Help with tangled and dry hair!

[Ozzie]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie here :) I am writing to see if anyone might have any good advice for my biggest hair problem. My hair is very dry and because of this I recently started no pooing and I am really trying to take care of my hair. I don't use styling tools or heat anymore, I oil it, I cut off split ends (is that called search&destroy?) and so on but my hair is still veeeery dry and of course it will take some time for it to "heal".

So, the problem is that it gets so tangled! When I come home from work it's like a huge dreadlock, especially the hair in my neck. I brush my hair at lunchtime to avoid it which helps just a little. When I come home after work I'm really tired and sometimes I just don't have the patience to comb my hair with my fingers and all that, it's quicker to just run a brush through it which damages it even more and so you see it's a bad circle. Wearing a ponytail doesn't help, just makes it worse. Braiding it helps a little but I'm wondering what hairstyle tips do you have? Maybe those "clam" thingys (I don't know the english word maybe you understand) or something. Just anything you think might help I appreciate it! :blossom:

[Signe]

Hi there, welcome to LHC! I had the exact same problem, my hair was matted and tangled all the time and soooooooooo dry! I never heat styled it, I have virgin hair, I oiled it regularly and trimmed a lot. I have 2a/m hair, too, so we may have experienced the same thing for similar reasons. For me, strangely enough, it was conditioner that did it. I think the build up from the cones in the conditioner, no matter how nice or supposedly "hair friendly" or "detangling" it was, I would ALWAYS end up with crunchy ends and huge dreads after I worked, slept, anything, even if I oiled it and brushed it regularly and babied it a lot!
I heard about water-only washing and at first didn't think it would work for me because I couldn't imagine detangling my hair without conditioner, but after researching it a bit I decided to try it and I am hooked. I don't get matted tangles EVER anymore! It seems as though the conditioner would fix the problem in the short term but the more I used, the more I needed. Now that my hair is full of it's natural oils and sebum it is so soft and silky and healthy even if I have a really rough working day in the garden. It turns out that my hair wasn't actually even that dry, but the product build-up gave the impression that it was.
My routine for the first few months of WO was to put a tiny bit of oil on my fingertips and work out all the big tangles by hand, then comb or brush, and then use a boar-bristle-brush to work the sebum and oil throughout the length of my hair, and rinse with water when needed. Now I don't need the oil anymore for the tangles (sometimes I put essential oils in a rinse for the nice smell) and the sebum has penetrated my whole length and seriously my hair is manageable even after the roughest treatment. Also it is cheaper and I can travel anywhere without worrying about which products to bring, etc. Win!

This may not be the best solution for you but I just thought I would share since we have a similar hair type and experienced similar problems. Good luck!

[SwordWomanRiona]

Welcome to the LHC! :)
I see you have golden hair, so what about a cassia treatment? It could condition and strengthen your hair as well as accentuating golden highlights. I haven't tried cassia yet, though, you'd better delve a bit further in the cassia thread if you're interested (I've henna'ed, and it has worked great for my hair!) My hair's more greasy than dry, but henna and cassia are supposed to help dry hair as well as greasy hair, or so I've heard.

[danacc]

Hair sticks!

Tangling is my hair's biggest enemy, and keeping it up and contained stops it from getting tangled. Around the house and at night to sleep, I usually just leave it in a braid. When I'm out and about, I put it up with sticks or with a fork.

There are lots of up-do ideas here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=8235

[summerjade]

Hello and welcome to LHC !! Try a clarifying shampoo to get rid of any buildup and see if that will help. Go to the articles here at LHC and read the one about buildup and how to get rid of it . It would be worth a try. There are all kinds of advice here in the articles and forum sections. Good luck.

[Alvrodul]

Welcome to LHC! :flower:
I am another who also suggest you try clarifying. When I get buildup (and I get buildup from oils, so even if you are on a non-cone regimen it can be a possibility) my ends get dry and velcroish, and my hair just generally gets impossible. If it gets really bad, my hair can also get an unpleasant, waxy feel.
I also would like to suggest you try an SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128). That works wonders for me, though there are some whose hair doesn't like it.

[Intotouch]

Hi. I'm struggling with the same problem but have noticed a big improvement following the example of some people on this board. My hair is curly/frizzy, fine, BSL. From the description of protein build up i thought that was the main cause of my tangled hair so i washed my hair with a clarifying shampoo and switched to a moisturising conditioner with no proteins/cones/SLS (herbal essenses hello hydration). The ends were still a bit tangly so then i did a deep olive oil treatment with hot towels for an hour and washed out with a mix the clarifying shampoo and the conditioner, then conditioned again, then did an apple cider vinegar rinse. This made a big improvement, my hair feels softer, silkier and less tangled. There are far fewer tangles. Maybe you could try this?

BUT my ends are still a bit tangly. About a quarter of what they were like a couple of weeks ago, but still getting knotted. I cut off a huge amount of hair a month ago so the lengths are not in need of a trim. I have never used harsh dye on my hair. So I'm thinking that it could be still protein build up. It makes sense that the older hair has more protein build up than the younger roots. So what does anyone else think? Should i clarify shampoo and moisturize again? Or is there any point? Does one and a half clarifying shampoo do the trick to remove protein build up and is my problem something else? I'm worried about using this clarifying shampoo again it seems to strip all moisture from the hair.

[firicia]

Hello and welcome! I am new here too and the best thing I could suggest is trying new things and seeing what works for you.

If you find your hair is getting tangled between home and work you may want to look at your form of travel, is there wind, or is it getting caught between a seat belt or a chair? Usually something is happening that might be attributing to the tangles. It may be as simple as putting your hair up in a nice hair clip or hair stick until you get to work.

