Another coney question

[Chlorophylliac]

I stopped using cones for years. I desperately tried numerous products and detangling strategies, store-bought and homemade, but ultimately if you looked at my hair hard enough, it would knot up. I grew my hair long to enjoy it, yet I couldn't wear it down, in a ponytail, or touch it for fear of knots. Freshly detangled sections would knot immediately and protective styles didn't help much. I was on the verge of cutting, when I decided to go back to cones and never looked back.

I loved how cone-free gave my slippy, slippy, hair the tiniest bit of grip. Now my hair is tangle-free and way lower in maintenance, but slips out of most styles. Braid shred is a given within minutes. Any advice? Strategies? Products? Thank you!

[lapushka]

I loved how cone-free gave my slippy, slippy, hair the tiniest bit of grip. Now my hair is tangle-free and way lower in maintenance, but slips out of most styles. Braid shred is a given within minutes. Any advice? Strategies? Products? Thank you!

I think that just comes with the territory of having 1a hair, IMO. Braid shred happens for a lot of people.

Maybe you can mix & match your conditioners and do a wash with lighter conditioners with cones in it, I'm thinking the Aqua Light by Pantene. That is a very light one!

[kuroi]

I'm cone free and I oil the lenght to detangle. My buns and braids also slip terribly but it's getting better with more lenght and less layers. But it's probably indeed a straight hair problem.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I agree with lapushka in mixing conditioners! Do you only use a rinse out? or do you use a leave-in as well? You could experiment and try using cones for one and not the other. My leave-in has cones, but my rinse out doesn't. I don't have issues with slipperiness though, as my hair is 2c/3a...

I do have one question...What is "braid shred"? I'm unfamiliar with that term and would like to know

[andrea1982]

I do most styles with slightly dampened hair. It helps with the hold and grip. Sometimes a little leave in as well. It does leave kinks, but it doesn't bother me since I wear my hair up every day anyway.

[meteor]

I do have one question...What is "braid shred"? I'm unfamiliar with that term and would like to know

I see the term used a few different ways:
- fuzzy braid, hairs sticking out from wind or rubbing on things, etc or from dryness or from natural texture, etc.
- layers sticking out from braid cross-sections, from hair being very layered, for example
- braid tapering a lot (thinning quickly) down the length, due to natural taper or layers


My recommendation for reducing frizz, "fuzzyness" of braids is:
- wear your braid up (in a bun or coronet or milkmaid braids) right until the moment when you want to wear it down - wearing braid up reduces the rubbing that increases fuzzyness
- braid hair when it's damp and/or oiled or use a bit of gel or hairspray before you braid it
- wear your braid down only when you are wearing silky smooth tops with nothing to catch on hair
- braid hair when it's not freshly washed - I find the oilier and further away from wash day the hair is, the smoother braids I get naturally...

[Chlorophylliac]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! It's a hard choice - being able to make a style last without cones, or less maintenance with them. It's made me even contemplate cutting. Currently, after shampooing, I use cone-free from about occiput to ends, then coney condish (currently Aussie Moist) over that from about nape to ends, all at the same time, then rinse well. I figure the cones might seal in a little of the cone-free moisture and is diluted a bit by it as well. I started using dry shampoo on clean (dry) hair to add grip. The Tresemme naturals line was discontinued, so next I'm going to try their new cone-free conditioner (the botanicals line) to see if that gives any lasting slip without cones.

[Adorkable One]

I'm so sad about the Tresemme Naturals being discontinued. It was so perfect for cowashing. :( Anyway, I can relate to your issue. I've gone cone free a number of times as well, and instead opted for oils. It worked okay on my natural hair, but since bleaching, it's been impossible, at least when it came to wearing my hair down. My nape hair would tangle and mat if I wore it down without using some sort of product containing a silicone. At the same time, my pony tails fall apart over the course of the day. I think styling with damp really helps styles hold in place. I would give that a shot. The only down side is handling hair while it's still moist and thus more fragile. Also, if it's a tight style, your hair will likely be wet all day long. But that's not to say it doesn't work! Lol.

[pailin]

I think braid shred is inevitable. My hair is 2a (maybe 2b), definitely not straight, and no matter what I do they shred. Cones or no cones, they shred. Part of it is layers, part of it is that in my last haircut (2 1/2 years ago), she used thinning shears (evil). But some shred is inevitable because you will always have newer hairs that are shorter than the rest. So if I wear braids, I usually redo it during the day (for French braids, from the neck down only).

[Lavendersugar]

What about using a texturizing product to hold styles?

I pancake my braids and just let them have that boho look. The only way to keep them in place is gel and wax. I don't like either of them.

[Anje]

Hair instantly knotting up during or after detangling, for me, was a symptom of severe protein overload. Turns out my hair is pretty sensitive to that sort of thing. I do well with no silicones or with light silicones, but I need to use the right conditioning products still, or my hair will hate me.