Tangle from eternal torment?

[Entangled]

My hair is having issues from a rubber band. I was wearing a headpiece stuck in it for a play, and now I've got a demon tangle. I ha o cut the hair elastic out. I've got silicone spray and conditioner, but it's a stubborn bugger. Additionally, it's at the top back of my head so I can't easily see it. Tips?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Oil? Conditioner? someone friendly and gentle who could help?

[missrandie]

I suggest human intervention from somebody who is gentle and patient.

[meteor]

Do you have some oil on hand? Anything can do, something like mineral/baby oil would probably be best for slip, as well as super-coney conditioner...

Also, something pointy, like a rattail comb or a pin can help undo knots.

Get a second mirror to see the back of your head, so you can see well what you are doing :flower:: you can even use a small mirror in a make-up palette/powder or even use that function on your cell phone or laptop.
Good luck! :D

[RavenMane]

When you or someone else is untangling it, try to spread out the tangle. And gently pull the tangle apart width-wise, to create spaces and looseness. Then free some of the hairs you have loosened. Then stretch sideways again, free more hairs. Do everything slowly and gently.

[Islandgrrl]

Time to phone a friend who has the patience to free one strand at a time. My daughter had one of those crazy matted tangles and it took about 45 minutes and a bunch of conditioner, working one hair at a time out of the mess.

[Daydreamer.]

Try conditioner or maybe oil. Try pulling little pieces apart gently. I usually start at the edges first, then work my way to the core.

[school of fish]

Time and patience... sooo much patience...

I once had a matted tangled mess after a dance performance where I'd rag curled my fine 1a/b hair (I had put my hair up in a ponytail then tightly ragcurled the pony, then wore it down for performance). The whole underside and parts of the top snarled up and matted - I've never experienced anything like that before.

It took I think 3 or 4 hours, spaced over a couple of days, to gradually ease the tangles out. I went one teeny tiny section at a time, very often focusing on single strands. It took everything I had not to give into tearful fruatration and just rip the comb through - although if I'm honest I did give in a few times...

I used a moderately wide tooth comb and no oil/conditioner/detangler/etc - there was already hairspray on those curls (Giovanni IIRC) and I didn't want to add to the mess. I worked my way slowly across the mat from one side to the other, and combed every so gently from the bottom up. I suppose I was working in 1/8-1/4 inch sections at a time, single strands where necessary. Each strand I released I reminded myself was one less I had to do.

It came out eventually, along with a lot of hair. Not so much that anyone else would notice, but I certainly noticed. The rest of the hair recovered just fine. I shampooed it very carefully and drowned it in conditioner the next couple washes, and my hair went back to normal, if a little thinner for the loss of strands.

I think that as I released sections I may have dampened them with water to straighten out the bends and kinks to prevent them from tangling up again, and I know I kept the detangled sections well seperate from the matted section as I worked.

There were tears, and there was wine... and I never set my hair like that again ;)

It's doable :) Good luck!!

[Entangled]

Thanks for your suggestions. The conditioner, spreading ut out, and rat tail comb helped the most. I ended up having to cut some of it out, but because of those suggestions I got a lot of the tangle spread out. The part I had to cut out was a tight dense knot that I couldn't budge at all. It got to the point where I was doing damage to the hair via stretching that I would have to cut out anyways, so that's when had to snip. That was unpleasant. It spawned a lot of their tangles too. Bleh. It probably took a good two hours to get all of my hair detangled, which I had to do because I had to curl it again today. I brought a scarf to pin to the back of my costume to cover most of the sequins, which should decrease tangles.

Yikes. I'm going to have to detangle like crazy every day this week.

[Laurenji]

As soon as I saw this thread I thought "Oh no! It's didn't work!" since I know you were posting earlier about how to curl and maybe rat/tease your hair for a play.

Sequins are the WORST. Also, curly ponytails also tend to get tangled, especially if you're dancing in them. The combination can't be good . . .

If I were anywhere near you, I would totally come help you detangle your hair! In the meantime, I would look for one of those "no tears" tangle-reducing sprays. I know my mom used one on me when I was little. You spray it on and it makes everything much easier to detangle. Though, obviously, it's probably not generally used for tangles as massive as that one sounds . . .

[meteor]

Thanks for your suggestions. The conditioner, spreading ut out, and rat tail comb helped the most. I ended up having to cut some of it out, but because of those suggestions I got a lot of the tangle spread out. The part I had to cut out was a tight dense knot that I couldn't budge at all. It got to the point where I was doing damage to the hair via stretching that I would have to cut out anyways, so that's when had to snip. That was unpleasant. It spawned a lot of their tangles too. Bleh. It probably took a good two hours to get all of my hair detangled, which I had to do because I had to curl it again today. I brought a scarf to pin to the back of my costume to cover most of the sequins, which should decrease tangles.

