is your natural hair "easy to manage?"

i LOVE my hair but i wouldn't call it easy to manage. it takes forever to "pre-poo" with coconut oil, wash, rinse, deep condition, sit under a heat cap, rinse that out, finger detangle with conditioner, then detangle with a wide tooth comb, rinse that out, put leave in conditioner in, jojoba oil in, detangle with a smaller comb, and finally style and seal with shea butter. it ends up taking me two whole days to finish with breaks included
its a little discouraging, but it HAS encouraged me to leave protective styles in more, so i guess thats a good thing. i just wish i could wear my hair out more often, but i don't have time to do all that frequently.

My typical routine is as follows.

-Pre-poo for one hour - I detangle as I do so. I spritz hair until slightly damp then make no less than six sections. Twist each section after pre-poo is applied. (Can do overnight for extra conditioning)

-Cleanse and condition or DC in sections - Twist after adding conditioner

-If DCing - sit under steamer 25 minutes or so

-Style - WnGs for now

Total time: 2 - 2.5 hours, not too bad, IMO

I typically DC on non-cleansing days. On those days, total time is 30-45 minutes.

ChrsLvsBks, is that total time including detangling too? it takes me 2 hours just to detangle alone! i HOPE i'll be able to get it done that quickly one day. . .

I guess it depends on your routine. I'm a less is more kinda girl.

Shampoo w/clarifying shampoo in shower
Apply conditioner, cover w/plastic cap for a few min., detangle w/fingers then rinse
Detangle & apply leave in (takes me about 25 min at the most)
Pull back into a loose bun

It takes me less than an hour total. Every other wk I DC which adds maybe 20 min. If I do braids for a braid out on 2nd day damp hair it takes me 20 min or so., then it dries over night.

I have noticed for me, the length as well as what I have done to my hair since the last wash matters.
I have been keeping my hair in twists before washing, which is fine but if I leave them in too long --- WHOA on the detangling session
But my other styles and wash and gos are okay if I detangle with plenty of condish or under running water. I have also considered that I may need to wash my hair in twists and detangle as I go because my coils get too friendly sometimes LOL.

My hair takes forever too! I usually wear natural braids which take me about 4 to 5 hours after my hair has been detangled, and I generally wash and condition the day before. It takes me about two days but I don't put that time in every weekend.

It typically takes me 1-2hr depending on the style.
I prepoo for 30mins or more but i don't count that time because I am always doing something else after I oil up.

I shampoo, condition, and rinse in 15mins. I stopped conditioning for long periods of time after noticing that my hair is the same after 10mins compared to 1 hour.

If I am doing twists, that is another hour. For a bun, I am done about 5mins after getting out of the shower.

I am presently trying to do my hair every6- weeks (let's see how that works)

Routine-Wash with Indian powders the night before, deep condition for a couple of hours then Henna for about 6-8hrs rinse then put in protect style which takes about 5-6 hours. i basically take one week every 6-8 weeks to do my hair. i have done it twice before and my hair grew a lot, so lets' see.

I try to keep my hair in a two-strand twists for a week or so. Sometimes I'll take it down and wear a twist-out. I also exercise 2-3 times a week so I let my hair get wet in the shower then moisturize and seal. On weekends I'll pre-poo, wash, dc and then style. It usually takes 2-3 hrs depending on my motivation. I'll twist my hair while watching shows on demand, lol.

So, I don't think my hair is "easy to manage" but I prefer taking care of it myself. Also once I do it on the weekend I don't have to worry about it. Instead of waking up at least 30 mins early each day, I get to sleep. It's a worthwhile trade-off, imo.

I don't think my hair is "easy to manage" but I have a routine that works for me. I try to keep is as simple as possible.

I keep my hair is twists. I work out 5 days a week so I usually wash and condition my twists daily, re-twist the roots, moisturize and let it air dry. This process usually takes me about 30 minutes, which I do while I'm watching TV. Thursday, Friday & Saturday, I'll rock my twist out. Sunday, I deep condish and start all over again. I've seen a lot of growth because I'm not letting the sweat dry out my hair and I"m conditioning daily.

I used to have a complicated routine with the prepooing and what not. Now I simply wash when I feel buildup, DC when I wash, and cowash every 2 to 3 days. Oh and I detangle about once a week with a Jilbere shower comb. That's about as involved as my routine is and life is so much easier this way. You may want to look into simplifying your routine

thanks guys. . .it feels good to know that i'm not alone. =] whenever i try to detangle quickly (less than 2 hours for me) or even try using a comb before THOROUGHLY finger combing i end up with breakage, so i'm just gonna take my time now and try not to compare my hair time to anyone else's. I'm still a little jealous though. . .lol