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Kaelee
December 13th, 2011, 10:37 PM
Who all here fingercombs?

I'm trying it, because of static mostly. (I have a plastic comb and a nice wooden one isn't in the budget right now.) I'm also wondering what effect it will have on the texture of my hair. I have really fine, stick straight hair but I am hoping to find a little bit of wave in there somewhere! :D

CurlyCap
December 13th, 2011, 10:48 PM
I do! 99% percent of the time, that is.

My hand is the best wide-tooth comb ever. Great clump promoter. :D

ludwig20
December 13th, 2011, 10:48 PM
I'm trying to switch to fingercombing. Not just because of static, but also since I'd like to leave my natural waves in place.

Tota
December 13th, 2011, 11:13 PM
I used to fingercomb all the time. I also have a plastic wide-tooth comb but I used it only in the shower to comb wet hair with conditioner on. But last week, I got my very first TT. So now my fingers are on a break ;)

Mountaingrrl
December 13th, 2011, 11:14 PM
Fingercombing is one of the best things I've done for my hair. It preserves my curly/wavy texture, and I very rarely get split ends anymore since I stopped using combs.

aksown
December 13th, 2011, 11:42 PM
I fingercomb 99% of the time as well. I use a wide tooth comb maybe once a month and a BBB every couple months...maybe?

shikara
December 13th, 2011, 11:44 PM
Im on my tenth day of fingercombing (hooray Shikara:cheese:)! My straight hair didnt take well to combs or even brushes really - it didnt tangle in knots as such, but the strands had that zipper, or velcro thing going on. It took less than a day to figure out how to manoever my fingers through it, and there is nothing better! I dont dread detangling at all anymore - a HUGE plus. Ill be watching for any other benefits that my hair may receive as a result of fingercombing

MoreWhenNuh
December 14th, 2011, 12:04 AM
I've started fingercombing when I get out of the shower. But out of habit I just feel I need to comb it too. Maybe I should just stop all together. I have way too many splits.

luxepiggy
December 14th, 2011, 01:18 AM
I've been fingers-only for over a decade. It's one of those things where the more you do it, the less you have to. Done properly, fingercombing is the least damaging method of detangling, which reduces the amount of cumulative grooming damage to your hair. Eventually I reached the point where my hair almost never tangles at all, even though I sleep with it loose and blow dry it regularly (^(oo)^)v

Can't help you about the wave pattern thing since I'm a 1a.

hanne jensen
December 14th, 2011, 01:47 AM
I finger comb most of the time as my hair is so fragile. I break less hairs this way. I will use a TangleTeezer before showering to remove shed hairs. After finger combing, of course.

Fortresca
December 14th, 2011, 03:44 AM
I'm fingercombing since about 6 month. I really like it and have no problems with it. I think it reduces splissed ends a lot. But I'll use a Tangle Teezer in future, when I want to hurry up the progress a little bit, because fpr me fingercombing takes quite some time.

Johannah
December 14th, 2011, 03:55 AM
I'm doing it for about 2 (maybe 3?) weeks now. I don't have so much hair loss anymore and I got the feeling that my ends split less too, but I'm not sure about that.

catnip
December 14th, 2011, 05:49 AM
I'm finger combing but sumetimes it's not enough and my hair looks tangled, even when they're not... After using tangle teezer they're so smooth! I really want to give up normal combing because in causes a lot of breakage, so I guess I'll keep on trying.

UP Lisa
December 14th, 2011, 06:41 AM
During the years I was growing my hair out, I pretty much only did fingercombing. I don't think my hair would have ever made it to BCL if I had combed and brushed. Recently I've started using a Tangle Teezer and a soft brush, but maybe should go back to just fingercombing.

Mayflower
December 14th, 2011, 07:33 AM
I HAVE to fingercomb since I don't detangle my hair when it's wet. By the time it's dry (I damp bun it every night I wash it so in the morning I take it out) there are a lot of tangles. I fingercomb thoroughly for about 10 minutes, then comb to finish off. Sometimes I'm too impatient though and I immediately use the comb and rip a few hairs out.
When I fingercomb, I lose not so many hairs so that's my resolution for 2012 -not to be so lazy and impatient!

IanB
December 14th, 2011, 07:56 AM
I've always thought that finger combing is best for your hair, it makes you more aware of, and able to deal gently with tangles.

SpinDance
December 14th, 2011, 08:13 AM
Mostly I use my fingers to detangle or arrange my hair to put it up. I use forks or wide tooth combs as well, but not as frequently.

