Bantu knots are hands down my favorite way to style my hair. While twistouts create good definition, I often don’t like the shape of my hair and the lack of volume they give. And though braidouts tend to give me great volume, they also loose their shape really quickly and become a fro by the next day. On the other hand, bantu knots give me definition, volume, AND they create a nice rounded shape that I absolutely love. Here are four different ways you can do bantu knots on natural hair.

Bantu Knots on Freshly Washed Hair

If you’re looking for really tight Shirley Temple curls that will last you the full week, doing bantu knots on freshly washed hair will give you just that. To get this look, I layered Entwine Couture Exotique Butter-Crème Hydrator, the Afrodisia 9 Leave In, Argan Oil, and the Hold & Defining Crème styler and created smallish bantu knots. This takes the longest time to dry, so make sure you leave yourself enough time or sit under the dryer to get the process moving.

Hanging Bantu Knots

Hanging bantu knots are essentially two strand twists where you create a little bantu knob on the ends, rather than wrapping the whole thing around itself. They’re create when don’t want to compromise so much on length. I did these knots with products from the Creme of Nature with Argan Oil from Morocco line.

Bantu Knots at the End of Flat Twists

Some people like to put rods on the ends of flat twists, or leave them straight, but I find that putting bantu knots on the end of flat twists produces a cute shape that I wouldn’t get if I had done the flat twists on their own. I used Original Moxie products to completely transform my shrunken fro to a defined style.

Bantu Knots on Stretched/Blow Dried Hair

The second best way to preserve a blow out is to turn it into a bantu knot out! Any time my hair is blown out I just know that it will eventually get into bantu knots – it’s an awesome way to get the big, wavy, Tracee Ellis Ross kind of hair without selling your soul and half your kidney. For this look, I used CURLS products, which were too defining – I think products with way more moisture than hold (like the Pure Naturals line) would work best for this style.

*Bonus: You can definitely do bantu knots on straightened/pressed natural hair, but I haven’t gotten my hair straightened in a VERY long time, and it would look similar to bantu knots on a blowout, except that your hair would be less voluminous and more sleek.

What’s your favorite way to do bantu knots on natural hair?