Help detangling problems!!

Hi all!

I have been natural for eight months now. Yay! My hair is about 5 1/2 inches long stretched now. I am having difficulty finding a way to detangle my hair without getting what seems to be unnecessary breakage. I look at some of the strands and see some that are long and have white bulbs at one end (normal shed hairs 50-100 a day) but then I see hairs that are much shorter and do not have a bulb at either end. I use a wide tooth comb by Conair and when I style I use a cheapy comb with slightly smaller teeth. It is hard for me to comb out the ends and then the work down to the root because of my short length (I think?) so most of the time I try to stretch clumps of my hair and then attempt that with my wide tooth comb. But when I'm done my hair does not necessarily feel detangled. Sometimes I do feel snapping, which I know is BAD!

I shampoo once a week with Giovanni Smooth as Silk shampoo
DC with Aussie Moist/Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose/Aubrey Organics GPB (protein)
I usually style my hair in twists at the end of the week and wear a twist out for the entirety of the next week.

Do I need more protein? Is the breakage because I am misusing the comb?

Please help with advice on detangling techniques for shorter hair. Thanks!

When you detangle make sure you get a conditioner with lots of slip, a creamy feel, and when you detangle with the wide tooth comb start from the end to the root, never root to end.

Hope this helps

I agree that you should get a conditioner with lots of slip. Also try using your fingers to finger detangle first and then use your comb once you have worked through the tangles with your fingers. I detangled more with my fingers when my hair was shorter. I don't think you need more protein. Instead of using the Aubrey's GPB (protein) every week try using it every other week. On the week you don't use protein just use the aussie moist and the honeysuckle rose.

^^Aussie Moist is AWESOME!!

Thanks for your input!
I do think I should detangle with conditioner. Should I apply a cheap conditioner like Vo5 or Suave before I section my hair off to detangle?

I detangle with either Yes to Carrots, Yes to Cucumbers, or Aussie Moist. I don't think the Vo5 or Suave will have enough slip. They could be used for cowashing. I've noticed that the longer my hair gets, the harder detangling is becoming, so I am going to try using a different comb. I use just a cheapy wide-tooth comb from Salley's. Personally, I really hate detangling with my fingers. I hate the way the hair feels between my fingers.

The routine that has been working for me has been to shampoo first (in four sections, rubbing the shampoo down the length of my hair so that I don't cause extra tangling), and then adding lots of conditioner and detangling (I split each section into 3 or 4 and then after I detangle those mini-sections I twist each one). I detangle with a wide tooth comb and my fingers most of the time, and sometimes I use a Denman brush. I sit under the dryer for 20-30 minutes for some deep treatment, and then I rinse my hair with the twists still in so that i don't need to detangle again. After that, styling becomes REALLY easy, as my hair is detangled, and I just add my leave in and sealant and retwist!

Also, I noticed that you use Giovanni SAS shampoo and Aussie Moist.. I'm pretty sure (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that you need a shampoo with a sulfate to remove silicones from the hair. I'm not saying use a sulfate shampoo ALL the time, but it may be a good idea to do once a month or every other month. I noticed that when I used a product with cones (i actually used to use Aussie Moist) when I tried to use a DC without cones, such as AO HSR, my hair did not take in as much moisture as usual, and I did not have a shampoo with sulfates at the time.

Hope this helps!

Thanks it really does help.

I was running into the same problem and what helped me tremendously was oil rinsing. You can do a pre-poo treatment with it or add it to your conditioner to add slip.
I typically add avocado, olive, or coconut oil to my hair, finger detangle, and put each detangled section into a twist. Put on a plastic cap and apply heat(heat cap or hooded dryer), then I choose my method of cleansing(dr. Bronner's Castile soap or acv rinse) or go straight into conditioning, add conditioner to each twist and detangle and put my hair back into the twist. Another key for me is to rinse the conditioner out while my hair is still twisted. It sounds like a lot but it's really not that bad. There is a video on youtube vid where this lady demonstrates this but I can't think of her name right now but I hope this gives you an idea or two. My hair is super tightly coiled so I try not to give it a too many chances to wrap around itself.

Here's a GREAT article about protein vs moisture

Click here!!!

Detangling used to be the worst but sectioning my hair has made things so much easier. I put my hair in large twisted sections and shampoo, apply conditioner and comb through one section at a time. Then I rinse retwist and move to the next section. Pre pooing with conditioners such as aubrey organics honeysuckle rose or just plain coconut oil helps out as well. I have been able to cut down my washing and detangling time from 1 hour to 15-20 mins. using these techniques.

I have the same problem. When my hair was shorter it was so much easier to detangle. Now that is has gotten longer I have to detangle in sections. The middle is by far the most difficult section to get to. after deep conditioning I'll part my hair into section and slowly start to detangle. Also I find that letting the water run through my hair without agitating it keep the tangles away. No rubbing your scalp as you rinse.

i have this same issue. do you all leave in the conditioner you use to detangle?

I usually detangle outside of the shower with a leave in conditioner (Jane Carter's). I section my hair into 4 sections before I shampoo and maintain the 4 sections through conditioning, deep conditioning, then detangling with a wide tooth comb with my leave in. For me the secret is the 4 sections of hair. It helps to detangle in the sections as opposed to your whole head. I maintain the same 4 sections when I proceed to style. HTH.

when i detangle: i put in V05 condish and then detangle my hair under running water. this enables the hair to have less single strand knots, allowing your hair to grow better, and retain moisture