Madora
December 14th, 2011, 08:27 AM
I have been finger combing for years, but use a slightly different approach. I separate medium sections of hair (all the way down to the ends), THEN fingercomb gently from top to bottom. When I'm finished I begin to detangle with my wide tooth comb, working from the bottom up to the scalp, then finish with my daily 100 strokes with my bbb.

Fingercombing is a great prelude to actual detangling.

JadeTigress
December 14th, 2011, 08:31 AM
How exactly do you guys finger comb? My hair tangles up horribly with the slightest of movements unless I drown it in so much conditioner that it just looks like a flat, stringy, gross mess. When I try to finger comb, my hair doesn't end up looking very good, it just looks very separated (like the rat tail thing all over, like when I wear my hair down for a long time and it starts separating), and I feel like I'm actually ripping and making the tangle situation worse. My hair gets splits really easy, so I would love to move to fingercombing for awhile and see if it makes a difference, if only I could get it to work right.

holothuroidea
December 14th, 2011, 08:31 AM
I've been trying my best to only finger comb. It was easier with WO but then I started having to shampoo. I tried my best not to use any conditioner so I was doing scalp-only washes and oiling and I was breaking my hair more in detangling so I started to use a brush again hoping that would help. Eventually I started using conditioner regularly, and then I started CWC. CWC and finger combing in the shower followed by a drip dry has been pretty much zero damage for me so I should probably continue with that. This will probably change as my hair grows, though.

I sometimes have a lapse and comb and brush my hair. Mostly out of habit, and of a really squicked out feeling of must. brush. hair. But I've been getting better and better.

I am considering a scritching comb, because I get an itchy scalp and I think the comb would be less damaging than scratching with fingers.

Roscata
December 14th, 2011, 08:50 AM
I finger combed when my hair was APL+ because it is an awesome way to detangle that doesn't break any hairs. I love finger combing and I'm definitely doing it again when my hair is longer.

UP Lisa
December 14th, 2011, 08:52 AM
I know exactly what you mean. My hair does the same thing. I think it's just because it is fine.



How exactly do you guys finger comb? My hair tangles up horribly with the slightest of movements unless I drown it in so much conditioner that it just looks like a flat, stringy, gross mess. When I try to finger comb, my hair doesn't end up looking very good, it just looks very separated (like the rat tail thing all over, like when I wear my hair down for a long time and it starts separating), and I feel like I'm actually ripping and making the tangle situation worse. My hair gets splits really easy, so I would love to move to fingercombing for awhile and see if it makes a difference, if only I could get it to work right.

Amber_Maiden
December 14th, 2011, 09:05 AM
Only to get out bad tangles!

anikadear
December 14th, 2011, 09:16 AM
I always finger comb these days (the past week). I actually prefer it anyway, less tangles and even using the comb scares me a little. I still use it very rarely though.

MoreWhenNuh
December 14th, 2011, 10:14 AM
What is a tangle teezer?

Kaelee
December 14th, 2011, 12:17 PM
I had to resort to the comb this morning for a quick once-over. My hair was not tangled, but it was not nearly as silky and shiny as usual, it looked rough and fluffy, like it was dirty (even though I'd just washed it last night).

nobeltonya
December 14th, 2011, 12:29 PM
For some reason, the ends of my hair stick together really bad when they're dry so I can't just run my fingers through it. But, I do hold and slide my hands down the length to remove shed hairs and help smooth static/frizz occasionally. I also slightly finger-comb after applying conditioner in the shower. Otherwise, I just use a comb/brush, but only wet or oiled. I try not to mess with it at all when dry.

FrozenBritannia
December 14th, 2011, 01:16 PM
I am going to try doing this... I am kind of attached to the feeling of my comb on my scalp though. Maybe I will finger comb and then use a wide tooth comb after, once a ay, just to smooth things out... Hmm.

door72067
December 14th, 2011, 01:43 PM
I finger comb nearly always and I use a large plastic pick otherwise (combing thru conditioner, say)


I haven't used a brush or comb in decades

serin blackwood
December 14th, 2011, 01:53 PM
I love to finger comb ... but I used to call it neurotically playing with my hair.
Now, I've found LHC and learn that it's a healthy technique!

SoulOfTheSea
December 14th, 2011, 01:57 PM
Avid finger-comber here! :) I do not yet own a wide-toothed comb, so I used my fingers before I use my BBB to detangle and get lose hairs out.

spidermom
December 14th, 2011, 02:10 PM
Whatever works for you!

