Fine Hair & Damage

[chrissy-b]

I tried searching the archives for info, but it kept making me log in over and over and over...and never let me search. I apologize if this topic has already been covered.

I have very fine, fairly straight hair which is prone to splits and some breakage once it's BSL or longer. For people with similar hair, I have two questions:

1.) What have you found that is most beneficial to protect your hair from this type of damage (i.e. oils, treatments, WO, certain handling methods, etc.)?

2.) What have you found that creates this type of damage (brushing, handling, protein, oils, etc.)?

Currently, I CWC 2x a week, CO on the other days, use a leave-in and coconut oil daily, cassia 1x a month, protein treatment 1x a month, brush my scalp with a BBB (or my new wood bristle brush) most evenings before bed and do a heavy oiling or SMT every couple of weeks. I also wear it up everyday. My hair is doing great right now but it's only at SL and I'm concerned I'll have the same problems I had before at a longer length.

Any info would be much appreciated!

[Riot Crrl]

You're doing just about everything I would do. Were you doing all of this last time it was longer? If your habits of shampooing the ends, brushing the ends, color treating, etc. were much different then it's probably going to be a different ball game this time around.

[MemSahib]

Chrissy, when I read your post the first thing that strikes me is how often you wash your hair after some fashion or another. When mine was short I had to tame flyaways with mousse and spray if I washed daily or even every other day. Now I have gradually moved to a weekly schedule. I realize I am many years older than you and that my scalp is not producing oils like it used to, but my hair certainly is happier than it once was. At least for me, less wet handling helps keep the ends nice. I have also used scalp washing with good success in the past although that is not my current regimen.

[morgwn]

First, just a tip about the archive: you have to log off this site before you can log onto the archive site and then just check that box for keeping you logged on. Then when you're done on the archives, log back onto this one after you log off the archives.

It sounds like you're doing all the good things for your hair and your hair type. I just always make sure that I use a very wide-toothed comb if my hair is wet and then comb my hair gently before I use a BBB on it to smooth out the oil. I also have found that my hair does much better when I only wash it twice a week (as even being wet makes it weak), typically just doing CO, and if I need to get my hair wet between those two washings it will just be water.

[chrissy-b]

Chrissy, when I read your post the first thing that strikes me is how often you wash your hair after some fashion or another.

This is one thing that concerns me too. I want to slowly taper off the amount I wet and CO my hair, but I tried it a few weeks back and my scalp broke out something fierce. It's pretty hot where I live right now and I'm hoping that once the weather is cooler I can give it a try again.

Riot Curl: No, I didn't treat my hair as good then, it's true. I hope you're right and I won't have the same problems.

Thanks for your help and advice!

[Delila]

I gradually moved away from daily cleansing/wetting my hair, and nowadays only get it wet about twice a week. Also, I do everything I can to avoid manipulating my hair while it's wet, not even combing it til it's dry. Seems to help.

Other than that, I don't brush my hair at all anymore, just finger comb when dry and only use a wide toothed comb once it's already detangled.

Gentler cleansing is a plus, but for me, gentler handling has been key to making changes in my hair.

[Deborah]

I too agree that washing less frequently would probably be helpful. It simply means less 'wear and tear' on the hair. I wash once a week, once in a while twice a week, but never more than that. I have not used regular shampoo for about five years now. I think that helps too. If your scalp is really oily you might try scalp-only washing on an as-needed basis. There was a lot written about that some years ago on this board. It basically means gently washing just the scalp, while holding the rest of the hair out of the way. This can protect the older, more fragile ends. I find that stroking just a tiny bit of shea butter on the last 6 inches or so of hair, right after washing, also helps protect those ends.

I hope you glean something useful for your own hair very soon! :flower:

[harpgal]

chrissy, I have extremely fine hair and one thing that has really helped me in controlling breakage is to comb very, very slowly. Also do not whip the comb off the ends. Tilt the comb so the teeth are pointed slightly upwards and move slowly down the length. When you encounter a snag, stop and pull the hair apart with your fingers, and start with the comb again.

Fine hair is a challenge but when you get it to super lengths, it is very satisfying.

