Texture Change: Curly!! What do I do?!?

[Gwendolene]

I recently moved from some where very humid, to very dry and now my hair has gone from 1cFii/iii to actual curls. I was expecting the opposite, but I think, perhaps the humidity was weighing down the curls before??

Anyway, the top layer of my hair is one giant mat. The more I touch it the more it tangles, and I have no idea what to do! If I have to cut it all off, just to get rid of the mats, I am going to be so sad.

Finger brushing has never worked for me because my hair is so thick and suddenly brushing is the worst thing ever!

[Mairéad]

Hmm, I'm no expert but the problem would be the tangles right? Have you tried a really bad*** detangler at all? You may want to get something nice and cone-y and hope that makes some of those tangles come undone. If you're living in a dry area now there's no doubt you'll need moisture treatments and to make only controlled use of humetants.

I hope someone else comes along to help as I've never really suffered bad tangles. I'm just pitching some ideas. :o

[Arctic]

I'm thinking it might water related. Maybe your water at the new place has lot of minerals?

[GuinevereMay]

I'm thinking it might water related. Maybe your water at the new place has lot of minerals?
That was my thought, too. When I visited London, my hair was a tangled mess and I couldn't even get a comb through it, no matter how much conditioner I used. I went back home (to Hawaii, at the time,) and my hair went back to normal.

In fact, my avatar picture is braided tangles, believe it or not. I couldn't get a comb through my hair that morning.

[Gwendolene]

I'm thinking it might water related. Maybe your water at the new place has lot of minerals?


Yes! All the coffee pots get calcified in no time... Does that change hair texture?

[Gwendolene]

I went back home (to Hawaii, at the time,) and my hair went back to normal.

My hair was amazing when I lived in Hawaii. It's never looked so gorgeous.

[GuinevereMay]

I live on the East Coast now and I haven't noticed a change in my hair's texture or anything, thank heavens. The water in London was incredibly hard. I saw another LH on the Tube and wondered what she did to keep her hair from matting up (she was local to London.)

[Amber_Maiden]

have you tried a tangle teezer? I can't think f anything else to get rid of the tangles...

[Mina17]

If it might be the water how about trying an ACV rinse?

[spidermom]

You could rinse with a dash of vinegar in distilled water to cut the minerals.

I find it useful to comb conditioner through in the shower. Perhaps you could do that before your final rinse.

[GRU]

To get the current tangles out:


Wet hair in shower.
Work a slippery conditioner through.
Comb with a wide-toothed comb (or Tangle Teezer), one section at a time, starting from the bottom. Add more water/conditioner if necessary.


To help prevent future tangles:


ALWAYS make sure your hair is fully detangled at the end of your shower:

Add conditioner to rinsed hair.
Comb through with wide-toothed comb.
Leave conditioner in your hair as it dries.

[Falcore]

Perhaps not treating your hair as if it's 1c anymore and working with your new texture?

Brushing seems to be never good for curls so maybe using a wide tooth comb with a coney conditioner (very gently in shower) will help.

[Arctic]

Yes! All the coffee pots get calcified in no time... Does that change hair texture?

I can't say for sure, but my own experience indicates it possibly can. I had some other hair related troubles at the same time I had mineral deposits in my hair, mainly protein overload, so I can't very clearly say which caused which.

But my hair did become much wavier and the waves were very rigid, and not pretty. My coarsest hairs seemed to become curlier and wirier while my finer hairs seemed to break off easily. My waves and wurlies felt horrible and looked horrible. When I did finally get the protein resolved, my hair was still "not normal" and still I had these rigid waves/wurlies.

I searched high and low for answers to my hair problems, most of the information on the web was at least then (few years ago) from company called Malibu Wellness (or similar) and the info might or might not be accurate (they try to sell their products).

I have documented in my blog all my trials and errors, if you are interested.

You could try rinsing with purified water after every wash, or with (diluted) vinegar. Vinegar apparently removes calcium pretty weel, but one treatment propably does not remove all minerals. I personally tried ascorbic acid rinses, some people swear to citric acid rinses. There is a recipe here somewhere called (if I remember correctly) Miracle Water, which could be just what you need.

If home remedies are not enough, a chelating shampoo or treatment is what you'll need.


I hope you get your hair back to normal soon!