
What are Fairy Knots?

How to Remove Them?

How to Prevent Them?
Alrighty, the good stuff! Again, I read several articles and agree with some of the tidbits but not others.
Theory #1: Shorter hair seems to get Fairy Knots more frequently.
My Thoughts: I agree, kinda. When my hair was shorter and I wanted to keep it shorter, I was getting trims every couple of months. So, of course, I had very few single-strand knots. However, a few times in my journey, I decided to let my tresses grow out. Once I began spacing out my trims, the fairy knots were abundant. This would carry on for a couple of years until my hair reached arm pit length or so. At around that point, I began noticing fewer single-strand knots.
Theory #2: The curlier the hair, the more single-strand knots you'll find.
My Thoughts: I agree with this. Again, my hair is a 3c/4a combo and I've frequently experienced single-strand knots. As my hair has grown, it's weighed itself down and stretched out the pattern (I've also been stretching my hair more on wash day) - this very well might contribute to the reduction of fairy knots that I've noticed.
Theory #3: Adding moisture, specifically deep conditioning, often will prevent single-strand knots.
My Thoughts: I don't agree with this one. I've been deep conditioning weekly for decades and this had no impact on the number of single-strand knots that I found.
Theory #4: Protecting your hair at night reduces single-strand knots.
My Thoughts: I might give this one partial credit. Although I've always used a satin pillowcase, over the past 6 months or so, I've also used a satin scarf to really keep my hair in place overnight. It is quite possible that this has contributed to the reduction of my Fairy Knots. However, I saw no impact to the amount of single-strand knots when using a satin pillowcase alone.
In Summary, I believe the following to have contributed the reduction of single-strand knots that I've experienced:
1. Protecting my hair with a satin scarf in addition to a satin pillowcase
2. Stretching my hair on wash day to elongate the pattern
3. Growing my hair out (elongates the pattern)
4. Keeping hair trimmed (if you're happy with your length/shape)
I really hope this post was helpful! What's your experience with Fairy Knots? Do you have tips to share that have worked for you or a different perspective? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
xoxo,
Adria