Comb: A love hate relationship!

My best friend and the devil

For the past few weeks I have drastically changed my natural hair care routine. The main thing I changed was putting down the wide tooth comb and trying dry finger detangling with olive oil. Putting down my wide tooth comb proved disastrous for me. My hair has a love hate relationship with the wide tooth comb. When I use it faithful to detangle my hair each week before washing, it works wonders. When I do not use it as I learned during my dry finger detangle debacle, I discover tons of single strand knots. Not using a comb contributes to the production of split ends on my fine and fragile hair. On the other hand, should I comb my hair daily, I might see tons of breakage, and if I comb my hair dry, I can kiss my hair goodbye!

I had been combing my hair with the wide tooth comb using some cheap conditioner. I found that I was struggling and I felt like my hair was being riped through my comb. I was becoming so frustrated. I was beginning to think my hair could not be combed at all. What I discovered was that I was applying the conditioner to my hair and instantly combing it. I was not allowing the conditioner time to penetrate my hair shaft and bring moisture to my strands. When my hair is supple, it is pliable, flexible and elastic, it is more durable and can be combed with the wide tooth comb. By sitting with the conditioner on my head for at-least 20 minutes I have hair that is much easier to comb.

What I observed through dry detangling with olive oil, is that my hair does not do well when it is stretched to within an inch of it’s life without moisture. My stretched hair was brittle and my brittle hair was prone to breakage, even from the gentle touch of my fingers. My hair produced tons of knots. When I was putting the oil’s onto my dry hair, that eats up oil’s, I was only making my hair more dry.

The major lesson I learned is that in order for my hair to be happy, I have to use a wide tooth comb on moisturized hair. By deep conditioning my hair prior to combing, I have hair that is easier to comb. When I comb my hair weekly I remove the shed hairs that pile up during the week and have an easier time to detangle the next week.

My routine is as follows:

1.      Remove style (usually two strand twist)

2.      Apply conditioner and twist hair in sections and sit for 20 min with plastic cap

3.      Use wide tooth comb to detangle and braid hair

4.      Wash hair using a sulfate-free shampoo ( I heart design essentials, and shea moisture)

5.      Apply a leave in to braided hair (I like design essentials daily hair lotion)

6.      Seal with a smidge of oil (Always add oil to moisturized hair for moi)

7.      Allow hair to air-dry for as long as I feel like it (over night or a few hours)

8.      Twist hair using a cream of butter (design essentials curl stretching cream is nice)

9.      Style hair in a bun of sorts or two large French braids

10.   Repeat process after 7 days

CLM