Ponytail Aftermath - 4C Hair

Jenn Jackson: Aww! I know how you feel. I stay away from wash n gos for that exact reason. They are simply not worth it. Btw, one thing that has help my detangling session is apple cider vinegar. The 3:1 water to apple cider vinegar has the perfect acidity to loosen up tangles and knots! Try it, it might reduce your detangling time in half!

Jenn Jackson: Well yeah, it is part of my clarifying/washing routine but I find that it makes my hair soft which help with the knots and tangles. Hence if my hair is a tangled/dirty mess, I use the AVC to clarify and help to detangle. It's like a two in one for me.

Regina C: Awe, I would never say told you so. You lived for the moment. We should all experience that feeling. I absolutely adore your videos, your happy-go-lucky outlook, your voice and your wonderful personality.

Divine Empress: Wow!! This video was an eye opener for me. I'm a 4c chic that loves to put my hair in a ponytail. I experienced the tangling all the time but never thought anything about it. I simply wash it, detangle, and ponytail it again. Thanks to this video, I will be doing more protective styling.

4c Hair Chick: Thank you so much. Means a lot to me. I'm definitely not a hair guru or hair doctor. My goal on here is just to share my truth and help others to best of my ability. It's an awesome feeling to have someone appreciate that so thank you. Very true. It's tempting to shy away from the truth about limits, but 4c ain't never gonna be 3a without a perm so yep there are limits:)

T1car1ca: Oh honey I totally sympathize with you...it happens, we're all at one point or another become "rebellious" with our 4c hair. Look at it this way, lesson learned and you graciously taught the rest of us not to make this type of mistake

4c Hair Chick: aw, thanks so much. It's nice to be connected to other women who get the struggle. There are good days and bad days. This wasn't a good night for my hair lol.

SweetSpiritForever: Awww!!! I did the same thing with a wash 'n' go trying to hurry up and go to class when I was back in college. It was summer session, the sun was beating down on my head, drying my hair out, and the wind was blowing as I moved to different buildings. THE HORROR!!! I feel your pain, lol.

4c Hair Chick: thank you! They are growing hang in there. I remember early on in my journey I used to get frustrated when my hair was at this awkward like 3" stage. I wanted to do something to it so yea if you're there it gets better:) ttys

NoSaltyPeanuts: The comment you made about being so focused on your emotions or "what you want right now" limits your ability to see the big picture! Thanks for that. I'm just coming off of a 2 day juice fast and I feel like crap and want to eat the kitchen but I don't want to mess up my little 2.2 lb lose. You have gorgeous hair by the way. Even the tangled hair looked beautiful but I know what you mean. I love my curls but whenever I do a wash and go (get mad compliments) but also mad breakage. :-(

4c Hair Chick: :) Yea there's many different approaches and I know with our hair type dry is rarely ever the way we go. Good news is my hair wasn't dry when I detangled it. I didn't show on camera how I was detangling b/c I didn't want the vid to be too long, but I'll post the details on wednesday. Good looking out sis I appreciate the advice.

4c Hair Chick: @marciaperry I usually use another process to detangle my hair, but it was a unique case that night because instead of just my normal tangles I had tangles, knots, dreds, and matting. I didn't want to have to cut any hair out so I used a different process. I'll post a vid on wed with details, but I hear you there are quicker ways to do it :)

fg2hj: Whenever I do a "wash and go" aka condition+detangling then wear my hair out, I put my hair in a bun to stretch and prevent extreme matting when I sleep lol. As soon as my hair got long enough I stopped twisting and folded my hair over itself to create a bun. I find it faster and it allows me to roll out of bed and out the door when I'm lazy (most days). At the same time I get less tangles and I'm able to detangle in my next wash and go much easier.

4c Hair Chick: Thanks @koko! I went with a different detangling method then my norm this time to reduce breakage. I'ma try and post that by Weds. Yes you are right coconut oil and 4c is a match made in heaven.

Tyshunda Manning: For my pony tails, I detangle and twist the ends. This really cuts down on tangles. I twist the ends nightly. I do the same for buns.

4c Hair Chick: @Nakisha741, thanks sis. It usually doesn't take me that long either. The reason this took so long though is because my hair actually got matted together. Some parts dredded up and so it wasn't just tanges it was knots, matts, and dreds :( To avoid breaking a ton of my hair and cutting my hair I just went through it all really slow. But lesson learned I won't be doing that style again. Womp womp

4c Hair Chick: oh-wee. I need to learn your styling secrets for that. I'm a huge Shea fan. I never thought to try the purification mask to detangle, but I officially have it on radar now. Thanks ma'am! :)

thehairporn: Raw emotions...the truth behind 4c hair. New subbie here; now on to watch the rest of your videos. Thank you.

