Tips to Detangle Curly/Frizzy Hair with Minimal Breakage

Most African-American women have curly and frizzy hair that are prone to breakage. Even though this is a common problem, most women are still unaware about how to detangle their hair so as to avoid maximum breakage. Detangling plays a big role in the health of your hair. Here are some useful tips on how to save your hair from breakage by detangling the right way!

Tip#1: Importance of wetting and conditioning

It might be helpful to wet your hair completely and apply a good amount of silky smooth conditioners immediately after that.

When your hair is still damp and you apply sufficient amount of conditioner to it, it becomes much easier to detangle. This is because the much needed lubrication is offered by the conditioner and water which make the hair slippery. So the comb can run easily through your hair without causing unnecessary breakage.

Tip#2 Use the right tools and products for detangling curly hair

Majority of the women with curly and frizzy hair will agree that fingers can be the ideal tool for detangling hair. But this technique only works for those who have a lot of time and patience. Otherwise, it is best to get hold of a wide-tooth comb or a brush (especially designed for detangling curly hair).

Consider cream-based conditioners and leave-in conditioners to be your best detangling friends. If you try and detangle your hair without them, you will most likely experience a lot of breakage and hair damage.

Tip#3: Detangle in sections

This is one of the most important tips for women with curly, frizzy and/or rough-textured hair. Detangling in section can save you from a lot of hair breakage. Once you have applied conditioner to your hair, divide it into 5 to 8 sections. You will feel less stressed when you focus on a single section of hair at a time instead of attempting to detangle all your hair in one go. This method of detangling also guarantees that all parts of the hair are detangled and no knots are left behind.

Tip#4: Begin detangling from the hair ends 

It is a crime to start detangling your hair from the roots. You will cause excessive breakage when you get stuck in the middle because the ends of your hair are all tangled. Instead, start the detangling process from the hair ends and slowly go up. This will cause much less breakage.

Follow these simple and effective tips to tame your beautiful curly hair and prevent them from breaking!

Four Hair Care Habits You Need to Give up on Right Away!

Curly hair is not easy to maintain of course, but having straight hair has its own troubles too. Also most of the times it is the hair care mistakes from your side that could be the reason for you losing your hair, literally! Your friends with straight hair may have shared hair care tips with you that might have worked amazingly for them, but they may not necessarily work on you. The hair care ritual for curly, kinky hair is different and here are four things that may be causing all the harm to your locks.

Being harsh with your hair

Your hair is delicate and expects you to take care of it with some love. Curly hair gets knotted easily and one of the biggest mistakes, which women with kinky hair commit, is to run the comb through their hair roughly to get rid of the knots. That is just wrong! Pulling through knotted hair will only lead to breakage, leaving you with weak, brittle hair, which clearly does not create a pretty picture. Instead work on small sections of hair to comb through the knots gently. It will ask for extra time of course, but you will love the results.

Quick tip: Do your hair a favor, don't use plastic combs on your curly hair, unless you want frizz.

Skipping the oil

Oiling is among the best and simplest ways of keeping your hair nourished and hydrated. By skipping on oiling your curls, you will only be making your hair dry and preventing it from getting the much needed moisture. Oiling your hair regularly is also said to improve the scalp's blood circulation. All it takes is a few drop of warm oil massaged gently all over your hair. Again, work in sections to ensure that the oil covers your hair and scalp evenly.

Chemical control

Too many chemicals can never be good for your hair, no matter what the product claims. So make it a habit to use natural, organic products for your curly hair to keep it healthy. Avoid shampoos with sulfate, which take away all the moisture from hair.

Washing your hair often

Among the best things about having African American hair is that you do not need to wash it often. Washing your hair more than twice a week can hamper the natural oil production process of your scalp, and you don't want to mess with it! Shampooing your hair just once a week should work fine. If you find you hair getting oily between washes, you can spritz some dry shampoo on your comb and brush through.

Do make it a point to deep condition your curly hair at least once in two weeks.

Want to Try No-Poo? The Curly Girl Method is the Way to Go

The no-poo hair routine has become quite popular in the Afro-American community. First described in Curly Girl: The Handbook, this method is specifically designed to nourish dry hair and for better curl definition. For girls and women who want to adopt it into their hair care routines, this is how you should go about it.

Why should you opt for the no shampoo routine?

Afro-American hair is curly and is porous in nature than most other hair types. This makes it very difficult for the shampoo to get washed off the hair leading to frizz and other manageability issues. The no-poo method requires you to eliminate the use of silicone based hair products, because it is this component that is most difficult to get rid of without the use of shampoo. Using only conditioners for washing your hair while continuing to use silicone products will only make matters worse and your hair looking dull and lifeless.

What kind of a conditioner should you use for the no-poo wash method?

