Hello everyone forgive my hiatus on the blog I am back and thought it important that I share the proper ways to detangle our hair to prevent breakage. Now black hair is not usually straight and varies from being curly, wavy or kinky. As a result, detangling our hair improperly might result in breakage, split ends, damaged cuticles, etc. I therefore created this post to share the proper or healthier ways to detangle our hair, these tips apply to those with relaxed, texlaxed and natural hair and I bring them to you after I have experimented with different methods of detangling my own hair. 



Now let us get into the tips:

Never detangle dry hair: Whenever you are faced with a situation where you have extremely tangled hair, it is important that you avoid detangling on dry hair. If you attempt detangling dry hair without the aid of any product whether you use your fingers or a comb, you will be sure to get a lot of breakage.

Be sure to use a product with loads of slip: If you have hair that is tangled or matted you would need a product that will provide your hair with loads of slip/lubrication so that it can make the detangling process easier. A lot of people use various products which work best to detangle their hair. In my own case I use either my Wura’s Secret Moisturiser or a cheapie conditioner to detangle my hair. Other products that can be used to detangle hair include natural oils, hair moisturisers, detanglers, etc. Some ladies with natural hair wet their hair with water first and then apply a product for slip and detangle that way. It is simply about finding out what works best for your hair.

Do not underestimate the power of finger detangling: Our type of hair has loads of bends and curves so combs might not be the best tool to use especially at first when your hair is extremely tangled. In a situation where your hair is extremely tangled it is advisable that you first use your fingers to get as much knots and tangles out as possible before you go back in with a comb.

Be sure to use a wide tooth comb to detangle: It is important never to detangle your hair with a medium tooth or tiny tooth comb trying to make your hair smoother as this would only result in breakage. Rather detangle your hair with a wide tooth comb to prevent excessive breakage as this is the best tool for detangling our hair. You can also use a wide bristle brush such as the Denman Brush.

Detangle starting with your ends first: You can detangle starting with your ends first and then go up a quarter of an inch at a time, bit by bit, till you get to the roots this will help to prevent breakage usually caused from detangling the hair from root to tip.

You should detangle hair in sections: Detangling our hair in sections is an ideal way to prevent breakage. For extremely tangled hair it is best to work in at least 6 sections to ensure that you adequately detangle your entire head of hair. Simply take a small section of hair detangle thoroughly and twist or plait it or secure with duck bill clips, hair clips or bobby pins to separate the detangled section from the remainder of the hair, repeat until you have done you entire hair. This process is a gentler more thorough way of detangling our hair as opposed to detangling it all at once.

Above all be patient and gentle when you are detangling your hair; never be in a hurry to rush through.

Now it is important I list some ways to avoid having tangled hair to begin with:

Avoid tangled hair during wash day: It is very common for our hair to get tangled whilst we are washing and deep conditioning so we may find that after air drying our hair we are left with very tangled hair. To avoid this, make sure that every step of the way during the wash day process you are detangling your hair. So for example if you do pre shampoo treatments be sure to detangle whilst you are applying your pre-poo of choice. Then when washing your hair be sure to wash downwards instead of wringing the hair or bunching it up, you can also lightly finger detangle at this point. When deep conditioning, after the conditioner has been left in your hair long enough you can detangle your hair with a wide tooth comb under running water. You can also work in sections. Towel dry or t-shirt dry also in one direction and never wrap the hair up to avoid tangles. Also when air drying be sure to employ methods such as bunning or air drying in pony tails to avoid tangles. If you can make sure that at each step of your wash day, your hair is being detangled, the result would be smooth, silky detangled hair.

Be careful when you are stretching your relaxers: When you are stretching your relaxers you need to make sure you apply a lot of moisture to your hair, most especially your new growth to prevent the tangling and matting of your hair. So products that might work for your relaxed hair may not work as well for your new growth.

Try to detangle your hair at least once a week: In a situation where you are not wearing a longer term protective style it is advisable to make sure you detangle your hair at least once a week even if it is with your fingers alone. This will help to prevent any future tangles.

Avoid protein overload: We all know that it is important to deep condition our hair, however deep conditioning with protein conditioners can result in matting and severe tangling of the hair when the protein in the hair is excessive, i.e. protein overload. This tip especially applies to anyone with low porosity hair. It is therefore important to balance out protein and moisture deep conditioners.

Thank you all for reading my post on the proper way to detangle our hair to prevent breakage, please leave any questions, comments, tips that might have worked for you in the comment section below. I have loads more exciting future posts in store please watch this space.

TONKABELLE, xoxo



“We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking” – Santosh Kalwar, Quote Me Everyday