’ve shared another tip from the Curly Girl Method but there are some great points in this book. Reading this book actually decreased many of my Natural hair problems and single stand knots was one of them.
This post is short and sweet but to the point on what you need to do and steer clear of to decrease your chances of ripping your hair out. Saving those hairs help us with length retention so give these tips a try the next time a knot forms.
Winning the fight of fairy knots Naturals,
Sabrina
Check out Celebrities Celebrating Their Curls
by Psyche Southwell at Mode
I've given up. I have given up on worrying about single strand knots. It's just a part of my life that I can't stress about any more lol. Now, if I could do the same thing with split ends, I'd be good to go lol.
Ha Ha!! I hear ya. Gotta pick your battles.
Thanks for the tips. I will try the conditioner, but I'm kinda at the point that I'm accepting the fact that I will always have these knots.
They are a part of a Natural's life so I guess we do need to get used to them.
I've read that oil rinses help reduce the knots as well! Great post as this is definitely common.
I don't know much about oil rinsing. Need to brush up and then share on a post. Thanks love.
I read that the knots are a sign of impending split ends so I always isolate them and cut them out
Really? Haven't heard that. I will check it out. Thanks for sharing.