My hair gets frizzy and tangles easily

[Tuna]

So, here is my problem. My hip lenght hair gets frizzy and tangles very easily. I LOVE to wear my hair down, i hate updos, i look funny with them. But my hair tangles very easily and i have to brush it very often (at least once per hour) if i don't want to look like Einstein :D. And this result in a lot of damage and split ends, because when i'm out i'm always in hurry with brushing and combing.
I wash my hair with CWC method (for one week now, before i used the ''normal'' method, ). I wash every second day, i try to strech it to three days. My scalp is very oily and my lenght is dry. I use cocnut oil every now and then.
Any ideas... how could i stop brushing my hair so often and keep the look of freshly brushed, smooth hair? My hair looks like hay if it's unbrushed... any home hair masks that would solve the problem and give me nice, smooth hair? Anything? :) or will i just have to wear them up and look funny? :(

[RitaCeleste]

Try a a drop or two of oil on the length, like from the ears down. Try half up, anything to get the brushing down. I thought I looked terrible with my hair up, but I've started to wear it up more. Not all the time, just more. Especially around the house. I can take it out before I leave and it still saves me a ton of brushing when I'm at home. I put it up, enjoy the cool, sleep with it up. This reduced my brushing and tangles a lot. When I take it out of a bun, it seems to tangle less.

[Sundial]

I second RitaCeleste's suggestion of oil application. I do that when I'm at home and don't want to put my hair up.

On days when I want to wear my hair down outside and I am worried about overdoing the oil, I'll use either Kimberlily's defrizz spray (do a search for the recipe or you can find a thread about it in the Recipes section) or a store-bought serum. I guess if you want extra slip you can use the coney ones but I prefer non-cone serums :)

[Tuna]

Thanks! I will braid my hair when i'm at home and wile sleeping (never done that... result was lots of tangles and damage). And oiling too. We'll see. I hope it will help :D.

[Alaia]

Maybe in addition to the above advice try doing a deep treatment regularly to make sure you aren't getting some of the frizz from lack of moisture rather than just tangles.

They will improve your hairs' condition anyway.

[SpinDance]

We do look different when our hair is up, which can take some getting used to. Wearing protective do's and not doing things that cause damage will help, but it will take time, since you already have damage. By wearing your hair down and detangling roughly unfortunately you are damaging regularly. If buns aren't your thing how about braids? It can take a little time to learn to braid well, but once you get the skills down there are so very many things you can do. Protecting your ends and length will help.

Do you do S&D (Search and Destroy) to trim out split or damaged ends?

What kind of brush are you using? The tool you use to detangle your hair can make a huge difference. Instead of a brush consider a wide tooth comb or pick that has no seams. I like horn, wood or bone. Hairsense.com has 'bone' combs that are made from Bakelite, which works quite well. I understand that the Body Shop carries wooden combs. If you find any rough spots use a nail file or fine sand paper to smooth it, then oil the comb to help seal it. Don't get it wet.

If your hair frizzes then you may be a curly or wavy not straight, and trying to make your hair straight may be making things worse. Wavy or curly hair usually needs more moisture since it looses more. Here are some links to things that can help with frizz: Frizz Buster Gel (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=6508) and Kimberlily's Defrizz Spray (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=277).

Since you have just started to change your routines it is going to take time to figure out what will work for you. The suggestion to only change one thing at a time every few weeks means it takes a long time to get a final routine figured out. However, it is really worth taking your time with this research. Everyone is different, and things that work for one person may or may not work for you. If you make too many changes too quickly you won't be able to really tell what is working and what isn't. Of course if something gives terrible results don't continue with it, but just because something didn't work well the first time, doesn't mean it won't ever work. Later changes may make something start to work. I had this happen with CO washing. It didn't work for me until I went cone-free, and now it works quite well for me most of the time. I only CWC every couple weeks now, as needed

Take your time, research the Articles section, particularly the Hair Care (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=category&categoryid=2) section newbie advice (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39) and the article about damage (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79).

You may have enough damage on your ends that a trim would benefit your hair. That happens, and removing damage can be the best way to gain length long term. However, do read the articles first because sometimes what feels like damage is actually build up.

Good luck in your journey!

[Tuna]

I do search and destroy for almost a year now. My hair is soooo much better than it was before. It's not damaged very badly... but i think i would be able to do soo much better if i would have the patience with it. Sometimes i just go maad and i brush very rough. Will change that... god give me some patience please :D
I use regular brush to detangle, and boar bristle to polish hair and spread the oils... it makes my hair really soft.
I will surely try to braid my hair and try a lots of updos. I hope that one day i will find one that suits me.
And that spray seems wonderful idea. I will shure give it a try.

[SpinDance]

As your hair isn't very damaged, perhaps a few simple changes would benefit. Change from detangling with a brush to wide tooth comb. It may not seem like much but the long term benefits are huge. Also, try some of the treatments like SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128)and Fox's Shea Butter Cream (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?p=96208). More moisture for me means my hair tends to be less 'grabby', thus easier to detangle and keep untangled.

[Tuna]

SpinDance thank you sooo much! I didn't know what to do... but now i have lots of thing to experiment with. Will give it a try! At first i have to buy myself a comb :D.

[SpinDance]

You are very welcome, Tuna! There is so much information here it is hard to know where to start, and really tempting to try everything you do find all at once. I highly recommend keeping some sort of record of your experiments, whether in a journal or the blog here. I use mainly a little book but also write in my blog here some, too, just for fun. I've been experimenting for over 2 years now, trying different things, and while I'm getting continued improvement there are many more things I want to try. I'm trying to be patient by focusing on these slow experiments. It's not easy for me to be patient, but growing long hair is obviously a long term project, so patience is rather required! :D

Let us know how your experiments go.

[racrane]

Do you use a regular brush? Once I stopped using a cheap plastic brush and started using a comb, I didn't get as much frizz anymore. Maybe this helps?

[Madora]

@Tuna...

Please, if you love your hair and want it to look beautiful, use a widetooth comb, NOT a brush, to detangle!

There's a method to detangling...yes, it takes a little extra time, but your hair will benefit.

Take a SMALL section of your hair (finger size), and using a wide tooth comb, start at the ends of the strands, and gently comb UP, a little at a time, until you reach the scalp. Continue thusly until all hair has been detangled.

Part your hair from nape to forehead, and take each section in your hand. Gently place the right hand side over the right shoulder. Do the same for the left. Now you're ready to style.

Don't force your comb thru the tangle! Use your fingers to unravel it. If the tangle is a bit balky, put a tiny bit of oil on it to loosen it.

An EVOO overnight treatment does wonders for your hair in general and lessens snarls (at least for me).