[frizzinator]

If you do not have anything to remove from your scalp or hair, do not brush. I was a firm believer in the bbb everyday, but I tried not brushing and I've lost a lot less hair. I'm saving hairs and counting them; it's fairly easy to do if the hair is worn up everyday. For many, many years I lost an average of 60 hairs a day. I've been brushing once every 3 weeks for the past 6 months, and without brushing I'm losing 10 hairs a day, and I was combing and brushing very carefully during all those years, by starting at the hem and working my way toward the scalp.


I never would have believed it. I thought for sure the quantity of hair lost was not related to brushing, but if you just try not brushing, you may experience exactly what some of us have experienced. It's remarkable. I'm not refering to just the hair you see in the brush, but the total quantity of hair lost everyday.


Scritching, massage and preening moves sebum a lot better than the bbb, although, if you are trying to remove sebum, the bbb might help. I think scritching removes almost anything on the scalp, and it's good for just about everyone. When reducing washing, be sure to scritch everyday.


If you are WO, I highly recommend combing before the rinse and not flipping the hair over to wrap in the towel. It's important to keep the hair in the same direction when it's wet and not combing ...not even finger combing. Let it completely dry before combing, and you'll lose less hair. The tangles fall out when the hair is completely dry. If you have to leave the house, just clip it up with a huge jaw clip, then take it down whenever you can to allow it to dry.

I haven't used water or anything else on my hair for nearly 10 months. My hair still gets a few tangles. Wearing it up everyday helps reduce tangles dramatically. Wearing a silk scarf (in addition to using a silk pillowcase) with the hair loose inside for sleeping has also helped eliminate a lot of tangles.


Be cautious when trying new hair toys. When they are new and I'm learning exactly what they can hold is the time when I break hair. If you're going to wear a ponytail, don't use elastics, but use hoisery instead. Wear updos in different places so the same spots on the hair don't get bent and twisted too frequently. Twist loose, it takes a bit of practice, but it can be done.


Wear the hair up to eliminate damage from wind, seatbelts, chair backs and the hinge on sunglasses. Little snarles and tangles are easy to ignore, until your hair gets longer, and then you will not want the halo. I really like the buff to completely cover my hair in many different situations. So "treat your hair like old lace", fine hair really breaks easily.

[Poppy Seed]

- Comb, very gently, and only when dry. Save the BBB for times when you REALLY need to smooth the top of your head, don't brush right through to the ends.
- Wear up much more than down, keep the ends tucked in and vary where you put elastics or slides etc.
- Washing less frequently (or as infrequently as possible), and/or use scalp washing to stretch the time out.
- Keeping the hair in the same alignment when washing and combing.

All brilliant advice from previous posters, pretty much how I do it too.

Just wondered though, maybe with the monthly protein and the monthly cassia and daily leave-in and daily oiling is all too much for it? I know that for some people too much product - even of 'good' variety - can play havoc with the ends. FOr example, my ends feel quite brittle if I use oil too often (ie after every wash) so I go for oiling every second or third wash. That works out to be approximately once a month.

Protein treatment has also been noticed to sometimes have a detrimental effect on hair. It just depends on your hair type. Also, have you experimented with using different oils? Again, I know that for different people different oils work better or worse. Or no oils at all, and just cassia? Or just the leave-in?

How do you sleep with your hair? Do you tie it up somehow, or have a hair friendly pillow case (e.g silk), or put it in a sleep cap? Hair can get quite mussed during the night, especially if you're a restless sleeper which damages the ends too.

Hope some of that helps, or gives you ideas... GOOD LUCK!

[freznow]

No more brushing! Wide toothed horn comb only for me. I have a whole bunch of new hairs that are about 9 inches long. If I estimate the time frame for that, that hair started growing about the time I stopped brushing, among other things. I've asked here and I'm fairly sure that all or most of that new growth is from giving up the brush.

Other things are wearing hair up all the time, and only weekly washing. I haven't used commercial products in over a year, and I think that may have helped. The less I 'clean' my hair, the better. Actually, the less I do to my hair overall, the better. Daily comb and style, weekly wash, weekly oil, monthly cassia, that's it. It's happier when I ignore it.

