I Can't Do A Decent Bantu/twist Out To Save My Life!

[Curls&Justice417]

I'm so annoyed right now. Every time I attempt to do a bantu knot out or twist out my hair comes out looking jacked! I've done it damp hair, air dried hair, blow dried hair. I've watched hours of tutorials, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. The curls always come out all frizzy and clumpy but they're really hard to separate. I always end up with something that looks like a dread which isn't the look I'm going for. They never come out all bouncy, fluffy, big, and beautiful. At first I thought I wasn't using enough product so I put more in and that didn't help. And I've tried using a leave in by itself, then tried a leave in plus a curly pudding. I've tried a leave in mixed with a light weight oil (usually sweet almond or pure argan).

I've been reading about product buildup and I'm thinking that may be one of my problems. I haven't clarified in few weeks and *some* of the products I use contain cones. All my moisturizers are water-based , but creamy and filled with coconut oil, shea butter, soybean oil, etc because I thought that's what I needed. Maybe they're too heavy for my hair? I'm not sure of my porosity because it has characteristics of both. I never considered my hair to be fine, but now I'm learning more about hair texture, density, etc I can definitely say it's on the fine/medium side (with a few stray coarse hairs thrown in for good measure lol).

It's just frustrating. I don't spend all this time styling my hair at night only to wake up to a complete hair fail. Dammit lol

 

[GGsKin]

This is why I'm about that wng life. At the very least I get consistent results. I also made a conscious decision not to try a bantu knot out on my hair until it was long. I admire the look on others but for me, I think the length will help me look like I did it on purpose instead of looking like I'm having a bad hair day lol.

 

[lushlady]

I've given up on doing this type of set.

 

[Curls&Justice417]

This is how my hair looks everytime. Only worse. She mentioned using a product that was too heavy for her hair. I'll try using a lighter leave in or maybe none at all. I don't want to to give up on this style! It's convenient and I love everyone else's results. Surely, I can get a decent set if I nail the technique. lol

eta: her hair looked really cute once it's up.

 

[Saludable84]

Im not sure what your hair type is, but I have a coworker who did bantu knots with hair jelly and she said her hair dreaded up. Showed me at work. She has 3B hair. I have yet to do a BTK on my hair, mostly because if I did it, it would be on wet hair and then left to dry, which is impossible on LoPo hair. Sometimes, the hair cant handle it and other times, it can be the products. Sometimes, just a combination of both.

Have you tried doing two strand twists, waiting for them to dry, then bantu the twists?

 

[Curls&Justice417]

Im not sure what your hair type is, but I have a coworker who did bantu knots with hair jelly and she said her hair dreaded up. Showed me at work. She has 3B hair. I have yet to do a BTK on my hair, mostly because if I did it, it would be on wet hair and then left to dry, which is impossible on LoPo hair. Sometimes, the hair cant handle it and other times, it can be the products. Sometimes, just a combination of both.

Have you tried doing two strand twists, waiting for them to dry, then bantu the twists?

I believe I did a few months ago and that turned out so so, but I did it with a crappy moisturizer that left my hair coated. I think I'll try the two strand twist bantu knots again.

 

[Daina]

I can do twist outs and braidouts but I can't do Bantu knot outs at all! The one time I tried I thought I was going to have to cut my hair to get through the matting and tangling. It was so traumatic I vowed to never do them again. For my 3b(back only)/mostly 3c hair using enough product to combat dryness and tangles which lead to frizz is the key for me. If my hair doesn't have enough moisture it just looks a mess. Have you tried doing braidouts?

 

[overtherainbow]

I think it's a hair texture thing. I used to be the twist out Queen, but over the years, my texture became looser due to length and harmony changes. my twistouts now look like Ramen noodles, but my wng looks full and awesome. I now wear my hair in twist outs hidden in loose updos so that I get the benefits of the stretch, but you can't see the foolishness.

 

[Curls&Justice417]

Yeah I tried a braid out earlier this week. It wasn't too bad, but I had to put it in an updo.
I think I might just give my hair a little break. I don't want to over manipulate it too much and risk a big setback. I have very little to no breakage as of right now, but my ends are starting to feel dry so I'm gonna baby those before they get worse lol I want to be APL by May!