First time posting! Issues with matted hair

**sofie** · March 3rd, 2023, 07:54 AM

Hi everyone, I'm a long time lurker. The hair info on my profile isn't accurate, I was going to take an in-depth look at that sometime later. I have a massive lifelong problem with my hair texture and I haven't been able to find any advice on my particular type yet. My hair gets very matted, very quickly. I wash it about twice a week, and I can't wash it when it's extremely tangled, so I'll spend around an hour detangling before each wash. After it's washed, if I have time by the end of the day and it's dry, I will detangle it again, and put it in braids to make it less miserable next time. It's currently at tailbone length, which I'm really enjoying, but at the same time it's driving me so insane. My hair is slightly wavy, light, thin and brittle, but somewhat dense. After a thorough brush, I feel like I have to sit completely still or it'll be ruined in five minutes. I also deal with issues with certain clothing that causes static, as my hair tends to stick to my clothes and face, or rise up in random directions and look horrible. My sister has all the same problems, but she can't comb her hair while it's dry, and I can't comb mine when it's wet. Weird!

Any insight would be appreciated, sometimes I want to give up on having long hair and just go for a pixie cut but I know I would regret it. I don't know anything about hair products and it seems like everyone else is having some other hair issue but not this one

**sofie** · March 3rd, 2023, 07:57 AM

Ack - I meant to say fine hair, not thin!

**Sarahlabyrinth** · March 3rd, 2023, 10:53 AM

Welcome here! Wearing your hair up in protective styles, bunned or braided buns, will do wonders to minimise tangling. also perhaps consider using a silk/satin pillowcase or sleeping cap in bed at night too.

**sofie** · March 3rd, 2023, 11:18 AM

Ty for the welcome, your hair looks so beautiful!!

That's interesting, it's the first time I hear about the pillowcase/sleeping cap option, I will look into that and maybe give it a shot.

The worst problem is having to sit through brushing it to detangle for protective braids, after my wash, an hour or so after having already detangled it for the wash... ugh! How can just water mess it up that bad, you know? And I'm so gentle with the towel afterwards. It's some dark sorcery.

**lapushka** · March 3rd, 2023, 11:19 AM

Braiding is a good thing to do. Keep it contained as much as possible, but vary your styles; I would at the very least put it up in a ponytail! No way is this great to wear out at this length.

Best is to let us hairtype you. Just wash without detangling it after the wash and take a picture of the back of your head. The official hair typing picture thread is around here somewhere...

Welcome!

**sofie** · March 3rd, 2023, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by lapushka

Braiding is a good thing to do. Keep it contained as much as possible, but vary your styles; I would at the very least put it up in a ponytail! No way is this great to wear out at this length.

Best is to let us hairtype you. Just wash without detangling it after the wash and take a picture of the back of your head. The official hair typing picture thread is around here somewhere...

Welcome!

Oh, thank you so much!
I don't know if I have image posting permissions yet but I think I've managed to chuck a video in here of exactly that - after a wash and not detangled. Hope this link works. Will also look for that hair type thread
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...34877&page=536

**spidermom** · March 3rd, 2023, 01:38 PM

You shouldn't be having to spend that much time untangling your hair. To the best of my memory, if my hair is loose in the wind and as tangled as it ever gets, it takes me maybe 10-15 minutes to comb it out completely. It's relatively fine too, although I think I have hairs of every type - fine, medium, and coarse. I find that rather than the often-repeated advice of starting at the bottom and working up when combing, it works better to start at the surface and gradually work deeper. A detangling spray can help a lot. I use Garnier Fructis Pure Clean detangler and air dry with aloe extract; it's a good, effective product. Combing conditioner through hair after washing can also help. I wash my hair in the shower so leave it hanging straight down over my body most of the time. I don't know what method you use, but it's really important to avoid messing your hair all around while you wash it like they show on commercials (bad!).

**lapushka** · March 3rd, 2023, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by sofie

Oh, thank you so much!
I don't know if I have image posting permissions yet but I think I've managed to chuck a video in here of exactly that - after a wash and not detangled. Hope this link works. Will also look for that hair type thread
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...34877&page=536

I will reply here as well. I think that is at least (kinda hard to tell from this little clip) 2a. So no way straight hair!

And spidermom has a point. It should not be this difficult. Case in point... What do you detangle with. I myself use a wet brush, they are... priceless; I used to use a wide tooth comb (don't do a tightly spaced comb!) and that hurt my sensitive head. A wet brush just glides through and will hiccup at "real" tangles aka knots so you can get them out patiently and manually. A skewer or the back of a metal rake comb are priceless to have around, if nothing else, skewers can be handy!