[julya]

I have fine hair too, and it really loves to tangle. I have found that trimming off split ends/dusting every month or two is helpful. And giving up the BBB.

[Katze]

I agree that it sounds like you're brushing and washing too much. Too much extra mechanical damage that your fine hair doesn't need.

From your avatar pic, your hair looks quite wavy, maybe it would benefit from more moisture and less washing? (more sebum, I mean...)

Scritching and massaging DON'T work for my sensitive scalp - any handling makes it itchy, and greasy, and then I "have to" wash my hair.

some good advice here. Hope you find something that works!

[Gabrielle]

Thank you all for the great information in this thread! I too have extremely fine, fragile hair. Many of you have shared that you do not comb or even finger-comb when wet, saying that the tangles will fall out when dry. When doing my weekly wash I notice that all of my fallen hairs (usually the entire week's worth since I don't usually comb my hair except to smooth right around my face and right after washing) are bunched up at the bottom of my hair length. Combing removes these hairs. This is a tangle that needs to be removed--any thoughts or suggestions from those of you who wait until hair is dry to comb?

[Riot Crrl]

Thank you all for the great information in this thread! I too have extremely fine, fragile hair. Many of you have shared that you do not comb or even finger-comb when wet, saying that the tangles will fall out when dry. When doing my weekly wash I notice that all of my fallen hairs (usually the entire week's worth since I don't usually comb my hair except to smooth right around my face and right after washing) are bunched up at the bottom of my hair length. Combing removes these hairs. This is a tangle that needs to be removed--any thoughts or suggestions from those of you who wait until hair is dry to comb?

It's down to hair texture. The no wet combing thing may be good advice for the 1b original poster, but at 2b possibly you are wurly enough that it doesn't hold up. By the time I got to 3, any dry detangling attempts generally resulted in a hot breaky mess.

[FrannyG]

Chrissy_B, you are doing most of the things that I do for my fine hair. As the others suggest, I would try to start to spread out the washes a bit. Also, I have found that my hair is much happier with CO only. Of course everyone is different, but that works for me. I almost never use shampoo, unless I need to clarify, which isn't all that often.

I also like to use a mild ACV mix as a final rinse. That seems to keep the cuticle of my hair smoother, and it makes my hair shinier and easier to detangle.

I echo the sentiments of never combing hair when wet. That is the single most important thing I've learned here at LHC. It's made a huge difference in my hair. I finger comb when my hair is dry and I then use a wide-toothed horn comb. I now only use a BBB to smooth my hair for monthly length photos. :)

Although my hair is fairly short right now, it was approaching waist-length until I cut off old damage about 2 months ago.

I noticed that small trims every couple of months helped me to keep my ends neater and thicker. If I don't trim, the longest growing hairs make my ends look thin and uneven very quickly. I know that trimming isn't for everyone, so take it with a grain of salt, but it works very well for me. Even with the trims, I have a good growth rate.

Gabrielle, I have the same occurence as you with the shed hairs. I remove them with gentle finger detangling and combing after my hair is dry.

[MemSahib]

Chrissy, at least for most finehairs, oiling must be light and infrequent. For me, IF I choose to oil it will be a few drops of jojoba stroked in while my hair is dripping wet out of the shower. I've tried deep oiling a couple of times and my hair absolutely soaks the oil up, meaning I then have to shampoo several times to get back to a normal, non-greasy state. I was also under the impression that deep oiling made the tips split, but I guess that might be coincidence. As always, everyone is different and your mileage may vary.

I guess instead of oil I use rich conditioners. As you can see from my sig I have a lot of grey and it tends to be dry.

And like julya said, frequent dusting of ends helps keep everything in good shape.

[missy60]

It's down to hair texture. The no wet combing thing may be good advice for the 1b original poster, but at 2b possibly you are wurly enough that it doesn't hold up. By the time I got to 3, any dry detangling attempts generally resulted in a hot breaky mess.

I totally agree with this statement I have to comb when wet, but being curly it is basically the only time I comb. I use to try to detangle before washing so all the shed hairs wouldnt freak me out, but there is just to much breakage. I get all those fallen hairs at the bottom of my length also. If I didnt comb at least in the shower with conditioner in my hair those shed hair would just mat together and it would be a real mess.