Also it may be interesting to try putting a little bit of an oil such as coconut oil on your hair after your shower as a "leave in conditioner" (or just a regular leave in conditioner). For some people it gives your hair more "slide." For me I take a little bit (coconut oil goes a long way) and rub it on the tips and up until my ears while my hair is wet and more workable, but I more focus on my ends as they tangle the easiest.

Also are you using a blow dryer, the wind from that could be tangling your hair as well.

For myself, as I have curly hair, I find braiding it at night helps me to have less tangles. I am just barely near APL (arm pit length) right now when my curls are dry, so I do not have long hair yet (working on it).

I hope you find something that works well for you, everyone here has great ideas and the fun part is going through and seeing what is right for your hair:D

[dawnss]

I would suggest that you try oil rinses, use a really good leave in conditioner, or some kind of moisture spritz. Maybe you can add oils to your conditioners. Play around with your hair and I think you can solve the problem eventually, there are really great tips on this site.

[spidermom]

The longer I have to wait before giving my hair a good cleansing with mild shampoo followed by conditioner, the drier and more tangly it gets. Therefore, I don't think avoiding shampoo is a good solution. Of course your experience might be different. Good luck!

[Anje]

When you say you're "no-pooing", does that mean you're washing with baking soda? (If not and you're curious, there's a method out there by someone called Babyslime called no-poo where she washes with baking soda.)

If so, I'd suggest you try something different. Condition-wash-condition (CWC) and conditioner-only (CO) methods work well and provide a lot of moisture to hair. Baking soda just dries hair and lifts the scales of the cuticle to make it more tangle-prone.

[Chiara]

I found using a cone-free leave-in conditioner has made a huge difference to my tangling. I use a very small amount on wet or damp hair, just from the ears down, and then comb through gently. Shampooing less has also helped (I wash with shampoo weekly). In between shampoo washes, I do either a conditioner only wash or a water only rinse. If I do a water only rinse, then I use the leave-in conditioner when my hair is wet. I used to get huge tangles, and like you, would get horrible tangles from friction at the neckline. I now just get small snarls that are easily combed out. Its taken around 2-3 months of using the leave in regularly to see that change.

[Ozzie]

Thanks everyone for helping! I actually noticed my hair was getting dryer from using baking soda so I've decided to try CO and see how it works. I ordered a cone free conditioner online and while waiting for it I'm using my homemade schampoo (an egg mixed with lemon juice and honey) and it works well.

I've thought about mixing oil into the conditioner or have oil in my hair overnight to prevent the dryness but the thing is that at the same time as being really dry my hair also gets greasy veeery easily so maybe the oil would make it look too greasy? And is CO enough to get all oil out of the hair if i have it in over night or would I have to use schampoo?

SMT is definetly something I'll try!

Thanks :blossom:

[Intotouch]

I would suggest that you try oil rinses, use a really good leave in conditioner, or some kind of moisture spritz. Maybe you can add oils to your conditioners. Play around with your hair and I think you can solve the problem eventually, there are really great tips on this site.
Hi, what exactly is an oil rinse please?

Henna and olive oil worked wonders for me before but it's not an everyday thing.

I'm nervous of using oils until i get enough moisture back in my hair after stripping off the protein gunk. Wouldn't oil just stop moisture getting into hair?

[BabyRay33]

Lemon juice can be drying too...you might want to search the articles for a guide to figure out what is wrong with your hair...it helped me a lot.

Essentially it says to just wash with a clarifying shampoo and then see how it feels when dry. Dont use any conditioner or leave in and just see how it is... and it is best explained in the article...

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=44

[Jenn of Pence]

Thanks everyone for helping! I actually noticed my hair was getting dryer from using baking soda so I've decided to try CO and see how it works. I ordered a cone free conditioner online and while waiting for it I'm using my homemade schampoo (an egg mixed with lemon juice and honey) and it works well.

I've thought about mixing oil into the conditioner or have oil in my hair overnight to prevent the dryness but the thing is that at the same time as being really dry my hair also gets greasy veeery easily so maybe the oil would make it look too greasy? And is CO enough to get all oil out of the hair if i have it in over night or would I have to use schampoo?

SMT is definetly something I'll try!

Thanks :blossom:
I have to second and third what others have said here about clarifying and making sure you get all the buildup all your ends if the dry, crunchy, and tangly persists. For me, the culprit seems to be protein; once I clarified and began avoiding this in my shampoo and conditioners, my ends immediately improved. If you are using egg, it's at least possible that the protein in the egg will cause those symptoms...if your hair is sensitive to it, of course. It could be something else. :) Very deep moisture will help offset the protein issue, too.

Indeed, your hair will probably not absorb most of the oils if you put them on heavy enough for a deep treatment. This is fine if you wear it in an updo or sleep on it and wash it in the morning, but not so great to wear out and about. ;) Oiling between washings has to be done with a very tiny amount (just a faint sheen on your palms) in order to not look greasy, and of course it depends on each person's hair, too. Most people agree that CO washing will indeed cleanse the oils perfectly well.

And finally, cones aren't inherently bad. But some people have cone-loving hair, and some people's hair hate it! I definitely suggest trying it both ways at some point on your hair journey (cone-free now since you got the new conditioner :)).

And above all, make sure you take one change at a time and give it two or three solid weeks to see what the real, long-term affects are. Although waiting is a pain....at least for me; sometimes I'm not a patient person. ;)

[RitaCeleste]

I use the Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose as a leave in. I got it and Trader Joe's Nourish Spa conditioner and some Vitika Coconut Oil from Lakshmi's Cupboard at a good price. So far this has been the best thing for my tangles. Everything is cone free so no buildup. There is no protein in these products either. I always over do coconut oil so I just use it as a prewash treatment. I put it on an hour or more before I'm gonna wash it.