What you don’t know about detangling
Do you look forward to detangling days? I used to dread them. As a wash and go rocker, every few days (or longer if I was being lazy) I would need to detangle my hair so it didn’t get too knotted up. But man, did it take me HOURS and I still found so many hair knots! Many of them I could get out, thankfully, but some I actually had to cut out of my hair because it just wouldn’t budge. Spending HOURS on just detangling was rough and I was tired of wasting so much time out of my week. I’d thought I needed to find a better comb or a faster method and although those improvements can help, it’s not the saving grace.
I will tell you what is the saving grace however, and it may be something you haven’t thought hard about when it comes to detangling:
Moisture is what helps you detangle
You can have the best comb in the world, but it’ll do nothing for hair that’s dry and knotted. Whew I’ve learned from experience when natural hair is real dry and gets tangled up with other hair strands and forms a tight knot, there’s little to no hope of getting it out without causing some breakage or having to snip the knot out.
The key for an easy detangle is to make sure your hair is moisturized. When your hair has good product that’s providing moisture and protection, the hair follicles have more “slip” on the outside layer that allows them to glide around the other strands. It’s crucial when you’re detangling because this makes it easier and decreases the risk of breakage.
I can’t quite explain it, but you can DEFINITELY feel a difference between hair that’s being detangled and hair that’s breaking. It sounds different and there’s almost like a different vibration to your scalp. I’ve definitely spent time intensely observing and analyzing things like this because it’s important. You worked so hard to get your hair to the length it is now, so why would you take steps backwards by detangling improperly?
Detangling is actually a long process
But not in the way you think.
In order for detangling to be easy, you can’t slap some product on your hair the day of and expect to comb through your hair in 10 minutes if you haven’t been doing what you need to throughout the week and days leading up to detangling day. If you do want to be able to detangle your hair in 10 minutes (and it’s very possible for all hair types, I’ve researched it), realize your hair needs to be prepped properly for that to happen. So now instead of spending hours in one day, we’re spacing that out throughout the week. It won’t seem as long when it’s broken up into a regimen you can pace yourself with.
Your routine doesn’t need to be difficult, but it does need to be routine. Haircare needs consistency and once you master that with the right moisturizing products, everything else is going to be so simple, so not frustrating!This is the perfect method for my lazy naturals too! I’m one of them. My hair is here to make a statement and let everyone know I’M BLACK but I stand firm to the minimalist approach to haircare because I get exhausted with it very quickly (couldn’t tell you why but I do). Understand how you operate as a person and cater to yourself when you create your routine. You truthfully don’t have to follow anyone’s rules but your own.
You don’t have to do it all in one day
This is expanding on my previous point. Like I’ve said, haircare can be exhausting especially if you’re cramming everything into one day. But who said you had to? I realized the videos and tutorials I watched of other naturals doing their hair subconsciously made me think I needed to do everything they mentioned in one day. Ironically, they may not even do all that they mentioned in one day. They just showed you for the sake of thatvideo. And with the edited version that’s been chopped and screwed they make it look so easy but you reallydon’t know how that day went behind the scenes. I’m just saying. Nothing is perfect.
When I experimented with spacing out my haircare routine, it changed the game! Sometimes I even stretch my detangling days into TWO. One day I’ll only finger detangle and the next day I’ll detangle with the comb. Both methods produce a different look with the formation of my curls and I love both! And it’s soooo effortless because the finger detangling only makes the process of detangling with a comb the next day smoother.
Here’s the best tip I can give you if you take nothing else from this article: If you want to experiment with your routine and/or space it out to make detangling easier, think of which steps will make the next step easier. And that’s how you always have an outstanding, never frustrating, and never damaging detangling experience!