4c Hair Chick: @sunyd27 good looking out. Yes water conditioner mix works very well especially on type 4 hair. I had to go a different route this night because of all the knots and tangles. I didn't have a chance to edit it yet, but there's a couple different detangling methods out there and so I used Chicoro's

Cherelle :D: Yes thats the sort of shrinkage I experience!! Awwwww Im sorry you had to spend so long detangling,but at least you know from experience what you hair does and doesnt like :)

NaturallyLluvme: The story of my life :) This happens to me all the time.

4c Hair Chick: good call out. Yea my hair was just a hot mess I ended up doing a dry detangle process from the Chicoro's book Grow it. My hair cooperates a lot more under running water you're spot on.

4c Hair Chick: Aw, thank you. Yea I don't know why I was being so hard headed, but the aftermath wasn't worth it. I can definitely say never again. Never! lol

Lyonen59782nd: Girl thanks for keeping it real.

4c Hair Chick: I battled with which way to go, but ended up doing a dry detangle. I just recently posted the vid on how I ended up detangling this mess. Co-wash is great on this particular occassion I had to do some other steps first.

4c Hair Chick: yes! We are on the same page. Congrats on the juice fast! I love juicing. Thanks to that documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead I'm hooked :)

Yellow: Sometimes trial and error is the only way to learn. I'm glad you were eventually able to correct the tangling :)

4c Hair Chick: I do love TreSemme it's in my arsenal, but I think where I really messed up with this style was the eco styler gel. Lesson learned though. lol I do better going forward.

back2s0ul: I'm still transitioning and I'm not looking forward to this. I already have this problem with my roots. The only way I can deal with my hair right now is to wear it in little twists. I didn't realize how essential stretching would be for natural hair.

Forty4real2010: I am a 4c who wears a shrunken fro on the weekends. The Shea moisture purification mask is the "truth." It melts those tangles in seconds.

4c Hair Chick: You are so right. Had I just took the time to braid it up man I could of skipped the nightmare. Never again, but hey lesson learned.

4c Hair Chick: Amen! Yes God didn't make any mistakes. Thank you so much for those words and the support. Messages like this keep me encouraged so thank you.

4c Hair Chick: I have not tried the 3:1 mix, but I will. Up until know I only used ACV to clarify. Didn't even realize I could use it as part of my detangle routine. Thanks for the heads up!

4c Hair Chick: will do! I love her personality she is so supportive and sweet. I haven't seen the detangling vid I'll look for it.

ijszje: Hi, I really appreciate your honesty about your hairtype. It seems than many people don't want to tell/hear/see the hard truth about what are the limits and possibilities about 4c hair. You are a proud woman, and not affraid for the truth, I really respect that. I think 4c hair looks best in styles ' made' for 4c. I mean....sometimes I see an 1a hairtype with flattwists hairstyle...omg it looks horrible! You know what I mean? Everyone has limits/possibilities with their own hairtype:)

4c Hair Chick: Agreed. Detangling is a tricky beast. Hardest part of being 4c for me is the detangling. I went another route on the detangling this time so that I wouldn't have to cut my hair, but yea typically it's an in the shower deal for me too.

4c Hair Chick: omg! God bless you your patience level must be saint like. Great reminder that at least so far this has only happened twice:)

DrGirlfriendPHD: The most important part is that u took ur time detangling ur hair. The biggest mistake we make is yanking a comb through our hair. But I'm happy u didn't bc, ur hair is too beautiful to lose. Thanks for sharing ur story. Hopefully some will learn from it.. But if not, oh well, you know us 4c chicks love to experiment! :)

JaydinChristine: I understand all of what you're going through!!

downtoat: Yikes! Sorry this happened! Glad you fought through and didn't end up doing another big chop.

4c Hair Chick: aw, thank you so much. It's great to be encouraged it keeps me inspired :)

4c Hair Chick: @shyshayc no you're right. Typically I prepoo and then finger detangle in the shower. This night was a unique case though because I had not only tangles, but knots, matting, and dredding so I used an alternate detangling method to avoid having to cut my hair:)

Monalisa Jackson: This is what happened to me after my experiment with the wash and go. Lesson learned.

