A protective style is key if you want to give your hair a break or encourage hair growth through minimal manipulation. And let’s be honest—a fresh set of braids just does something to us Black girls. Personally, after I get some braids, I’m ready to go out, or at least casually FaceTime everyone I know so they can see my hair.
When you are thinking about a protective style and have decided on braids, the next step will be—what kind? All braids are not alike and while it may be easy to tell the difference between box braids and say, cornrows—it may not be as easy to do this with knotless braids versus
box braids.
Knotless braids are exactly as they sound: Braids that look seamless because they don’t have the traditional “knot” at the top which is created from starting with braiding hair. They look like they are growing out of your scalp. When you want to achieve the knotless braids hair style, your braider will start with your own hair versus starting with braiding hair to secure the braid to your scalp. This is how the knot is prevented.
Many celebrities, including Zoe Kravitz, Jhene Aiko, and Keke Palmer are known to rock knotless box braids when they are sporting a vacation ready protective style. ELLE.com caught up with Tiffany Mack, Lead Hairstylist on Power (Raising Kanan), who has done knotless box braids for countless celebs, including New York Knicks power forward, Julius Randall and actress Regina King, to get all the details on knotless braids. If you want to learn how to do or style knotless braids, keep reading.
What are knotless braids?
“Knotless braids are braids that women typically wear that look visibly flatter because they don’t have what we consider a knot at the top,” shares Mack.
How do knotless braids differ from box braids?
Box braids are a popular protective style and can easily be misconstrued for knotless box braids. To tell the difference, look at the base of the braid. If they don’t have that visible knot, then it is a knotless braid.
What are the benefits of getting knotless braids?
There are many benefits to getting knotless braids. First off, knotless braids are a protective style, so it gives your natural hair a break that can be caused from heat and every day manipulation of your strands. Protective styles are also great when traveling, so you don’t have to think of your hair and can focus on vacation. Another benefit, is that knotless braids look more natural. According to Mack, “The braids typically look like they are growing out of your scalp.”
What do you need to be concerned about with knotless braids?
“A drawback or a con would be that sometimes people can be allergic to the hair that is used, which is typically synthetic hair. But other than that, they are pretty much some of the best hairstyles as we see today, because they’re very versatile,” states Mack.
How long can you keep knotless braids in your hair?
The length of keeping in knotless braids compared to box braids does not differ. Mack encourages you to focus on things like your lifestyle, to gauge how long to keep in your braids. Mack explains, “Someone who works out daily, their hair is going to sweat at the root a lot faster and make the braided hairstyle look older. Typically, I tell my clients to keep braids in for no more than six weeks.”
How do you take care of knotless braids?
Yes, you can wash your hair when you have in knotless braids. However, Mack warns that it will “make your roots look frizzy faster” from the friction of washing your hair. Nevertheless, she encourages washing your hair in a protective style to prevent product build up, adding that the trade off is that it ages the hairstyle. How you sleep will also help preserve your protective style. “You definitely want to sleep with a satin cap when you have knotless braids. It could be a bonnet or a satin scarf, you should always sleep with a satin scarf because it’s great to protect your hair so that you won’t have friction when you’re sleeping,” says Mack.
If you are curious as to different lengths of knotless braids, sizes of knotless braids, (how do jumbo knotless braids differ from large knotless braids?), and how to style them, keep reading for all the inspo you need.
Medium Knotless Box Braids
Mack shares that the production team of Power Book 2 requested “Effie” was given a trim and medium box braids. “Starting with clean hair and a fresh trim, these box braids were done with simple and clean rectangle parts for a classic look. The ends were kept loose adding an effortless boho vibe and options for versatility, giving the future option for the ends to be left straight or bumped with a curling iron for a slight curl or more defined spiral curl. A low porosity hair oil was added throughout the braiding process to ensure moisture. Alix was seen in several scenes in the Power Book II series wearing these braids,” Mack explains. The effortless style looks great on actress Alix Lapri.
Small Knotless Box Braids
Micro knotless box braids can take upwards of 12 hours to achieve; however, the result is braided strands that can be manipulated like natural hair. Tessa Thompson attended the UK screening of Thor with light brown braids and proved that a simple middle part can be an elegant red carpet choice.
