Evil Fairy: Dealing with Single Strand Knots on Natural Hair

Posted by admin on Sep 28, 2011 in Before Your Transition to Natural | 0 comments

 

 

 

 

Evil Fairy: Dealing with Single Strand Knots on Natural Hair

As you transition from relaxed to natural hair, you will notice a phenomenon that many naturals call fairy knots aka single strand knots which are exactly as they read, knots that form on a single strand of hair.  Natural hair is kinky and curly and it is prone to coil around itself if not in protective hairstyles.

Fairy knots appear, usually, at the ends of the hair but they can be along the hair shaft too if you are not careful.  These knots form most often when hair is left out in wash & go styles, rather than in protective styles. Fairy knots seem to form most often when hair is dry, meaning not moisturized.  There are no sure ways to avoid single strand knots; however, there are ways to reduce the number of fairy knots in your hair.

The easiest way to remove fairy knots is to cut them off with hair scissors.  It can take a long time to trim out these single hairs so many people opt to just have a full trim a few times per year.  Some people do a search and destroy every few months where they find the rouge hair strands and cut them off.

Another option that you can is to untangle the single strand knots.  Not only can it take lots of time to untangle each knot, you may end up breaking off the balance of the hair strand below the knot as you try to untangle it.

Thirdly, you can wear stretched out protective hairstyles more often.  Remember, single strand knots form on hair that is left to coil around itself.  Stretched protective hairstyles are a way to prevent fairy knots in your natural hair.

Whether or not you try all of these options, it seems that the best way to prevent fairy knots is to keep your hair clean, healthy and to wear protective hairstyles in addition to moisturizing your hair daily and sealing your ends with an oil.  And of course you should protect your hair before bed with a satin scarf or bonnet (silk works well too).  It is unclear why, but damaged hair seems more prone to single strand knots than healthy hair.

I love to wear my curly hair out, but my preferred protective hairstyle has been a braid out or twist out for many months.  These styles show a bit of my length and I do not get as many single strand knots.