4c Hair Chick: Very true. Thanks for focusing on the bright side. I'm just glad the self inflicted ordeal is over lol :)

UTubeuzername: Ur pony tail was like my shampoo experience..I get SO SICK of shampooing my hair in sections so about once or twice a year I just say fuck it and shampoo my entire head back to back at LEAST 3 times. It feels so good even though I know it will take hours to detangle. At least you go a cute style out of it and I know you will do it again even if you think you won't lol I don't think any I told you so's are necessary, most of us are new to this natural hair game and we have much to discover.

4c Hair Chick: hey sis,I did do a dry detangle and I posted a vid just recently on why. It's kinda a long explanation but it made sense for this situation. Usually I wouldn't dry detangle though. I'll check out the cocktail.

4c Hair Chick: right?! Totally agreed. That style goes on the never list smh. :)

4c Hair Chick: haha yep and I'm definitely one of those. I love experimenting. But this right here.. officially off the list. no more unstretched ponytails.

Quietstorm91: I'm sorry you had this experience. As I watched this vid, I was thinking that you should apply water or condish to your hair for easier detangling. Thank you for sharing.

RCIYAH: I was thinking you're lucky to just tie your hair back whilst wet lol. I would never as I know that means matted!! We all know to braid our hair or twist or something when it's wet. Anyways, we live and we learn. I'm still learning on this journey lol. Sorry you went through that.

4c Hair Chick: smh the struggle. I'm glad I'm surrounded by beautiful women who get it.

4c Hair Chick: Thankfully no. I used a different detangling process than my normal routine so that really minimized the breakage.

Tamaija Orr: Your kinks and coils are beautiful .. can't wait for my 4C to get longer ..

kymmi721: Ahhhh...I feel your pain Thursday night I just wanted to see if I could do a wet bun and slapped a ton of eco styler in my hair just experimenting. I knew I would wash it out Friday, but I forgot...ooohh...ton of gel and detangling. So I put some cheap conditioner in a plastic cap n went to sleep. Oddly detangling was fine. But I washed and conditioned in twist and after I took them down to style...I had clumps of white residue in my hair. The freakin gel didn't wash out. Uhhh

4c Hair Chick: thanks sis will check it out. I just posted a vid on how I ened up detangling this because of the situation I went with dry, but usually I do a prepoo detangle.

Cruz Gyul, MB: For those styles when I do them, that same night I would comb it out and plait it in sections....if I don't, I avoid doing anything on my dry hair , I either wet my hair and deal with it or in most cases it's time to wash my hair and I comb and detangle under running water...u can still do those styles, but u have to be strict with braiding it out of the way to avoid tangles and a flat out mess....I use to have that problem when I was younger and my mother told me about braiding it at night

Keneshakay1214: Omg.... 6 hours is a long time. I had an impulse too yesterday n tried blow drying my hair. It was a nice style but a disaster when I got home. We should stay away from these impulsive hair styles lol

sunyd27: I have a great way to prep hair for detangle. Spray lightly with water/conditioner mix. Cover with plastic cap. Overnight is best, but at least an hour, and that will soften hair tremendously.

idowhaticando: Please look at jenelle's (blakizbeautyful) vid on her detangling cocktail! It works like a charm! There is no reason you should spend that long detangling, with fingers or a comb. Please try it!

4c Hair Chick: I did use a little. I just posted a video day before yesterday that has the process I used. Thanks for the recommendation you're right a little moisture goes a long way.

4c Hair Chick: it took crazy long. Yea the shower detangling crossed my mind, but I went another route for a couple of reasons. I'll post a vid on how I actually detangled it. I didn't want the vid to be too long so I had to do two parts.

Margoe: i feel your pain, it takes me longer than that to detangle always.

4c Hair Chick: girl, the thought crossed my mind. But I've made so much progress I couldn't go out like that:)

Loc Secure: Agreeing with shyshayc. I can usually detangle a lot quicker in the shower with a ton of conditioner. Try tresseme naturals. It has a lot of slip for detangling. 6 hours seems ridiculous to me.

beautybynajah: I know... I feel your pain! But whatev you have beautiful hair! You should try detangling wet wi/ conditioner and finger detangling each section before you run the comb or denman through it. That works for me!

MissPalmtree2012: Have you tried wetting your hair to make it more pliable? I don't advocate standing in the shower throughout the whole detangling process (I believe that it is a waste of water), but just thoroughly wetting your hair while in the shower, and then getting out to detangle; keep a spray bottle of water nearby if your hair dries while you are in the detangling process.

