Extremly tangleprone fine hair

[Cassyopeia]

My hair is so tangled it is driving me nuts. My hair is fine I think, but I have lots of it, and I get lots of small tangles. Just 2 strands knotted together. And if I try to grab a small section, all the surrounding hair sticks with it, like spidersweb, which makes braiding almost impossible. It's not stick, more grabby if that makes sense.
If I comb it, and tilt my head a little, so there is just some movement to the hair it gets tangled again! And when I separate those small tangles, the hair that was tangled has lots of dents and kinks in it, until I wash it again.

I have been removing protein from my regiment the last months, because my hair felt stiff, and hoped it would improve the tangled mess. Otherwise my hair feels okay. It doesnt seem to lack moisture.

I wash my hair about every 4-5 days. I alternate between conditioning or coconut oiling my ends before using a sls- and sles-free shampoo, then coney condish and vinegar rinse. I use jojoba oil after. I clarify when needed. I also use the SMT about every 10th wash.

Does my hair need protein after all? Or is this just the curse of fine hair?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Wear it up - (in a bun, not a ponytail) don't give it the chance to tangle. And keep it confined in a sleeping cap for sleeping. It stopped my fine hair (very fine) from tangling), just these two things. Like magic.

[Wusel]

Stop using coconut oil. It makes my hair tangly too. And maybe try some cones...? The ogx argan oil of morocco extra penetrating oil is a 100% remedy for tangly hair. :) Oil with cones.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Stop using coconut oil. It makes my hair tangly too. And maybe try some cones...? The ogx argan oil of morocco extra penetrating oil is a 100% remedy for tangly hair. :) Oil with cones.

Coconut oil works fine for me as a pre wash and doesn't increase tangling for me. It must be one of those "your mileage may vary" kind of things.

[Wusel]

Coconut oil works fine for me as a pre wash and doesn't increase tangling for me. It must be one of those "your mileage may vary" kind of things.

Ymmv... Yes. :) Coconut as pre wash made my hair extremely tangly. I got a head full of dreadlocks with only one wash :D

[Cassyopeia]

My longest hair is about halfway between apl and bsl, and the shortest layers just above apl, so my bunning options are limited. But I should do them more often. My biggest issue is always feeling dressed up with my hair in a bun. Just not used to it I guess 😊 I can't even wear a cardigan or a blouse without feeling like I'm on my way to a party. What about braids? When my hair is wet or newly washed it is braidable.

I don't think coconut oil is the culprit for me. It was like this before I started using it. And I got a coney argan oil serum for use after shower, but I feel it makes my ends crunchy. It does help a bit with detangling if I put a bit in the tangle, but doesn't seem to prevent them.

[Amapola]

I have super-fine very tangly hair. I finally started using cones... LOTS of cones. I'm a conehead, LOL! I also use a coney oil that I get at Sally's. I use it when my hair is nearly but not quite dry.

It is also true that the secret is not to allow it to tangle (although mine tangle if I breathe). So I keep my hair up all the time, I also put it up with spin pins for the night, and I sleep on a satin pillowcase. (You can also get those at Sally's.) These days my hair is nearly well-behaved! :lol: Not QUITE, but closer than it has ever been before!

[Anje]

Well, my hair does that if it gets over-proteined, but if you've eliminated protein and the problem has worsened, maybe your hair is the opposite. Is the problem better or worse after you SMT?

[meteor]

My longest hair is about halfway between apl and bsl, and the shortest layers just above apl, so my bunning options are limited. But I should do them more often. My biggest issue is always feeling dressed up with my hair in a bun. Just not used to it I guess �� I can't even wear a cardigan or a blouse without feeling like I'm on my way to a party. What about braids? When my hair is wet or newly washed it is braidable.

I don't think coconut oil is the culprit for me. It was like this before I started using it. And I got a coney argan oil serum for use after shower, but I feel it makes my ends crunchy. It does help a bit with detangling if I put a bit in the tangle, but doesn't seem to prevent them.