[harpgal]

Thank you all for the great information in this thread! I too have extremely fine, fragile hair. Many of you have shared that you do not comb or even finger-comb when wet, saying that the tangles will fall out when dry. When doing my weekly wash I notice that all of my fallen hairs (usually the entire week's worth since I don't usually comb my hair except to smooth right around my face and right after washing) are bunched up at the bottom of my hair length. Combing removes these hairs. This is a tangle that needs to be removed--any thoughts or suggestions from those of you who wait until hair is dry to comb?
Gabrielle, I don't know if this will help but while my hair is wet, I gently pull the wet "ropes" of hair apart. I do this until my hair is pretty spread out and then let it dry. After it is dry, I split it into two sections and very slowly begin to comb from the hemline, up.

I do use a BBB on my scalp but only after my hair is dry and completely combed out.

[burns_erin]

I switched to grapeseed oil, which is a "drier" oil, at least to me. It even helped my scalp stop breaking out. I use that oil on my ends before I was and after I dry. But only a minimal amount. Once a week I do a deep treatment all the way down to the scalp and then 12-24 hours later I wash. I wash my scalp, but never my ends, twice a week. I use a spray bottle with diluted shampoo and section my hair out and spray as directly as possible on my scalp. I use this same spray only on the scalp method when I rinse my scalp during the week with a basil, rosemary, and mint "tea". other than the wash and this tea, I try to never let my hair get wet.

I do brush while wet, but even with my very straight hair, it breaks when i brush while dry. And I have never done well with a comb. However this seems to be an exception and not the norm.

I stay away from humectants. It is exceptionally humid here all the time and it is too much for my hair.

I also henna-that seems to make a big difference for me. but I have to make sure the liquid is not too acidic, I actually use litmus strips to test it.

Now I get very few split ends and rough spots so I just S&D the bad ends. I don't just do the spilts, if a hair seems/feels particularly rough, or seems to stick inordinately to the other hairs, I'll cut that too.

[chrissy-b]

Thank you all so much for all the great advice. I really appreciate it. :)

I do think I need to stop washing as much as I do now, but I'm still using commercial styling aids (a small amount of alcohol free hair gel) to tame my halo and worry that it will build up if I don't CO daily. I would love to stop using it but at the moment there's nothing else that works (I've tried aloe and even a little conditioner to style and they don't provide enough hold). I will try my hardest to stop using that product and limit the amount of washing I do.

I love my BBB and when I do use it I brush only the scalp but I know once it grows longer this will cause unnecessary damage. I've tried going a few months w/o brushing as frequently and I noticed more shedding but I suppose I could get my fix by doing more frequent scalp massages instead.

Coconut oil has really done wonders for my hair so I don't want to stop using it. Before I was oiling daily my hair was always a tangly mess but I can see that using it daily could be counter productive in the long run.

Thank you again for all of your wonderful tips. I'll definitely try these out and see how my hair does.

[chrissy-b]

-
Just wondered though, maybe with the monthly protein and the monthly cassia and daily leave-in and daily oiling is all too much for it? I know that for some people too much product - even of 'good' variety - can play havoc with the ends. FOr example, my ends feel quite brittle if I use oil too often (ie after every wash) so I go for oiling every second or third wash. That works out to be approximately once a month.

Protein treatment has also been noticed to sometimes have a detrimental effect on hair. It just depends on your hair type. Also, have you experimented with using different oils? Again, I know that for different people different oils work better or worse. Or no oils at all, and just cassia? Or just the leave-in?

How do you sleep with your hair? Do you tie it up somehow, or have a hair friendly pillow case (e.g silk), or put it in a sleep cap? Hair can get quite mussed during the night, especially if you're a restless sleeper which damages the ends too.

Hope some of that helps, or gives you ideas... GOOD LUCK!

I've tried a couple of different oils and coconut and jojoba are the only ones that keep my ends soft. Other oils give me that crunchy feeling too. And I know I said I do monthly protein, but it's really only when I feel like my hair needs it. I only oil when my hair is wet and I'm hoping that with less frequent washings I'll have to do less oilings, less protein...less everything.