4c Hair Chick: omg I can only imagine! I know what you went through, lol *hugs* lets not ever do that again right!

Ebony Nicole: Try the shea moisture purification mask it works wonders, and helps u detangle in no time

kittyskid1: this is not just a hair lesson; it is a life lesson.

Tan Mack: So why didn't I see this video before I pulled my hair into a ponytail LAST WEEK!! I am STILL trying to get the matted ends off

4c Hair Chick: right! no easy way out. This style kicked my buns.

Rachael McCoy: Well....I like the curl definition in the back lol

4c Hair Chick: yes, let it be fair warning 4c hair and loose ponytails don't mix. I need GlamFun to rap about this lol.

4c Hair Chick: Agreed. I did use some products just didn't show it in the vid. I'll try and post a vid on Wed of how I detangled it, but you're spot on water and conditioner are another route I could have gone.

Mandy Jones: Thank you for your honesty.

Linda Maxwell: Don't beat yourself up too much...Trial and error, it happens...we are still learning about our hair type. At least it didn't all go down the sink or you have a big bald spot. It's all good...:)

I Am RallyGirl™: Poor thing. I wanted to cry, because I could feel your pain. Your detangling process may have been shortened if you stepped back in the shower, added conditioner again then let the water help you with your hair. That water conditioner combo has saved me a many a day!!

Knallbart: Ooohh c4 is the "natural hair" name? I hadn't a clue! Wow. So much for "just" combing your hair. It looks amazing though :) absolutely amazing!

DrkNSwt: Qhemet Biologics Coco Tree Detangolin Ghee The spelling is wrong but the name of the company is correct. That stuff is amazing at loosening tangles.

verve: Next time do the detangling under the shower when your hair is soaked in conditioner. Dry detangling is NOT the business

4c Hair Chick: lol yea it was a LONG session. I opted to go dry though cause I was able to retain more hair, but my regular routine I'm a co-wash chick for sure.

pamrosina: So sorry that happened sis, someone else will learn you're experience.

Simply Being Nina: Lmao, I was expecting you to stretch at night with the twists all over, lesson learnt. #4chairproblems

4c Hair Chick: :) yea this was a tough lesson for sure. Ah well the journey continues.

4c Hair Chick: smh... it is so frustrating at times right? I hope your detangling session didn't have to drag on too long.

4c Hair Chick: @Drknswt You are the 4th person who has mentioned that stuff to me. I worked with Qhemet for a product giveaway for my 4c Hair Chick insiders. I'll have to reach out and see if they can send me some of the Ghee to try out. Thank you!

chiznslavi: Did you dry detangle? Water can really help with detangling. BlakizBeautyful has a recipe for a great detangling cocktail you should try...

4c Hair Chick: lol, yea I was sippin' on that F***it juice too clearly. What a douzy that's definitely not something I want to repeat anytime soon. I luv how you always keep it positive. Thk u for that.

manter26: it may have been easier just to cowash again and detangle hair that was wet with conditioner. i can't imagine spending that much time detangling...eek! The ponytail was cute too.

Netra Stone: This is what happens to my 4c hair when I attempt a "wash n go" x_x

SweetSpiritForever: OH!!! And do you use TreSemme at all? Their Vit E. conditioner has amazing slip. It's probably the only reason I didn't chop off all my hair in frustration that day, lol.

4c Hair Chick: @Berenice thank you! I wish I would have. Co-washing didn't cross my mind when I was in the moment:(

4c Hair Chick: so true. I need this pep talk the day I did that ponytail lol. Too bad were not neighbors. You probably would have talked me out of it:)

4c Hair Chick: I misted my hair to loosen the product, but that gel is probably what did me dirty

4c Hair Chick: Thanks @justme68ification I will not be trying that again in the near future, lol. I didn't want this vid to be too long, but I'll be posting a vid on how I actually detangled it. I should have it edited by Wed :)

4c Hair Chick: Me too I try to conserve water. I was worried about this vid being too long, but I will post a vid wednesday that shows how I detangled. Good news is I did use some water, but perhaps I could have opted for another method.

Mzpretty3284: Water helps detangling on 4c hair ..i drench my hair in water to untangle and it comes right out

4c Hair Chick: your welcome. Thanks for watching @mandy :)

hear fan: did you wash out the gel before you detangled? That would kill my hair :D

Mary Williams: Why not detangle in the shower with conditioner?