Yes, braids are good for containing hair. I'd just avoid really complex (multi-sectioning) kinds of braids: e.g. crown braid, fishtail, lace, etc, if the hair is very tangle-prone, but stick with English braids and braids built on them...
You can even pin your braid(s) up for an updo to keep it from frizzing up and rubbing on clothes and getting caught in stuff. ;)

Generally speaking, I'd recommend going for things that increase slip for you: experiment with different cones and oils. I like mineral oil and amodimethicone, but everybody needs to find their own best combos, since hair can be so different.

Also, when was the last time you clarified? Sometimes grabby tangly hair is indicative of product or mineral build-up.
Do you have a schedule for clarifying and chelating (if you have hard water where you live)? If not, it might be worth a try. :flower:

[lapushka]

I have F hair and lots of it. It tangled at around BSL when I didn't use silicones. Now I condition twice after a sulfate wash and that helps me a lot, I find. But YMMV as always with these things. It's just what helps me.

[yahirwaO.o]

I think you a great candidate for clarify then follow with generous coneys and say bye to coconut oil or any protein base thingy.

Im sure all these things above are going to help a lot, especially cones! Of course wearing it up is nice too!

I'm a finey too but my hair rarely ever tangles and I wear mine 90'% down (sleep time, wind blows etc) I just use MO and that's it. Like other have mentioned we all have different types of hair.

[Llama]

I have the same issue. It doesn't matter if I've used cones, clarified, deep conditioned, etc... my hair just gets so tangly if I wear it down.
Wearing it up or braided is the only thing that has worked for me so far. Well that and having my hair coated in oil.

[pailin]

I like the image of the hair sticking like spider's web- that's what mine does. I very much agree with keeping hair confined to prevent tangles. I've also recently started detangling only dry hair and it really is easier- it doesn't keep retangling itself like it does wet. But whatever works best for you.
I finally learned to french braid, but I'm veeeeery slow at it because I have to constantly finger-detangle as I braid. Also the first few times I lost a lot of hair. I really like using oils as a leave in before bunning or braiding because it helps it to stay together better as I work- fewer flyaways stuck to my face, fewer random hairs getting pulled accidentally. Also my hands have to be perfectly dry or hairs stick to my skin.

[Horrorpops]

I agree with PPs, silicones helped a lot, wearing it in braids or up makes it way less tangly.
And I also just resign myself to some of the tangles and take care with combing.

And my hair is a little less tangly now that I don't use heat tools, I think heat damage made my hair extra tangly. Either way it sounds like there are lots of good ideas in this thread :)

[Anje]

Want to post the ingredients list of your conditioner? I'm just wondering if there's protein in there or some other problematic ingredient that you missed.

[LongCurlyTress]

I also have alot of tangling and shedding/breaking due to coconut oil on my braid tassel ends. Once I stopped using C oil and use now, only evoo or sweet almond oil on my sleeping braid tassel, I am shedding/breaking significantly fewer hairs during shower detangling with a comb.

My theory to the C oil tangling hair is it solidifies under 78* so that means this hardened waxy feeling is holding my ends together in the winter. I am going to try C oil again in the summer when it stays liquid all day due to the weather heat temp.

Also, I am detangling with gobs of conditioner in the shower, with cones, but then I try to rinse out most if not all of the conditioner in the shower. Then, after towel drying, instead of using cones as a leave in, I am using just a dime sized drop of evoo on my ends only and then combing that through and letting my hair dry in a lwb. This makes my hair wavy instead of curly. I do miss the curls, and use C oil as my leave in to hold the curls--- if I am going out or on datenight.. but otherwise, allowing my hair to dry in the lwb has helped so much with hair breakage and fallout. ;)

ETA I did just try a sample of John Freida hair serum and it made my hair feel so slippery and silky, but it also felt so plasticy coated, alot different than just the evoo after washing. It is pretty evident that serums do build up... but the slip and slippery feel was nice....

[Cassyopeia]

Thanks for all the replies! Going to start braiding or bunning my hair everyday from now on. And maybe clarify more often.


Want to post the ingredients list of your conditioner? I'm just wondering if there's protein in there or some other problematic ingredient that you missed.

Conditioner:
Aqua (Water/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Amodimethicone, Behenalkonium Chloride, Parfum (Fragrance), Lactic Acid, Limonene, Potassium Chloride, Dipropylene Glycol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, PEG-7 Propylheptyl Ether, Benzyl Benzoate, DMDM Hydantoin, Geraniol, Linalool, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, CI 42090 (Blue 1), CI 15985 (Yellow 6).

