Knots, Tangles, and Breakage!

[WantNatural]

Just last week came up with a timeline for achieving my goals. I was only 1.5 inches away from APL, BSL looked achievable by the end of the year, and WL would be mine by the middle of 2013. Then yesterday, after a terrible prepoo/detangling session I lost an amount of hair a little smaller than a small egg. My hair was so tangled and knotted that I had to cut them out of my hair. That was just the left back side of my hair. On the right back side I didn't have to cut, my hair just kept coming out. I had small broken hairs all over my shirt and the floor in addition to all of the longer, tangled, knotted hair that I cut or pulled out of my head. The front remained mostly unscathed, but the right back of my head got the worst of it. It used to be thicker and longer than the left, but now it feels and looks so thin!

I'm trying to figure out what happened, and I think I know. On Sundays I DC (moisturizing), shampoo (or use Shikaikai bar or herbal hair wash), leave-in, detangle w/fingers, wide-tooth comb and tangle teezer (I finger detangle in the shower as well) seal with coconut and grapeseed/castor oil mix, and put in a small bun to dry. I cowash twice a week and DC on dry hair one of those times with Mill Creek Biotin conditioner for protein, add leave-in, detangle same as above, seal with the same oils, put in small bun. I PS in a bun with weave hair since my bun is not big enough on its own yet. Every night I section my hair, moisturize with water and sometimes some conditioner, seal with coconut oil, very lightly detangle by gently separating my strands, and baggy.

But I've been thinking about cowashing daily now that it's getting warm outside, so I decided to experiment with only finger detangling my hair in the shower and after adding my leave-in to see how that would work. I didn't want to do a full detangle every day because I was worried about too much manipulation. So last Sunday and Wednesday I only finger detangled. Friday night I actually bunned my hair at night so that Sat morning I would only have to add my weave hair, and Sat night I kept the bun in without moisturizing at all. So by yesterday I had not detangled my hair in four days, and being in the bun my hair had been allowed to mat up for a couple of days. On top of that I had not done a full detangle on my hair in a week. I have small 4a curls and the strands love to intertwine around each other. I should have known better - I used to be able to finger detangle only with no problem when my hair was shorter, but it requires more now. I think not properly detangling left tons of shed hair to curl around my strands, which led to the knots and tangles. Had I properly detangled and removed my shed hair I would not have had these problems. The broken hairs were probably a result of handling my hair so much while it was dry - it had melted coconut oil on it but it was not soaked in it, so it was barely damp when I started what I thought was going to be a gentle separating of my strands and turned into a marathon detangling session!

So now I need to recover. I think I'm going to go back to my normal routine and fully detangling my hair. If I decide to begin cowashing daily I will probably finger detangle then but I shouldn't have the same problems as I will be finger detangling daily. I like to Henna once a month, and I use castor oil in my DC, seal with it, and sometimes oil my scalp with it. Hopefully that and patience will allow my hair to regain its thickness. I was feeling kind of down, but it's hair, it will grow back, and on the scale of things I have to deal with right now it's not at the top. I just hate that I was making progress and now I've had a set back. Any other ideas on getting the thickness back ladies?

 

[Nonie]

OK, OP, I feel a bit faint because in reading all that, I didn't once see you mention braiding your hair before bed. I honest to God do not know how ANYONE with type 4 hair can go to bed w/ hair not fully detangled and locked in braids. I have avoided ever needing to detangle my hair because I do not play when I say I keep my hair from getting tangled. The idea of wearing a bun or puff then just baggying it without putting the hair in STRETCHED plaits for the night before baggying seriously makes my head spin. I don't know what else to suggest because if one is doing this, then to me that's just a recipe for tangles and knots. I don't ever get those because I don't leave room for them in my life.

It may seem like a lot of manipulation to put hair in plaits before bed, but I'd argue it is way less manipulation than one does detangling trying to remove knots from her hair after leaving it alone out of braids in the name of low mani. Also I am not fond of wearing my hair out day in, day out...so if I were to put my hair in plaits for the night, chances are I'd be rocking a low mani style for a few days, either leaving my hair in the plaits and under a wrap or wear a hat and have them showing.

As far as I know type 4 hair thrives better the less you manipulate it and if you won't manipulate it, you must keep it in styles that ensure the loving coils do not knot up. Type 4 hair doesn't need much to turn into locks so leaving it alone to do its thang instead of having it stretched out and locked in a parallel-strands state is just asking for problems.

