new thread
Now that I've reached a year+ of growth, I'm starting to develop some tangles which break easily after combing. I quit brushing my hair because I feel a comb is more accessible and is more hair-friendly. Especially if the teeth are well-spaced apart.
I still use the combing technique I used when I had short hair and that's combing from the top and moving my way down. This is becoming a problem as I always get my comb in some sort of tangled hair and it rips it right off the scalp. I really hate this feeling and want to care well for my hair.
Right now, I am pleased with how my hair looks and feels at the top, sides and upper back area. The lower back is just too damn tangled and somewhat curly...maybe even damaged. I don't want to get a trim or anything, I just want to style it/comb it in a way where I don't manage to find any strand of hair between the teeth of the comb.
Now, people around here keep telling me to 'start from the ends and work my way up'...
Sorry for being a total idiot, but I just don't get what you're trying to say. -__- Start from the ends and work my way up? How in the hell do you do that? Like...do you comb the end section and remove the comb and start an inch above that section and another inch above, and so on? I have been doing that but I still get these tangles/broken hairs. Maybe a video description could help or something? I seriously don't understand this start from the ends method...
Also, are some of the hairs on my comb just hair that's been shed since I don't ALWAYS hear/feel the snapping, but still find a couple of strands. Any confirmation of this would make me feel a hell of a lot better.
Oh, as for 'finger-combing', do you put two fingers between your hair and slide them downwards or what? I really need to know specifics because this is the BIGGEST problem I have with my hair right now. The tangles and breakage need to stop or reduced greatly.
Hey Emagdne, I can understand how this is a problem of semantics rather than technique. I'm sorry that there has been room for any misinterpretation. Finger-combing is simply using your fingers to comb through your hair; someone else or others here also refer to the technique as finger-raking or hand-raking because that's essentially what you're doing.
Starting AT the hair tips, say, after you've checked for split ends, slowly fimger-comb your way, carefully, section by section, lock by lock, that way any tangles that you encounter can be addressed specifically as to not damage and/or tear your hair the way you described.
Eventually, once your hair has been completely degnarled, you can THEN comb through it with a wide-oothed comb followed by a good boar's bristles brush brushing,
Other people here tend to use hair care products other than shampoo and a good conditioner, some using water only washings. I need to use a dandruff shampoo periodically, too, since I just don't have the extra income to load up the shower stall or medicine cabinet with the proliferation of hair care products that there are out there.
Anyone else?
Q.
All combing is still done in a downward direction, of course! When people say "start at the bottom and work your way up" they mean this:
If you were to label your roots "point A" and your ends "point E", and places in between them "B", "C", and "D", you first comb from D to E. Then you comb from C to E. Then you comb from B to E. Then you comb it all, from A to E. That explanation assumes you broke your hair into four segments, but you may choose to take it on in more or less than that.
The logic is that most tangles occur near the ends, while you have sheddings all over. You don't want to catch all your sheddings and cram them into tangles near the end. This can cause knotting. By getting the tangles out of the area of the ends first, then as you work your way up and catch sheddings, they should slide on off your head without getting caught.
Clean your comb of any sheddings each time, of course. It defeats the whole purpose if you don't. You'd just be cycling them through your mane again with the possibility of their being caught in your hair, and the whole purpose of combing your mane in segments is to minimize that.
Bill
Thanks. I now understand what I have to do!
I vote this explanation goes into the FAQ's section of the board.
peace
clayton
We could take on an FAQ for hair care issues here on the MLHH site, of course. The problem would probably be that there is TOO MUCH information out there, and what one wants to know would be way too buried among other stuff for those who aren't prone to read a lot. [grin] That is why most people ask for help on the board, actually, rather than because the information is not available.
Bill
My hair gets really tangled if I get carried away dancing (that's what I call it!) in nightclubs or at concerts. It generally takes about half an hour to de-tangle it, if I remember I do this on the night bus home (unless I'm drunk -- if I'm drunk I don't trust myself not to break hairs so I leave it until the next morning).
- Separate the hair at the back in the middle, put one side (left/right) forwards over your shoulder, the other back out of the way.
- I spread it out so it's 'flat' by shaking it a bit, otherwise it's probably all in a tube shape.
- I put my fingers in about 15cm from the end and try and comb them out. When they snag, I choose one of the snags to deal with and drop the others (i.e. just deal with one snagged finger at a time).
- I usually hold the hair with my other hand above the snag and see if it will come loose easily, just by dragging my finger through. My hair is quite slippery and very straight, it usually does.
- If it doesn't, or if I think it might break, I have a look where the snag is too see if there's a knot. These usually come undone just by putting the knot between my thumb and finger and pulling it gently away from my head. Very occasionally, pulling one hair out of the knot is necessary.
- Continue gently finger combing from 15cm from the end of the hair. When there's no snags at 15cm from the end, I do 30cm, then 45cm, then 15cm on the other side, etc, then right from the middle of my head (60cm?).
- By the time I get home I should be OK to comb it gently.
I end up with a lot of hairs in my lap. None of them broke while I was detangling (as far as I know), they're the result of my dancing.
If I'm going to a concert and I want to dance/mosh I won't wash my hair beforehand, I think it's stronger and easier to detangle if there's grease and sweat rather than just sweat. But I don't want greasy hair if I go to a nightclub, so I wash it then.
Yes. Every time I comb my hair there's a couple of hairs on the comb.