For me, finger combing is a nightmare. It seems that my hairs cling to my fingers, and it's hard to get my fingers through my hair. My comb glides through much more smoothly.

proo
December 14th, 2011, 03:15 PM
I fingercomb while s & d-ing, so it detangles and preens at the same time.
These rituals are uber soothing to me

Zesty
December 14th, 2011, 05:08 PM
I should probably try this, at least for a while. Mechanical damage is virtually the only source of damage for my hair, and sometimes I'm just not patient enough to detangle slowly with my comb.

RoseOfClare
December 14th, 2011, 05:18 PM
I have the same type of hair. Stick straight and fine. I do fingercomb all day because my hair tangles so easily if its not up. Also with fine hair it tends to break easily, finger combing is a lot gentler

For waves I highly suggest braiding your hair while it's wet. I will leave braids in for a day or so then let it out n have waves for another day. I wash about every 3-4 days and don't have nearly as much static as I use to when I washed every day.

Oiling my hair once and a while helps out as well with static! :)

aisha.christine
December 14th, 2011, 05:20 PM
I finger-comb as a predecessor to detangling with my wide-toothed comb or tangle teezer. It doesn't completely get out all of my tangles, but it's great for reducing them. :D It's also pretty good for keeping my wave pattern, so that's always a good thing.

mora
December 14th, 2011, 06:13 PM
What is a tangle teezer?

The tangle teezer (http://tangleteezer.com/)'s miraculous at quickly and gently removing tangles from your hair, as far as I can tell from reading about it here since I haven't gotten around to getting one myself. I'm still mostly fingercombing, although I've seen the tangle teezers at Sally's for about $10.

This thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=9334&highlight=tangle+teezer) has more discussion about it.

MoreWhenNuh
December 14th, 2011, 06:34 PM
The tangle teezer (http://tangleteezer.com/)'s miraculous at quickly and gently removing tangles from your hair, as far as I can tell from reading about it hair since I haven't gotten around to getting one myself. I'm still mostly fingercombing, although I've seen the tangle teezers at Sally's for about $10.

This thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=9334&highlight=tangle+teezer) has more discussion about it.


Thank you! Thank you!

haibane
December 15th, 2011, 06:10 AM
I am going to try doing this... I am kind of attached to the feeling of my comb on my scalp though. Maybe I will finger comb and then use a wide tooth comb after, once a ay, just to smooth things out... Hmm.
I use a wide tooth comb or metal hair fork to comb/skritch/scratch just my scalp. Works out great since my scalp loves it, but my hair pretty much hates combs.

CurlyMopTop
December 15th, 2011, 06:26 AM
I only fingercomb to detangle my hair in the shower while I'm rinsing out the conditioner. I don't really know how long it's been since I gave up the wide tooth comb, but because I've been keeping my hair up, my hair tangles very little. I do use one of those bad plastic brushes that have the little nubs on the end of the plastic bristles to smooth my hair while bunning though. I put my hair up while it's still heavily damp from the shower, and it works for me! ;)

Kaelee
December 15th, 2011, 09:30 AM
I have the same type of hair. Stick straight and fine. I do fingercomb all day because my hair tangles so easily if its not up. Also with fine hair it tends to break easily, finger combing is a lot gentler

For waves I highly suggest braiding your hair while it's wet. I will leave braids in for a day or so then let it out n have waves for another day. I wash about every 3-4 days and don't have nearly as much static as I use to when I washed every day.

Oiling my hair once and a while helps out as well with static! :)

My hair is only just above APL and layered, so I can't braid it. :( Also I have to wash every day, or else I go to bed with industrial oil and possibly mineral spirits on my head. :D

novemberfoxtrot
December 15th, 2011, 10:25 AM
I finger comb when my hair is dry but out of the shower I need to run something else through it (I use a pik from the 80s! ha!). The result of fingercombing my wet hair is just ungood.

What's this BBB? Bass & Bongo Bossanova? Better Buy Bruschetta? Bun, Butter & Bacon?

FrozenBritannia
December 15th, 2011, 11:25 AM
I finger comb when my hair is dry but out of the shower I need to run something else through it (I use a pik from the 80s! ha!). The result of fingercombing my wet hair is just ungood.

What's this BBB? Bass & Bongo Bossanova? Better Buy Bruschetta? Bun, Butter & Bacon?

Boar Bristle Brush :D

But you could try the bacon. LOL.

Carissamarie08
December 15th, 2011, 11:27 AM
I honestly dont think I could get the tangles out of my hair if I only fingercombed, BUT I have not tried it so maybe I will..