It is of critical importance to choose the right kind of conditioner for to be able to successfully go without shampoo. The conditioner should have emollients, proteins and humectants that provide moisture and nutrition to your hair. The greater the ratio of natural ingredients the better the conditioner will be for your hair.

How to no-poo?

No-poo is also known as co-washing or conditioner washing. Follow the following steps to make it work for you.

• Wet your hair properly and apply a small amount of conditioner on your scalp. Use your fingertips to work it through all the segments of the scalp and massage well.

• Repeat the step if required, until your scalp is properly, but gently scrubbed.

• Rinse off the conditioner with warm water, continue to massage and provide a little bit of friction for the residue to dissolve.

• Then take some more conditioner and apply it on your hair strands just like before.

• Detangle your curls with fingers or a wide toothed comb.

• Gather up your hair and clip it over your head. Finish taking your shower and in the end wash off your hair with cool water.

• Do not rub off the moisture but instead squeeze off the extra moisture from your hair. You want to minimize friction and prevent frizz.

For more details on how to define curls and use hair products with this particular method go through the entire book. It is a very helpful method of keeping your hair clean especially if they have been damaged due to chemical and heat use. 

How To Have a Tangle Free Wash and Go?

Although wash and go sounds easy enough, for Afro-American women, it is a different ball game altogether. This is because as the hair dries naturally, it tends to shrink and get caught up in tangles, intertwining with the rest of the hair. This causes it to stand out in different directions, making it look un-groomed and unprofessional. It is for this reason that a lot of women fall back on heat styling their hair, even though it can be damaging, when done frequently.

There is a way to have a tangle-free wash and go if you start directing your hair while washing it.

Steps to get tangle free natural hair

• Section off your hair while washing – It is better to divide your hair in sections with the help of plastic clips while washing and conditioning your hair. It prevents all the hair from getting jumbled together, reducing the occurrence of tangles from the word go. Usually four to five sections are enough for most Afro-American hair types.

• Finger detangling – It is best to detangle your hair gently with your fingers both before and after using washing and conditioning products in your hair. If you do not have a hair fall and breakage problem, a complete detangle works best to keep your curls free and bouncy.

• Product application in sections – Whatever product you wish to treat your hair with, be it natural hair styling products or African American hair care shampoos, make sure that you continue to follow the sectioning rule. This not only makes sure that the nutrition and moisture reaches even the tiniest parts of the hair, but also prevents the bunching up of hair that results in more shrinkage and tangles.

• Focus on the roots – Applying a good moisturizer automatically helps prevent tangles to a large extent, but it is usually the roots where the confusion occurs. Do not ignore the roots while applying product of a painless comb and finger detangling on wet as well as dry hair.

• Satiny bliss – Make it a point to sleep on satin pillow cases or with a satin hair scarf. This reduces friction and hence, reduces the occurrence of tangles. Cotton is a strict no. It irritates the hair strands and absorbs all the moisture from it, leading to frizz.

There are many other ways by which you can achieve a tangle free wash and go, but following the above tips are easy, and do not require the use of too much styling products.

Get Gorgeous Bouncy Curls Without Heat

Curls always look good on any kind of hair or any kind of hair type, but it requires a hot curling iron to nearly singe the straightness out of your hair right? Not necessarily, as there are ways to curl hair without using curling irons and damaging the hair for a curly bounce that does not even last that long. Here is one way to do it. 

• Firstly, you need to wash and condition your hair as you normally would. 

• Your hair has to be damp and not entirely dry. Don't blow dry your hair, for you may not get that even dampness all round, you do not want wet, damp and dry spots all over your head. Towel it or tie up your hair  and remove all the wetness. You will need a 60 to 70 percent dampness still remaining. 

• Remove all knots and tangles in your hair. Use a wide toothed comb or better still, your fingers and gently disentangle your hair. You need a nice smooth base to work with. Tangled hair is very difficult to work with.

• Wear an elastic head band over your head and behind your ears. It has to be firm and not too tight. Also make sure that there is no hair sitting over the band, all the hair has got to be tucked underneath the band. 

• Take a small bunch of hair about an inch wide, form a curl and tuck it under the band. Make it look like a twisted loop. The strand should have gone under and around the band from front to back. You need to keep on repeating this till you have a roll of hair strand around the band. 

• Work from front to back and do it over and over again till all of your hair has been wrapped around the hair band. 

• Work all of the hair eventually covering even the hair at the base of your head. All the hair has to be looped. This is crucial. 

• Sleep on the roll, the next morning, slowly unfurl the band and you've got yourself some lovely curls!

This is not the  best way to go about curls and certainly not the only way. There are a lot of other methods that can be used to curl your hair. This is a way that can be done safely on hair types.