At night I always wear my hair up in a bun (the best I can make as my hair is still pretty short) and I sleep on a satin pillowcase.

Thanks again for this advice. I know I'm probably doing too much for my hair at the moment and should really cut back on the amount of handling, washing, etc. if I want it to stay in good condition as it gets longer.

[Indigo Girl]

My hair damages easily as well, and I agree with the great advice given so far. I also have had fantastic results following a washing with an ACV rinse. I do my ACV in cool/cold water.

I have found that the best time to brush my hair is when it is slightly damp - almost cool to the touch, not quite dry. For me, that results in the least amount of breakage (wet or dry).

Good luck finding a routine that works for you! :bluesmile

[Gabrielle]

Thank you all for the fine, wet, curly hair input. I am always looking for ways to combat breakage. Being prone to tangles does add another dimension to the dilemma of whether to comb or not when wet.

[Delila]

I've realized something in my most recent shampooings that I thought I'd share.
I guess I'd never really noticed exactly what I really do, until I started thinking about it.

I finger detangle before I get in the shower, and put my hair up in a simple one-pin updo.

After I've done the other shower stuff and am ready to wash my hair, I let it down over one shoulder, and get it wet, letting the flow of the water run through the length.

Then I put some shampoo on my palm, rub my hands together then work that through the hair at my scalp, and let the lather run down my length.

As I rinse, I keep my hair in the flow of the shower and gently detangle with my fingers. Nothing vigorous, just mostly letting the flow of the water do the work.

When I'm ready to condition, I work that through my length, using my fingers to get it all through my hair.

Then I rinse, again using the flow of the shower and my fingers to detangle.

By the end of my shower, my hair's pretty much a tangle-free rope of wet hair.

I gather my hair in loops, in one palm, and gently squeeze out some of the excess water, doing the same thing again if it needs it. If my hair still seems really wet at that point, I do the same thing, but gather my length in my microfiber towel before squeezing gently. (Don't twist the hair, just gather it.)

By that point, my hair's pretty much dry enough not to get my clothes wet, but if I'm in the mood I'll gather my hair up into a microfiber towel, in a loose turban style (not too much tension in the towel at the roots of my hair) for a while before letting it down to finish drying.

Just thought I'd mention it in case it's useful to someone else.

[Lady Godiva]

chrissy, I have extremely fine hair and one thing that has really helped me in controlling breakage is to comb very, very slowly. Also do not whip the comb off the ends. Tilt the comb so the teeth are pointed slightly upwards and move slowly down the length. When you encounter a snag, stop and pull the hair apart with your fingers, and start with the comb again.Great description. What I've noticed is with fine hair, the definitions for "careful" and "gentle" take on narrower meanings. Also, the longer your hair grows will affect how you define those words, too. I'm often surprised to watch how carefully some people claim to be combing or brushing their hair, when what they're doing doesn't reflect what I mean by being careful or gentle. ;)

A lot depends on how oily your scalp is. Mine still is very oily, and I'm years and years out of high school.

If CO washing causes you to need to wash the length almost daily, then maybe it's not gentle enough. All that wetting, then drying, isn't so good for fine hair.

I scalp wash almost exclusively and use strong shampoos that really cleanse my scalp. I never let conditioner touch my scalp; the sebum conditions it plenty enough. I do this twice per week, sometimes thrice, but the water isn't touching the length of my hair.

Scalp washing is one way to really protect fine hair, but yours isn't long enough to do that, really (SL=shoulder length?). It's something to keep in mind for when your hair is longer. You simply place the length in a bag that you hold with one hand while scrubbing your scalp with the other hand. Then you alternate hands to get your scalp clean. You want to cleanse off the oils, dirt and dead skin cells that can clog pores and inhibit growth or set up conditions where yeasts grow (dandruff).

So if infrequent shampooings lessen the necessity of CO washing every day, then perhaps shampooing is gentler on oily scalps than COing. Something to think about.

I always detangle thoroughly before washing and also immediately following my shower. If I wait until my hair is dry, a horrible tangle situation ensues. It *has* to be detangled right away. I have never not detangled except for a few times when I didn't have a comb, and it was awful.

I never use brushes.

