Reader Question: Detangling

Reader Question:

This site is WONDERFUL!!! There is so much information on here, I am so excited to see how my natural hair benefits!!! Question- can you direct me to some extra detangling tips? I am losing way too much hair in the process. I’ve tried the wide tooth comb*, the denman brush*, detangling with conditioner, combing from tip to root… Not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I end up with hair everywhere no matter how careful I am. Please help!!!

Our Answer:

Detangling is definitely an issue especially if you are a 4a natural like myself so I completely understand where you are coming from! If you are losing long hairs in your wash with the little white bud still attached then I wouldn’t worry too much about that as it is shed hair that you are losing and this is natural in the hair cycle. If most of the strands are short however then it is breakage and you may need to check your hair’s moisture-protein balance. If you haven’t had a protein treatment in a while then start with that to stop breakage in it’s tracks and vice versa if you haven’t had a moisturizing deep conditioning* treatment.

If the conditioner detangling method is not suiting you very well, you may want to try a detangling shampoo. Because of shampoo’s ability to break water molecules down when it foams, it makes the water ‘wetter’ so it’s better able to penetrate crevices in your hair making it easier to detangle. Don’t do this with any old shampoo though, a detangling one is best. Remember, if your hair is very thick then don’t attempt to wash it while it is  ‘all out’, always wash it in 6-8 braids or twists so that you are detangling small sections at a time.

Alternatively you can try my method for washing your hair with no detangling. It depends on how you wear your hair from day to day. If your hair is already relatively stretched and you are getting ready to wash it, you can braid/twist your hair in about 10 or more sections finger detangling and stretching while you braid/twist. While still damp, take down one section at a time, finger detangle and seal with an oil or moisturizer and move on to styling. I generally just rebraid each section after sealing for a braid out. With this method I am usually able to bypass detangling altogether and only use my combs eventually if I am going to straighten!