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Jumbo Box Braids
Riley Burruss, daughter of Real Housewives of Atlanta star, Kandi Burruss, is Mack’s longtime client. “Riley loves switching up her hairstyles and knotless box braids are a go-to during the warmer months. This style was done with geometric parts and color was added sparsely in the back to give this look depth and personality. To make sure the natural hair blends and to give the braids a sleek and polished look, an edge control was used,” Mack says.
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Small Knotless Braids With a Triangle Part
Keke Palmer regularly rocks braids whether at events or on the red carpet. If you want to switch up your style, but not your braids, ask your braider to give you triangle parts, like Palmer, rather than traditional square parts.
Knotless Braids With a Headband
It doesn’t take much to give your knotless box braids a little pizzaz. Just add a headband. If you want a more eye catching look, opt for a pattern, like Berlin based fashion blogger Lois Opoku. She went with leopard which gives a nice pop to her red ensemble.
Medium Middle Part Knotless Box Braids
Go big to go home. If you don’t enjoy sitting in a chair for hours, opt for medium or large box braids. Mack shares that her client “wanted a classic knotless box braid style that would last.” She adds, “These braids were parted with perfect squares and staggered for a clean, versatile and low maintenance style. This is one of the most popular parting and braiding combos.”
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Decorate Your Knotless Braids
Hair accessories are the perfect choice for braided beauties. Brandy subtly opted for a few sparsely placed golden cuffs throughout her hair.
Small Knotless Box Braids
“My look was inspired Zendaya she posted that beautiful picture on IG in September 07, 2020. What I love the most about my braids is the sense of freedom and connection I feel with culture and ancestry, there was a time when we couldn’t wear braids but now we can share the beauty of it with the world.” — ELLE reader: Lovelyca Cajuste; Orange, NJ
The Perfect Protective Style
“A lover of natural and protective styles, Amirah wanted a style true to herself for Nicole Miller’s Every Woman campaign. The perfectly blended subtle ombre gives the ends slight definition and adds to the vibrancy of this boho look. Adding color is always an option and this particular color combo plays really well with Amirah’s skin tone,” says Mack.
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Jumbo Knotless Braids With Curly Ends
Actress Tia Mowry was spotted in jumbo knotless braids with curly ends. This is a great alternative to braiding all the way to the end and dipping your hair in hot water.
Micro Knotless Box Braids
It’s undeniable that Zoë Kravitz’s signature style is her micro knotless box braids, which she’s regularly spotted wearing on the red carpet, photo shoots, and hanging out in NYC.
In an interview with ELLE.com, Kravitz revealed that Hollywood has not always been kind regarding her chosen hair style: “[Pre-George Floyd], I was constantly just fighting [about my hair] and being asked to change it. I would do a shoot, and this still happens to be honest, where they’ll say, “Can you take your braids out? Because we want to do something else.” And I always reply, “Pretend this is the way it grows out of my head. You don’t ask people that have long blonde hair to change their hair every time they do a shoot.” It’s interesting that I’m often asked to pop them braids out. Do you know how long this takes? And it’s also the way I wear my hair.”
Blonde Braided Crown
Yvonne Orji illustrates that your hair can be the accessory. The actress styled her braids to one side and used a couple to create a crown around her forehead. We see you, Queen.
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A Floor Sweeping Hairstyle
Extra long micro braids may take a day to achieve, but the style will be sure to turn heads. And while these ankle length braids are eye catching, it was the braided curtain braids in the front that kept our attention.
Top Notch Top Knot
Half up, half down styles are trending and yes, you can achieve the look with your knotless braided hairstyle. Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss rocks the look on the red carpet at Bravo Con 2022.
Barbie Braids
“This style is inspired by our Sugar Plum Princess Jolie who loves her Fairy Hair Mother Tiger and her signature shades of pink. Princess Jolie is a care free spirit who gets excited when she sees butterflies so I gave her knotless butterfly braids and matching wings. The smaller braids come together to give this look a creative touch while also making it easier for her mother to maintain for a longer period of time.” — Jolie, god daughter of ELLE reader, Tiger Toyin
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Cornrows and Knotless Braids Combined
When getting braids, you don’t have to stick to just one style. Actress Laura Harrier combines cornrows in the front and knotless box braids in the back of her hair for this effortless look.
Knotless Braids That Are Red Carpet Ready
Zendaya is constantly switching up her hairstyles, but one of our all time favorites were these butt length braids she wore for the 25th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards. This is a perfect red carpet hairstyle, because your hair is already done! Get your glam together and put on your outfit and you are ready to go.