I use oils only on the lower three feet of my hair, usually when my hair is in a half-up style and I think the tail could use a little jojoba. I love my jojoba. Other than shampoo and infrequent oilings (once per month, a few drops?), I don't use any other products, except conditioner on the length of my hair when I do full-length washes, which are very infrequent.

It's a system called Benign Neglect. Do as little as must be done, and let your healthy results (or unhealthy results) dictate what you do (or don't do).

I also wear my hair in updos almost daily. I put it up and leave it up. Updos protect against the elements, tangles that require detangling (scrape, scrape), and accidental damage from getting my hair caught in drawers, doors, railings, seat cushions, buttons, zippers, purse straps, the dog, the shrubs, the toilet...:rolleyes:

All of the above forms of gentle hair care habits is why when my hair is left down on special occasions, it is extremely healthy, looks great and shines. I couldn't have my hair this long without such careful measures.

[harpgal]

I couldn't have my hair this long without such careful measures.
That is so true! And the rewards are wonderful, also. :)

[Um Enis]

Washing 2 or 3 times a week helps. I also like my horn comb--I didn't realize how much the plastic one snagged until I used the horn.

But the biggest factor, for me: I have not had 1 split end since I started using henna. And only cut once or twice every year or two.

[Katze]

lots of really interesting ideas here.

Delila (hair twin?!?!?) your washing sounds a lot like what I do, except I wash my hair first thing when in the shower, not at the end.

I'm curious if I can get my fine, wavy hair to waist length but still wear it down at times. Has anyone done this?

[Alva]

I think most is said here already: for me the biggest changes were wearing it up more often, and use a seamless comb, and taking gentle care. Also simply starting to use a conditioner, since I never did when i was younger.

I quit brushing, wash less frequently and stopped having it down 100% of the time. When it gets longer I am intending to try scalpwashes, I now do two full length washes a week.

[heidi w.]

Lots of great suggestions and I really agree strongly with Lady Godiva's input.

Both she and I have pret-ty fine hair. We have slight differences in our care, but easily around 90% is the same.

I TOTALLY agree with her about being careful in detangling this hair type....really any hair type. You have to remember that every time you smooth your hair, every time you wash your hair, every time you detangle or get it caught, or sleep on it....all these things require organizing the hair again and this means you're handling and likely going through the hair with a tool, or manipulating the hair. Even with the best of hair care practices, the hair can be split or damaged in tiny areas, most commonly the ends (the oldest hair). Over time, that manipulation and scraping of the cuticle can cause disintegration of the cuticles integrity, hence splits tend to be higher in volume nearer the ends.

I live with some splits. I manage my splits, never anticipating to have none. (Or white dots)

The largest change I made follows:
USE A COMB. A very wide toothed comb. Do not detangle by using a brush. (I do BBB to distribute an applied oil on occasion after a fresh hair wash, but by no means do I do this regularly, or use this tool to detangle. I think you're using on the top of the head and you may not need to do this. More on this point in a moment.)

Also, after every single hair wash I clean my combs thoroughly.

Next largest change I made:
Not washing every day. Over-manipulation. I have a very oily scalp so I too use the scalp wash method during the week and once a week or so wash all of my hair.

I have a feeling that as a finer hair type you may not need to CO wash. This method is best for wavy-to-curly hair types. I understand that LHC's CO method is not quite the same as the book Curly Girl, but if you can ever get a looksee at that book, it might be instructive to you.

If your scalp is breaking out, it could be a combination of factors and not just one factor, which you identify as high heat (it could be a part of the whole). For example, CO washing and sweat and sebum all combining to clog pores and then all that stuff can't really slough off well enough and then apply heat. That's only one among several possibilities. As the hair type you are, if you choose to continue CO washing, you may not need to apply any conditioner to scalp skin. It is my opinion that only those with VERY curly (nearly kinky) hair need to apply to scalp skin, per Curly Girl book and Lorraine Massey, author of this book and a certified stylist. (She offers a line of low- and no-poo shampoos and conditioners, and has a particular way of trimming curly folks. Devacurl is the line.) Fundamentally, for many hair types, I do not recommend applying conditioner to scalp skin UNLESS that conditioner is clearly intended to be so used.