Yikes. I'm going to have to detangle like crazy every day this week.

Ouch! So sorry this happened and you had to cut a bit out! :grouphug: But hey, just to be extra-safe, is there a chance to use a wig for that costume instead of risking it again with curling? :flower: There are great ways out there to hide even thick and long hair under a wig, e.g. this way (by torrinpaige): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWwYgtpdaqw or by doing a few braids and pinning them around head like flat coronets...

I know it's too late now, but if somebody else is reading... if you can't ask a friend to help you out with the back of your head tangles, you could go to a salon and ask them to help you with this. There are salon services that even undo dreads - might be worth checking out in that situation.

[Entangled]

Thanks for the sympathy, Laurenji and Meteor. The horrible tangle came from a combo of curls, a headpiece stuck in a half pony, and a zipper that zipped up my hair. It was a rough hair day. I knew things were going to be bad when I had to cut out the ponytail holder.


As soon as I saw this thread I thought "Oh no! It's didn't work!" since I know you were posting earlier about how to curl and maybe rat/tease your hair for a play.

Sequins are the WORST. Also, curly ponytails also tend to get tangled, especially if you're dancing in them. The combination can't be good . . .

If I were anywhere near you, I would totally come help you detangle your hair! In the meantime, I would look for one of those "no tears" tangle-reducing sprays. I know my mom used one on me when I was little. You spray it on and it makes everything much easier to detangle. Though, obviously, it's probably not generally used for tangles as massive as that one sounds . . .

Thanks:). A lot of the problem I'm going to try and prevent today. I'm going to pin a scarf over my sequins, since my hair will cover them anyways. That should help with underlayer tangling. I'm going to be more gentle and figure out how to clip the headpiece without wrapping my hair around the ponytail, and when I change into my morph suit (that's where the back-of-the-head zipper comes from) I'm going to use a buff or scarf to cover my hair and protect it. Fortunately, the curling method I used is the least inherently tangling I've tried. It's rag curling by wrapping down a scarf rather than rolling it up around a small rag, and I only used two scarves, so my hair only had two curl patterns which makes it tangle waaaay less. So I think things can go better. Honestly, I worked the tangle to the place where I am see it and I don't think anyone could've gotten it without majorly damaging the hair. I'm not happy about it, but I think I can avoid a repeat performance.

As for wigs, I probably could, but I don't want to spend the money for a high school play, as I probably won't use it too often.


And on the bright side, I didn't have to add teasing-induced tangling to the mess!

[RavenMane]

:( sorry Entangled. It sounds like you're looking at the situation with a good attitude though!

[Laurenji]

If you post a picture of the headpiece, maybe we can help you brainstorm ways to attach it better.

[Entangled]

It's a vertically placed alligator clip (no teeth, just smooth) with a bunch of feathers on top. I suspect the main problem came from a quick backstage change and the fact that I put my hair up in a hurry. If I clip it to the back of the rubber band, maybe there'll be less of an issue.

[Entangled]

Great news! The scarf worked, and there are no mats in my hair like yesterday. Mg headpiece didn't tangle my hair, and I avoided the hair getting in the zipper. Success!

[lapis_lazuli]

That's great! :D:applause No more tangles!

[Laurenji]

Hooray! I'm so glad you don't have to try and detangle that awful knot every day you'll be in the play.

[missrandie]

Yay! I'm so glad it worked for you!

[truepeacenik]

Entangled, I'm so happy you are now Detangled!

[meteor]

Yay! So happy to hear it worked out, Entangled! :joy: What a relief! :toast:

[Entangled]

Entangled, I'm so happy you are now Detangled!


Good one! :lol: As am I.

[lapushka]

I'm glad that ended well. Phew. :)

[Arctic]

Great to hear you found a solution! As for the first night (following the other tongue in cheek comment) - you know how they always say: Break a leg hair! to bring good luck, without jinxing it :laugh: And it worked!

[librarychick]

For future reference, you can also use cornstarch to add slip. It's a dog grooming trick, but works on our hair too. You saturate the knot with cornstarch, really knead/work it in, then you can start to gently comb out. I know that my hair becomes MUCH less cooperative when wet, so dry detangling sometimes needs cornstarch for assistance if I've put it off too long.