Holy rat's nest batman! Advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeno86]

I have what my mom calls "baby fine hair". I love wearing my hair down and yes it does tangle, which I am use to that but I've never had it get this bad. This is my hair down after five hours at the Renaissance Festival. It took me near 40 minutes to comb it out and I lost two really big knots that I could not comb out. I don't know if it was the dust in the air or what but I need to find a way to keep my hair from getting this bad again. Does anyone have any advice that might save my hair?http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z325/Ronin_Kitra623/a21e3416-b696-46f8-a466-efa560f52a8d_zpseeb2b759.jpg

[ravenreed]

Catnip rinses help my hair not be so tangly. However, when I wear my hair down, I just deal with the fact that it will be a pain to detangle. Sometimes I hope in the shower and coat my hair with conditioner first.

[alexis917]

When I was younger my hair was always down and messy.
My mom hated having to help me brush through it,
so we used a ton of conditioner and a wide toothed comb on wet hair.
That helped a lot!

[melusine963]

Perhaps a coney, leave-in serum, or some oil as a leave-in? I would also bring a comb or brush and detangle throughout the day.

[AMD]

Going back to 'cones has helped me tremendously and brought detangling down to 20% of the time it previously took. Sometimes I also try to finger-comb throughout the day, but my success with that varies.

[kpzra]

My daughter has hair like that (she will wake up with mini dreads if she sweats during the night) and I have to bring hair ties and braid it if it gets too bad. She also likes using mommys hair stick so if I have one I'll use that since she is mid back length. I use spray conditioner/detangler and a tanglefix when we get home. She's 3 so I have to be gentle.

[CurlyCap]

I'd try experimenting with protein-free leave-in conditioners.

My hair considers tangling it's forte. I've noticed that while my hair doesn't look any different with and without leave-in conditioner, at the end of the day, it's certainly easier to detangle.

[jacqueline101]

I'd try the coney serum.

[torrilin]

I have what my mom calls "baby fine hair". I love wearing my hair down and yes it does tangle, which I am use to that but I've never had it get this bad. This is my hair down after five hours at the Renaissance Festival. It took me near 40 minutes to comb it out and I lost two really big knots that I could not comb out. I don't know if it was the dust in the air or what but I need to find a way to keep my hair from getting this bad again. Does anyone have any advice that might save my hair?http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z325/Ronin_Kitra623/a21e3416-b696-46f8-a466-efa560f52a8d_zpseeb2b759.jpg

Looks like you're not using enough conditioner and you're probably rushing the detangling so you have lots of splits and breakage higher up in your hair, not just at the very ends. That is pretty typical tangly for me if I wear my hair down, and I'd expect it to take an hour or two to detangle, and a *lot* of conditioner.

I'd pretty much never wear my hair down for Faire. I'm not a young maiden where it'd be even remotely period, and I'm not crazy enough to want to run around in the sun without a hat. A nape bun of some sort with a coif or cap over it is period, comfortable, and looks good. If you want fancier, hats, hoods and veils can all be appropriate depending on your taste and budget. Or if you're me and you go to freak out the Faire staff with massive Renaissance fiber geekery, almost anything can work and "regular" street clothes tend to be more efficient.

[Of the Fae]

I use spray from Elvive sometimes, a sort of leave in with silicone. It provides slip and eases out the knots plus helps prevent them. I have the same notoriously tangly hair ;)

[katiebeans]

If you insist on wearing your hair down, the only advice that comes to my mind is carrying a comb with you to detangle throughout the day. I do this in the fall/winter because hoods on my jackets and sweatshirts always tangle the back of my hair :mad: Otherwise, I would braid or bun it. Surely those styles can be adjusted to suit Renaissance Fair very well :D

[jeanniet]

If you have that much tangling, I'd detangle in the shower with your hair drenched in a slippy conditioner. Tresemme Naturals or Kinky Curly Knot Today are both really good for detangling. Your hair should be completely coated, then use a wide-toothed comb and start detangling from the bottom up. Sometimes it helps to finger detangle first to get the worst of the tangles, and then use the comb to get the rest.

[DancingQueen]

Well, for detangling, I would probably use lots of patience and oil, and slowly try to comb it out. I am afraid I don't have many ideas about preventing it, my hair tangles as well when I leave it down. I will keep an eye on the thread though, maybe someone else have some more useful ideas than me. :)

[starlamelissa]

I detangle in The shower with lots of conditioner. I like tresemme moisture rich vitamin e ( lots of good detangling cones in there) or copious amounts of a thin conditioner, like vo5 if I don't want to shampoo it.

If I must detangle dry, I saturate the knot with a kids detangler, separate it from the rest of the hair, and slowly pick it apart with the rat tail of a rat tail comb. I hold the hair with my fingers just above the mat, to prevent it from pulling or breaking my hair.

Avoidance- I always use baby oil on my hair post shower. I keep a hair accessory with me so I can do a quick and dirty braid or bun. I also like half ups to reduce tangles.

[starlamelissa]

My son says "he is sad you got tangle, I want you to have regular hair, like good plain hair."

He is four, and this meant the world that I typed that for him.

[leslissocool]

My son says "he is sad you got tangle, I want you to have regular hair, like good plain hair."

He is four, and this meant the world that I typed that for him.


Awwww sweety!


I ecco detangling in the shower when wet full of conditioner, first with fingers, then really use more cones or oils. It seems like you really need slip.

[JadeTigress]

When my hair gets like that, and it does every summer, I get that cheapy dollar store kids detangling spray. I spray it until my hair is saturated, and then get to work combing it, spraying more if needed. It takes awhile, especially when my hair was still classic length, but I don't lose much hair. Works like a charm. :)

[Isilme]

Yes, carry a comb and detangle during the day to prevent big knots like this from forming. A microtrim now and then also cuts down on the tangling:) I understand that you want to wear your hair down, why have long hair if you can't enjoy it in your preferred way? Hope you had fun!

[Anje]

Well, when I wore mine loose at the Ren Faire, I know it was dusty, which didn't help the tangles at all. The fact that I had dumped gobs of olive oil in my hair is probably what made the difference between your hair and mine. (The oil had all absorbed or been worn off in that day, too.)

Looking back, I'd say that an even better method might have been to put in massive quantities of silicone serum, even though I usually avoid the stuff. Lots of slip and protection, plus a substance that won't get dust clinging to it the way oil can.