Single-strand knots are the tiny, “gold dust” sized villains of the curly world—a technical failure where a hair literally ties itself in a knot.
As dumb luck would have it, the more coiled your pattern, the more likely you are to face these blank and spooky “fairy knots.” They happen when a single strand curls back on itself and hitches a ride, creating a rough spot that catches on everything else. It’s a study in tonality that can lead to a ruddy mess of breakage if not managed. You need a technical shift—moving toward stretched styles and lower friction to assuage the insecurities of your ends.
The prep is about insurance. Keep your ends studio-endorsed with consistent trims to remove the most hitch-prone sections. Mind the resistance when you style; using a “slick lip coat” of oil or serum on the ends can help strands slide past each other. By incorporating workday habits like protective styling and silk protection, you can capture the glow and reduce the number of tiny knots in your profile. Something I think we’re all still kind of into.
—Lauren Maas