Let's Talk Hair: Frustrating FAIRY KNOTS

Greetings, Beautiful People..I pray all is well with everyone.

Ok, so I love to write on subjects that I receive a lot of questions on..And one question in particular that I receive many inqiries on are dreadful 'fairy knots'. Throughout our return to O'Natural-ness, we have all experienced the haunting fairy knots and they can be extremely frustrating. Especially when we think we are doing all that we can to prevent them and keep our tresses healthy. So let's just take a look at this dilema and see if we can shed some light on this subject.

FAIRY KNOTS..What Are They?

• Tiny Knots that appear on single strand of hair close to the hairs tips(ends). They are a common and a natural occurrence in kinky-curly hair.
• They are caused by the hair having a tight curl pattern which results in the hair wrapping around itself resulting in a tiny single strand knot.

FAIRY KNOTS...What Causes Them?

• Well, this is going to sound like a slight contradiction, but frequent wear of protective styles such as braid outs, twist outs or fros.
• Not sealing the ends at night. Sealing your ends at night means to apply a butter or natural oil to the ends of your hair for extra moisture and protection at night before securing with a satin scarf or bonnet.

FAIRY KNOTS..How To Minimize Them

• Moisturize, Seal and Protect those ends at night before bed by first moisturizing with water, a moisturizing mist or another water based product, then apply a heavy natural butter, such as shea butter, mango butter, avocado butter or other butters or oils such as extra virgin coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, jojoba and other oils to the ends (tips) of your hair, then cover with a satin bonnet, scarf or sleep on a satin pillowcase. Because our ends are the oldest and most fragile part of the hair, they tend to be the driest and come across the most friction. Moisturizing and sealing the ends daily or nightly proves to be a huge help in minimizing knots and dryness. 
• Keep tresses moisturized by proper conditioning, especially deep conditioning, and use an all natural leave in.
• Minimize combing naturally curly-kinky hair while dry. Should you decide to detangle on dry hair, apply a light oil such as coconut oil, jojoba oil or grapeseed oil and gently begin finger detangling. When using a combing tool, always comb hair with a wide tooth comb or detangling brush while hair is soaking wet and slippery with conditioner. Comb starting from ends to roots.
• If you have fairy knots, take some shears that have only been used on hair and cut them out immediately on sight. If the knots are left untreated, they will, more than likely, continue to knot up from the ends and cause breakage. (Fyi: breakage is when you do not see a white tip at the end of the fallen hair. When a white tip is seen, this is shedding which is a normal occurrence in the hair cycle).  
• A wonderful tip addition from a beautiful naturalista on the Natural Girls Rock group site said: After co-washing, completely rinse your hair, then take the oil of your choice, mix it with a little water and pour it all over your hair. Then, lightly rinse with cool water, known as 'oil rinsing'. She stated that she noticed a huge difference, thanks Kelli!!!
• Though these tips may help, you may still experience some knots. Don't panic though they may be frustrating, they do not play a major role in hair loss nor not being able to retain length.

Ok, I hope this was as helpful to you as it was for me..Until next time, A bientot!!!


 Have a Happy Natty Day!!


credits: some info found at www.growblackhair.net