[lapushka]

Conditioner:
Aqua (Water/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Amodimethicone, Behenalkonium Chloride, Parfum (Fragrance), Lactic Acid, Limonene, Potassium Chloride, Dipropylene Glycol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, PEG-7 Propylheptyl Ether, Benzyl Benzoate, DMDM Hydantoin, Geraniol, Linalool, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, CI 42090 (Blue 1), CI 15985 (Yellow 6).

That seems quite okay to me. :shrug: What conditioner is it?

[meteor]

^ If I google the ingredients list, I get TIGI Bed Head Urban Antidotes Recovery Conditioner. Is that it, Cassyopeia? ;)
It looks like something I'd rotate or use in moderation or clarify periodically... But then, I tend to get build-up form Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, and it's just a very YMMV kind of thing. I'd experiment with new combinations of products and certainly clarifying and chelating (if you have hard water, for example).

[Cassyopeia]

^ If I google the ingredients list, I get TIGI Bed Head Urban Antidotes Recovery Conditioner. Is that it, Cassyopeia? ;)
It looks like something I'd rotate or use in moderation or clarify periodically... But then, I tend to get build-up form Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, and it's just a very YMMV kind of thing. I'd experiment with new combinations of products and certainly clarifying and chelating (if you have hard water, for example).

Yes, that is the one. I also have the shampoo in the same series(was a 2 for 1 sale). I think they work fine, only the smell is a bit much. I also use a clarifying/chelating one from Wella that I'm quite happy with.

This tangly problem started about last may/june. Atleast that is when I started noticing. And this is when my hair went below collarbone for the first time in ages. Usually I have been cutting my hair back during summer every year, letting it grow during the winter. Thinking this time I will save to long hair. And then got bored of saving it when it is in the shoulderlength area and cutting it back again the next summer. So last year I was thinking that okay, the longer the hair, the more it tangles. But now I'm thinking that this is also when we moved to where we live now. It's a old house with plumbing and pipes from the 50's. Maybe I have to clarify more often.

[meteor]

^ If it's the water problem that you suspect could be the culprit, then you need to chelate, rather than just clarify. :)

Chelating removes deposits from water (chlorine -> which can have a generally drying and dulling effect; iron -> which can cause brassiness/orange-y tint; copper -> which can cause grey-ish/green-ish tint); while clarifying removes product build-up (oils, silicones, waxes, etc...). Both can types of build-up can contribute to grabbiness.

You mention that you started noticing tangles when your hair went below collarbone for the first time -> that could be part of the issue, too. :agree: Longer hair means more surface area of the strands and certainly more opportunity to tangle. Preventing tangles from happening in the first place (sleeping on silk/satin, containing hair in updos or braids) is extremely helpful. :D

I really hope you'll find a workable solution soon! :flower:

[AJNinami]

Yes, that is the one. I also have the shampoo in the same series(was a 2 for 1 sale). I think they work fine, only the smell is a bit much. I also use a clarifying/chelating one from Wella that I'm quite happy with.

This tangly problem started about last may/june. Atleast that is when I started noticing. And this is when my hair went below collarbone for the first time in ages. Usually I have been cutting my hair back during summer every year, letting it grow during the winter. Thinking this time I will save to long hair. And then got bored of saving it when it is in the shoulderlength area and cutting it back again the next summer. So last year I was thinking that okay, the longer the hair, the more it tangles. But now I'm thinking that this is also when we moved to where we live now. It's a old house with plumbing and pipes from the 50's. Maybe I have to clarify more often.

You might find that as your hair gets longer, it gets less tangly. Sometimes certain people tangle at your length and then slowly grow out of it. You might also have hidden damage in there, that's what causes mine to be completely knotted through five minutes after combing it out. I also have the same problem with braiding or generally every kind of hair sectioning. You may have to wait a few years and microtrim to see if that's what it is.

[mindwiped]

Longer hair also means hair that's had more time to accumulate damage. Are you still trimming from time to time or at least s&d? If you're not used to how your longer hair behaves with end damage or the beginnings of it, this could also be part of the issue