 

[westNDNbeauty]

You seem to be on the right track. I think you should keep doing what you are doing and you will reach your goal.

Henna is the only thing I would suggest for thickness...or maybe some proteins. The sense that your hair has thinned out may be over amplified by the fact that you have a goal you are trying to attain. Situations like this happen to the best of us. Just being aware of it is the first and biggest step. Now proper care is all you need to do. I think you have the basics down pat.

 

[WantNatural]

Thank you, that makes me feel better!

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Yes, we all have set backs. I left my hair loose, sort of, for 3 weeks under a lace wig and it was not pretty when I did finally detangle. I did not have to cut any tangles out, but I did think of Nonie when I was in the midst of the detangling process. I regretted not braiding my hair under my wig.

You definitely have the basics down. I do not know of anything that can thicken the hair strands. I have never tried Henna though.

 

[Foxglove]

OK, OP, I feel a bit faint because in reading all that, I didn't once see you mention braiding your hair before bed. I honest to God do not know how ANYONE with type 4 hair can go to bed w/ hair not fully detangled and locked in braids. I have avoided ever needing to detangle my hair because I do not play when I say I keep my hair from getting tangled. The idea of wearing a bun or puff then just baggying it without putting the hair in STRETCHED plaits for the night before baggying seriously makes my head spin. I don't know what else to suggest because if one is doing this, then to me that's just a recipe for tangles and knots. I don't ever get those because I don't leave room for them in my life.

It may seem like a lot of manipulation to put hair in plaits before bed, but I'd argue it is way less manipulation than one does detangling trying to remove knots from her hair after leaving it alone out of braids in the name of low mani. Also I am not fond of wearing my hair out day in, day out...so if I were to put my hair in plaits for the night, chances are I'd be rocking a low mani style for a few days, either leaving my hair in the plaits and under a wrap or wear a hat and have them showing.

As far as I know type 4 hair thrives better the less you manipulate it and if you won't manipulate it, you must keep it in styles that ensure the loving coils do not knot up. Type 4 hair doesn't need much to turn into locks so leaving it alone to do its thang instead of having it stretched out and locked in a parallel-strands state is just asking for problems.

Just came in to emphasise the bolded

 

[WantNatural]

OK, OP, I feel a bit faint because in reading all that, I didn't once see you mention braiding your hair before bed. I honest to God do not know how ANYONE with type 4 hair can go to bed w/ hair not fully detangled and locked in braids. I have avoided ever needing to detangle my hair because I do not play when I say I keep my hair from getting tangled. The idea of wearing a bun or puff then just baggying it without putting the hair in STRETCHED plaits for the night before baggying seriously makes my head spin. I don't know what else to suggest because if one is doing this, then to me that's just a recipe for tangles and knots. I don't ever get those because I don't leave room for them in my life.

It may seem like a lot of manipulation to put hair in plaits before bed, but I'd argue it is way less manipulation than one does detangling trying to remove knots from her hair after leaving it alone out of braids in the name of low mani. Also I am not fond of wearing my hair out day in, day out...so if I were to put my hair in plaits for the night, chances are I'd be rocking a low mani style for a few days, either leaving my hair in the plaits and under a wrap or wear a hat and have them showing.

As far as I know type 4 hair thrives better the less you manipulate it and if you won't manipulate it, you must keep it in styles that ensure the loving coils do not knot up. Type 4 hair doesn't need much to turn into locks so leaving it alone to do its thang instead of having it stretched out and locked in a parallel-strands state is just asking for problems.

Thanks Nonie! Actually when I go to bed I part my hair in four sections, moisturize, seal, and put in four twists, before either baggying or wearing my scarf and bonnet, unless I have washed my hair that night, in which case it dries in a bun (under my scarf and bonnet) after being detangled. However one night I didn't even take my hair down from my bun, I just slept in it, without moisturizing or anything, and I think that along with my finger detangling only experiment was the culprit. I agree, sleeping in braids or twists, where the hair is stretched, makes a HUGE difference, at least for me. When my hair was shorter I would sleep with it in a puff and never had any problems, but now that is no longer an option, and I learned the hard way that no matter how tired I am, I have to take the time to properly prepare my hair or suffer the consequences.