**Bri-Chan** · March 3rd, 2023, 02:30 PM

Welcome!
We have very similar hairtypes. My hair tangles badly and fast... I actually find that brushes make this worst. They're good to detangle before I wash my hair, but once it's dry they are too harsh on my texture, and this generate frizz and tangles and sometimes also the statics you mentioned. The only things I can use successfully to detangle my hair when it's dry and minimize those problems, are my hands and a wide tooth comb, I don't know if you have already tried. It may seems a paradox, but I find that if I don't detangle at all between a wash and another, it will take almost the same amount of time to detangle it as if I was doing it everyday. So, I don't detangle at all usually and do styles that not requires that like buns or English braids. When I need to brush it or comb it I always, always use some leave in to help. And I often divide my hair in two horizontal sections (ear to ear) if I have to brush or comb.

It's the first time for me too to see someone with this same issue. It takes anything between 20 and 40 minutes to brush or comb my hair every time.

**sofie** · March 3rd, 2023, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by spidermom

You shouldn't be having to spend that much time untangling your hair. To the best of my memory, if my hair is loose in the wind and as tangled as it ever gets, it takes me maybe 10-15 minutes to comb it out completely. It's relatively fine too, although I think I have hairs of every type - fine, medium, and coarse. I find that rather than the often-repeated advice of starting at the bottom and working up when combing, it works better to start at the surface and gradually work deeper. A detangling spray can help a lot. I use Garnier Fructis Pure Clean detangler and air dry with aloe extract; it's a good, effective product. Combing conditioner through hair after washing can also help. I wash my hair in the shower so leave it hanging straight down over my body most of the time. I don't know what method you use, but it's really important to avoid messing your hair all around while you wash it like they show on commercials (bad!).

Originally Posted by lapushka

I will reply here as well. I think that is at least (kinda hard to tell from this little clip) 2a. So no way straight hair!

And spidermom has a point. It should not be this difficult. Case in point... What do you detangle with. I myself use a wet brush, they are... priceless; I used to use a wide tooth comb (don't do a tightly spaced comb!) and that hurt my sensitive head. A wet brush just glides through and will hiccup at "real" tangles aka knots so you can get them out patiently and manually. A skewer or the back of a metal rake comb are priceless to have around, if nothing else, skewers can be handy!

Originally Posted by Bri-Chan

Welcome!
We have very similar hairtypes. My hair tangles badly and fast... I actually find that brushes make this worst. They're good to detangle before I wash my hair, but once it's dry they are too harsh on my texture, and this generate frizz and tangles and sometimes also the statics you mentioned. The only things I can use successfully to detangle my hair when it's dry and minimize those problems, are my hands and a wide tooth comb, I don't know if you have already tried. It may seems a paradox, but I find that if I don't detangle at all between a wash and another, it will take almost the same amount of time to detangle it as if I was doing it everyday. So, I don't detangle at all usually and do styles that not requires that like buns or English braids. When I need to brush it or comb it I always, always use some leave in to help. And I often divide my hair in two horizontal sections (ear to ear) if I have to brush or comb.

It's the first time for me too to see someone with this same issue. It takes anything between 20 and 40 minutes to brush or comb my hair every time.

Thank you all for ideas and advice! Yes, I don't think it should be that difficult!! I see others brush their hair, and I've brushed other people's hair before, It's never anything like this. I think one of the reasons why it takes so long might be due to how sensitive my scalp is? I work in 4 to 6 sections and always patiently do bottom upwards, and catching small knots feels like a sharp needle-like pain on my head. If I grab the hair tightly above the section I'm working on, it helps a lot, but it still takes ages because I'm trying to avoid breakage. I work any faster and there's both pain & a horrible hair breaking sound, so until I can figure something out, it's just going to be a time commitment.

Hair wash routine in the shower - I don't try particularly hard not to mess it up, I don't think I can avoid it, I just scrub my roots to thoroughly clean them every time (my hair gets quite oily quickly), and I let the rest of the product run down the length as I shower.

Hair brushing routine - Honestly I feel like I've tried all possible combs and brushes, when I'm in need of a new one I always go for something else, hoping it would switch things up. I haven't used combs in a bit because for me it feels like it makes it take even longer. I find it most efficient to alternate between a normal wide bristle brush and my fingers, for particularly bad knots. Brushes specifically made for detangling (those with very soft bristles and a weird shape) are actually more difficult to detangle my hair with

I'm not sure what a wet brush is! And I don't know if google's giving me the right info. Is that the name of the brand or a type of brush?

Hair type - 2a looks about right, yeah. I'm also pretty confident about it being F and ii, so that does make us super similar Bri-Chan! Wow! Your profile picture also looks so much like my hair after a protective overnight style. I also completely understand what you mean by the paradox. What sort of "leave in" do you use? Has there been a product that has worked very well for you?
I will also be looking into detangling sprays, thanks!!