Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Detangling Afro coily hair





Tangles are the number one complaint of those with Afro coily hair. When you first go natural it is not uncommon to spend a whole hour untangling your hair. Having to spend so long on detangling, makes black women, not want to wash or restyle their hair often. However keeping the hair washed on a regular basis is the key to growing your hair to great lengths and creating great styles. This is the reason you want to greatly reduce your detangling time. The healthier your hair is, the easier it is to untangle. It is possible to untangle your hair in less than 15 minutes, even with tight coils and long length. 

Following the CoilyQueens Regimen enables me to untangle my hair in 15 minutes. My shampoo time has been reduced by 70%


1. Never untangle hair when soaking wet
Always untangle hair while damp not while soaking wet.  Although soaking wet hair is soft and very flexible it is weak due to being filled with water. Dampen your hair with conditioner or a light mist of water. Let it sit on hair for 3 minutes, then gently untangle with your fingers. 

2. If you want to retain long lengths untangle hair with your fingers. No combs!
If you keep your hair lubricated with a natural oil daily you will find finger combing really easy to do. The most important thing to know when finger combing is to take small sections. Do not treat it the same nor expect the same results compared to using a comb. In the beginning it will take you twice as long to finger comb compared to using a comb or brush. Soften hair with a conditioner, then untangle in small sections and you will be successful with finger combing. The more you do it the faster it will go!


3. Never detangle with a brush, tangle teaser or any product like it. 
If you watch youtube you will see many naturals show demos  of untangling their hair using the very popular denman brush. Do not adopt this trend! Brushing the hair, weakens the hair cuticle over time. This makes the hair high porosity and susceptible to damage. The problem is that the damage does not happen quickly. It takes awhile for you to see the damage. Even so, know that each time you rake that brush through your hair you are weakening some of your protein bonds. When you rake it through soaking wet hair it is even worst. If you want to retain length, keep the brush out of your regimen. Fingers only!

4. Removing heavy tangles, matted hair and knots!
If you do not consistently follow a healthy hair regimen you can easily find your hair in a situation in which it will knot up and mat badly. You will get massive tangles which overwhelm you. Do not panic and start cutting or ripping out your hair. Remember people have untangled a full head of dread locs, so mostly likely your tangles can be removed with no damage.
Cold pressed castor oil


Solution #1: Mix 1 tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar, with 1 cup of filtered water, plus 2 tablespoons of grape seed oil. Put mix in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray hair down really good, using 3/4 cups of the mixture. Cover with a plastic cap for one hour. Go calm down, get some tea and take some deep breathes. After one hour untanlge hair using very small sections and take your time. Use the remaining 1/4 cup of your mixture to keep hair damp as you untangle it.  

Solution #2: Mix 2 tablespoons of castor oil + 1 tablespoon of coconut oil + 1/4 cup or more of a thick conditioner of your choice. Cover with a -plastic conditioning cap + scarf overnight. If you do not have time for an overnight treatment. do it for 3 hours. If you do the treatment overnight your tangles will melt in the morning.


Untangle hair before you start the shampoo process always.


1 comment:

  1. Thank you! I'll try this. I had longer hair last year. I'm not sure what I've changed or if my hair tangling more is due to my hypothyroidism and other medication...I've been natural for four years and thought that I was doing great maintaining the condition of my hair. However, recently my hair is different and seems dryer. In the back of my head my hair is a 3c/4a,and the front and sides of my head are 4b... The back half of my hair on my head tangles the worst. I believe because it is curly. Or it could be due to the colder weather, also. Hopefully, the warmer weather helps my hair.

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