HELP! My Hair Knots No Matter What I Do!!!

[reggie56]

I am a natural and a Newbie. I love this site because you ladies give wonderful haircare advice. I need some now...BADLY!

My hair knots, no matter how much I condition, clarify or trim. I also drink lots of water and eat well, exercise, and take supplements. But, my hair still mats and knots. I wonder if it's just this time of year when it's cold and dry?

Can anyone provide some suggestions/advice?

Thanks!

 

[Supergirl]

Reggie,

I know you're natural, but I hope my advice will help you too. Sometimes I get knots & I just take my time and pick them apart very carefully so as not to break the hair--even more helpful to me is to put a silicone based product (like a serum) directly on the know. That helps the hairs to slide right out of the knot with alittle mechanical help from me. Good luck

 

[reggie56]

Thanks so much, Supergirl! I'll try this and see what happens. Is there a special serum you use or would loose hair oil work??

Thanks again!

 

[DragonPearl]

Reggie, how long is your hair? And do you always wear your hair out, and if so, what in what style?

 

[reggie56]

My hair is about 11". I can't do the two-strand twists, so I keep it in a bun.

 

[TinyT]

[ QUOTE ]
Jessy55 said:
Reggie, how long is your hair? And do you always wear your hair out, and if so, what in what style?

[/ QUOTE ]

I want to know too. Since I have highly textured hair, it curls and coils on itself if i leave it out too long. Also I realized, I can't do a wash and go anymore. My hair will just mat up and curl up into knots. If i want to wear my hair in an out style. I put it in big twists with some HHB or shea butter, then I rinse them, let them dry and untwist them. It keeps my hair tangle free. Also I wash my hair in sections. One day I was lazy and tried to do it all together. Even under a shower head, it was not a good thing. I spent and hour detangling. Your hair is longer than mine, so i would say, try washing hair in sections or even i twists. Also it could be your products.

Tracy

 

[reggie56]

Tracy!

Thanks so much. Do you think it could be my products? I've been using the same thing for past few months: Pantene's Smoothe and Sleek conditioner. I use the no-poo method, rarely washing my hair. It could be that the conditioner is making my hair too soft, hence the matting plus the cold and dry weather here. I'm in Buffalo...

 

[TinyT]

Well I just read your post again. One thing you mentioned is that you no-poo all the time. It could be that you may have product build up which aids in in tangles. Pantene is a conditoner that can build up on hair sometimes. So maybe you could clarify. But really the way I wash my hair affects wether or not have tangles more than the products, although they both work hand in hand. So if you are washing 11 inches of natural hair, and just massaging all the product in the hair can tangle while you wash. It works better for me to wash my hair while in big twists. Sometimes I take one twist down at a time to shampoo then I apply conditoner and twist it back up moving on to the next twist. Or sometimes if I am doing a conditoner wash I don't even take the twist down I just press the conditoner into eash twist, and then rinse when finished.

Also I have found that oil/conditioner pre-treatments help to keep shampoo, if I use it from being so drying, and also I don't get as many tangles.

Here's what I do:
Wash day
-make sure hair is in big twists
-wet twisted hair, add mix of oil/detangling conditoner
-put on plastic cap without heat for hour
-if I shampoo, take one twist down starting at the front of my hair and apply shampoo, rinse.
-add deep conditoner, twist back up
-when i get all the way to the back of my head, put my plastic cap on and let it sit for a while if I have time
-then with the conditoner still in take one twist at a time and detangle from end to root until all are down
-then rinse the conditoner out
-while my hair is damp i apply leave-in/oil, then style

I know you don't do twist, so you can section your hair and use hair clips to secure. Hope this helps if not, try a different conditoner. I happen to like kenra moisturizing for deep conditoning, biolage detangling is great at just busting up tangles, also jason naturals sea kelp is moisturizing, cheep, and 70% organic. Oh yeh, maybe your leave-in could be drying. I like ORS olive oil for a moisturizer, and shea butter for heavier moisturizer. By the way you can skip the shampoo if you really don't like to use it. Hope this helps.

 

[DragonPearl]

Reggie, my hair ranges from 8 to 12 inches, and I second the advices given by TracyAnnette. I ALWAYS wash my hair in sections. This is what I do:

I part my hair in 4, each section held together by hairpins or hair band, and I use GLOBS of conditioner (usually Lekair cholesterol plus conditioner) on each section, smoothing the hair until the hair is stiff and goey with the product. My philosophy is, you can never put too much conditioner.

I let the conditioner work on my hair for about 1 hour while I do other stuff.

Then I step into the shower and smooth and wash and detangle each section separately, using my new love, the K-CUTTER comb to remove any tangles.

 

[steph]

Hi reggie56, I know what you are going through.

I am natural with about 28 to 29inches of natural hair when stretched it shrinks to about 12. I have had a horrible time with knots, and i know what is like to have tangled knotty hair no matter what. The ladies have given you great advice so far. Here is what i do, I twist my hair into two sections and let the water rinse through in the shower. But the most important thing that has saved my hair from knots is CLARIFYING. I work out a lot and tend to have a lot of sweat and build up. I clarify with baking soda or ACV before i condition. I am no the no-poo method too. I clarify 2-3 times a week. I use pantene also, but i switched from s/s to the Daily Moisture Renewal and the Relaxed and Natural line. I also use Redken All Soft conditioner to give my hair a little strength with moisture because sometimes pantene leave my hair a little limp. Also I wear my hair in a twisted bun and tuck end the ends sealed with a little pantene conditioner and vaseline.
This is how i maintained my length. I can not wash and go. If i wear i a loose ponytail, it has to twisted for a few hours so it will not get tangled. I hope this helps. Sorry this post was long but i have had my share of knots, but now since i clarify i have not had any significant knots or breakage for over 4 months.

 

[ricochet]

I too am natural and I agree with everything the ladies have said. Excellent advise.