Wash day - Detangling

Detangling, detangling, detangling. Before I became a natural, I dreaded ever becoming a natural because I thought 4c hair is so difficult to comb or detangle, but ever since I went natural I look back at myself and I'm like chilee, what were you so afraid of?

Anyway, the detangling stage is very important to maintaining your length because if it goes wrong, your hair can break, fall or get even more tangled which we all don't want.

It is very important to not detangle your hair when it is dry!!. I think it is best to detangle your hair after deep conditioning since your hair will be moist and therefore easier to manipulate and your deep conditioner should also provide the necessary slip to allow your detangling tool to glide through. But if you don't prefer to detangle after deep conditioning, just make sure that when you do detangle, your hair is not dry ( you could spray some water on your hair).

Another good time to detangle is when moisturizing your hair (I detangle during this stage) because you will only have to detangle once whereas if you detangle after deep conditioning, tangles could form when you are rinsing the deep conditioner out if you don't have your hair in sections.

Which detangling tools are best?

Personally I finger detangle and I have seen that this is most beneficial because there is less tension to the scalp and hair, you can easily feel the major tangles and there is very little breakage., but there are some days that I use a wide tooth comb so I can get some of those smaller tangles out of my hair.

If you prefer to use a detangling tool, make sure it's bristles are not too closely spaced because that will cause breakage, also do a bit of research on whatever tool you want to try on youtube. When you detangle, start from your ends and work your way up to the roots to prevent tension and breakage.

PS: Say it with me - never detangle your hair when it is dry!                                                                                                                                                                   Also work in small sections :)

https://www.byrdie.com/best-detangling-brushes-for-4c-hair-5087076

https://lovingkinkycurls.com/how-to-detangle-4c-hair/

By Misimiswa Magoro