I have never used a BBB to slough skin on the scalp. I have always used it to distribute oil after a fresh hair wash, once my hair is completely air dried and completely detangled.

DETANGLING WET V DRY
Obviously do not use a brush at all, and certainly not to detangle wet hair! (There are those who do, so just in case you do....stop immediately.)

For sure, almost all wave-to-curl hair types have to 'detangle' somehow while hair is wet.

HOWEVER, I'd venture to say they do not do so while hair is sopping wet; they do so while something between merely wet and damp, and likely in stages.

I have adopted this technique now whereas up until rather recently I waited til air dried then detangled. I figured out a method, so here goes.

First, I do condition hair length whenever I wash all of the hair. I never skip conditioning.

Then once out of the shower, I take up the wide tooth comb, and begin at the bottom, and just kind of break up the ropey clumps because when the hair is less clumped it dries faster.

Given that your hair is shoulder length or thereabouts, you will be ok with this method.

Do NOT pull on wet hair. Just gently, gently proceed. When it's a little drier, you can use fingers to undo a knot by pulling the hairs up towards the sky and out (not down as this tightens the knot). The other main reason to not pull wet hair is that when swelled with water, it's heavier and hangs a little longer, meaning hair is already stretched to near or at its capacity to stretch (called elasticity -- healthy hair will not break immediately when pulled, it stretches before breaking). So you don't want to overpull the hair.

I have very long hair so my method entails that I rather pick into the hair like a Black person might without pulling down much, simply to organize hair and break up clumps while wet. When merely damp I can do more detangling. And I do detangle at intervals along the way to drying, and of course, yet again when all dry to finish off the smoothing process. By taking GREAT CARE to not overly pull and TAKING MY TIME and not being anxious or in a hurry, I lose very little hair and have almost no snapping.

WHEN YOU GET THERE
I heartily second wearing hair up every day and saving down for special occasions, or when you know you won't be doing much about the house. Believe me, by the time you hit even waist length, you'll notice hair dangling on oven doors. When you hit classic to knee, when you bend down to put something in the frig you'll learn to stand up slowly and put your heels down slowly (somehow a hair strand or two get caught under heels and you can get yanked pret-ty hard!). Vaccuum cleaning, lawn mowing, house work, cleaning cars, grocery shopping in hot weather, living in a more than breezy place -- wear the hair up. Besides it's nice to travel incognito sometimes.

I hope these ideas help you for the short term and give you an understanding that things do change as you gain more length. Techniques have to be modified as you become longer; even some updos may not be do-able or have to be tweaked to accommodate the new length and weight and mass when bundled up.

heidi w.
PS when washing, don't pile the hair on top of the head and rattle around scrubbing up there.

I meant to mention this
SCRITCHING
I use a very fine-toothed comb and 'scritch' prior to a hair wash of any kind. This helps to loosen debris, detris (skin cells), dried on gunk, hardened sebum and thus makes a hair wash more productive since washing hair is about hygiene: cleaning the scalp skin and associated hair. When shorter, more of the hair length is affected by the scalp skin, but longer, the ratio changes and the hair length does not need so much washing. Draw the hair back away from the forehead hairline and in rows from the forehead hairline, use back&forth motions, like scratching, the motions are very close together and tiny, and proceed from front of head to the backside of the crown. Back of head, divide the hair in half and from the center part do this motion towards the ears - sideways.

You can also massage the scalp skin this way.

This means you can likely stop using the BBB to do this duty on the top of your head and thus not affect the hair adversely.

BBB's, in my training, have a very specific purpose: to distribute oil on already detangled hair. This is not a detangling tool, and certainly of all the choices do not use a BBB to detangle wet or dry hair. You will lose a lot of hair otherwise and most likely damage the hair in general.

[Riot Crrl]

For sure, almost all wave-to-curl hair types have to 'detangle' somehow while hair is wet.

HOWEVER, I'd venture to say they do not do so while hair is sopping wet; they do so while something between merely wet and damp, and likely in stages.


I would say the majority of curlies I talk to detangle while hair is not only completely soaked with water but has conditioner in it too. Which is also what I do. This method seems to require significantly less manipulation than any other way I have tried.