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Guys, oh, man, have I been stupid for the last 7 years....
I checked out some info on long hair maintenance on another site the other night, and found out that it's very BAD to use a BRUSH on your hair, especially when it's still wet. I've been using brushes since the day I started letting my hair grow, and always manage to find myself having to empty the bristles of broken hairs after brushing. Tonight, I bought myself a wide-toothed, smooth comb (the kind that don't have ediges on the teeth where both sides of the comb have been molded together), specially designed to detangle both wet and dry hair.
I used it for the first time tnight, and even though it's going to take time to repair the frizziness caused by brushes, I could actually feel a difference in my hair after using the comb in place of the brush. The comb was much gentler and broke fewer hairs than I have ever broken with brushes in the same amount of time it takes me detangle and style it.
I'm going to be scheduling an appointment, soon, with a hair salon near where I live who specializes in helping people grow and maintain long hair (they're called Salon Design). They're expensive, but I know my hair would appreciate the new-found extra care I've started giving it. The last time I had my split-ends cut (7 months ago), I did it myself. I'm finding myself thinking that that was a mistake, but my hair doesn't seem any worse for the wear. I'm going to start having my hair professionally done again, in an effort to help get it to my desired length with healthier results and improved speed of growth.
Bottom line: If you're using a brush now, throw it away and switch to a comb (wide-toothed, with no edging). Your hair will thank you for it. If I didn't know any better, I would swear I could heard my hair cheering for joy when I combed it tonight after showering (grin).
Take care!
How far are the teeth apart, i.e., how wide is the gap between them?
(The scientist in me wants to know so I can be sure of getting the
right one.)
You may have mentioned it in your first message, but, out of
curiosity, what is your desired length?
Thanks for the info! Keep it growin'...
- Paul
Nyghtfall, you certainly are right about brushes. They are evil things, especially for fine hair like mine. (But, I still have a use for my brush on my beard which, unlike my hair, is coarse and curly).
That's a great tip about the comb having smooth teeth. I have been using a large comb with wide-spaced flexible teeth but, after reading your remarks about the ridges from the mold, I looked closely at it, and indeed, there are such ridges. Do you know a good source of combs with smooth teeth?
My hair is now long enough for me to closely examine the end of my ponytail and I can feel that the hair is definitely rougher near the ends, with a few hairs having a kink in the last quarter-inch or so, but no split ends. I haven't trimmed the hair for two years (and don't intend to for several years more, at least), so I'm probably not doing too badly.
How often do you comb out your hair? I feel that there needs to be a compromise between combing too often and wearing out the hair, and combing too seldom, so tangles can build up, especially with hair that has come loose at the roots and can snarl with the remaining hair. I have been combing my hair completely out twice a day, and always comb it out before washing it to dimish the chance a tangles in the wet hair.
This is interesting. I rarely comb my hair and rarely brush my beard. The hairs in my beard are so thick a brush would not do much. Ironically, my beard is loaded with split ends but my scalp hair has very few. I find it to be easiest to maintain with a Goody brush with Teflon coated metal tines with plastic knobs on the end. For detangling, I don't stroke my hair but insert the tines and pull them back out with a very small amount of pressure letting the little balls do all the work. Combs are too rough on the hair.
Victor, thanks for the tip about using the Goody brush. I got
one sometime ago, but didn't have much success probably because I
wasn't using it properly. When used gently, as you describe, it works great as I have been trying it the last couple of days. I also have learned a lot more about hair care from the (Women's) long hair site, and, more recently, from this site so my tangles are much less severe than before. (When tangles are really severe, even the Goody brush, being much more massive than the comb, can break hair more easily when it suddenly gets stopped by the tangle. Then the only solution is the laborious pulling the tangles apart with the fingers and using a comb very gently to isolate the detangled hair from the still tangled hair).
I picked mine up at the grocery store, although I don't remember what brand it is (I threw out the cardboard packaging it came in with the trash yesterday morning). I would assume any good quality, well-stocked beauty supply store would have the combs as well.
If you don't have a lot of split-ends as a result of not having had it trimmed in a while, then you probably are pretty well off. However, I have read (and know from personal experience) that, if you go in for regular split-end checkups and trimmings (usually every 6 - 7 months), it allows the hair to grow faster because any split ends aren't given the chance to split very far up toward the scalp, which can cause the hair to break more easily. When you trim split-ends, you're giving your hair a chance to maintain its strength, resulting in quickened hair growth.
Twice a day.
I think it really depends on personal preference, and the fact that not everyone's hair grows at the same rate of speed, nor does everyone's hair grow the same way, etc.. From what I've read and experienced, daily combing is extremely healthy for your hair, because the very act itself helps spread the natural oils in your hair, therefore giving your hair a theraputic "massage". The reason for this is that it actually helps to strengthen your hair, because you're replenishing the oils in the portions of your hair that need it the most. Daily combing also reduces the risk of more tangles, thereby reducing the risk of breaking more hair while detangling.
All the more reason to comb it daily. If you allow your hair to tangle, I would think that the added detangling would cause more stress on the roots and cause a greater risk of breakage.
Excellent.
I do the same thing. One of the best things you can do for your hair before showering is detangling it while it's still dry. Good deal.
Nyghtfall,
Thanks for the very thoughtful reply. I have just a couple of
comments:
Yes, if split ends are a big problem, cutting them before they
split further would result in a net saving of hair. On the other hand, cutting hair merely gives split ends a new place to start closer up to the scalp, so one needs to cut the minimum that does the job.
It would seem that the best route would be to examine the hair in detail and only cut those hairs that have split, and cut them just above the progress of the split. This process could be done frequently
(monthly?) instead of waiting 6-7 months. Of course, the tips of the
hair deteriorate in other ways than splitting, so occasional trims
will improve the appearance of the tips.