New Products Or Strategies For Avoiding Tangling From Shampooing?

[YvetteWithJoy]

Greetings, all!



To those of you who use to suffer severe tangling from shampooing, what have you done to solve that problem?

Someone who has tried just about EVERYTHING asked me about this. I thought it might help for her to hear from a lot of different folks instead of just me, because our hair behaves differently.

FYI:
What I did was to begin prepooing with a deep conditioner, then wash in sections with a moisturizing/conditioning shampoo, then follow up with a deep conditioning treatment. I read about this method here at the forum. Its the DC-cleanse-DC method. I almost ALWAYS use a very slippery shampoo, too. In fact, I only use a "stripping" type of shampoo once a month or so or every fourth wash--to reset my hair, remove metals, and create a super clean slate.

Details about my specific way (for my friend's benefit, as I'll be pointing her to this thread):
1. I take the prepoo (deep conditioner), apply it to my hair, and either use barrettes to put the hair into 6-10 sections . . . AND/OR . . . twist up the sections. This is before doing any major detangling. At this point I simply use the prepoo/DC to elongate and unfurl my hair.

2. I then use a water bottle to make the prepoo/DC slippery and proceed to detangle. To detangle, sometimes I use my fingers, sometimes I add the Magic Star Jumbo rake, sometimes I add the KareCo Tangle Buster Brush, sometimes I add the Kent 16t seamless comb . . . and sometimes I use various combinations of some or all of the above.

3. Then, with the DC still in, I apply shampoo to half of my head. I get my scalp really clean. Then I take one section of hair, apply shampoo to it, rinse it and remove shed hair, and then twist it (back) up. I repeat this until all the hair is clean and the shed hair removed. Sometimes I do the shampoo application at the bathroom sink and rinse out at the kitchen sink. But usually I rinse out in the shower.

4. Next, I apply my deep conditioning treatment, chunking twisting each section back up.

As a result, my very tangle-prone, coily hair does not re-tangle much. It doesn't get the chance: It is always either saturated with something very slippery or it is twisted up. My shampoo is VERY slippery. I use either the Soultanicals Strands Poo Bar or a J.R. Liggetts shampoo bar or the 22nd Centuray Natural shampoo bar. Each of these is SUPER slippery: In fact, I can detangle my hair with either of these.

NOTE: Every now and then I do things in a different order (detangle AFTER the last DC, for example), but the above is what I typically do.​

Okay: I wanted to document that so that she could have it.

Any other strategies or products you can share? I know this has been addressed again and again, but perhaps you know of a link or thread or article or YouTube video she can watch? Thanks in advance: I'll be alerting my friend to check out this thread.

 

[faithVA]

1. I switched shampoo: Elasta QP and Mane Choice. I steer clear of translucent shampoos

2. I lather only once. If I have to lather twice I use a really gentle shampoo for the second lather. I rarely need

3. I out the conditioner over the shampoo before I rinse. Its called buffering.

4. I sometimes condition first but I keep it short to about 10 minutes.

5. Stick to the shower to keep my hair laying flat.

6. Spritz my hair with diluted leave in before leaving the shower.

7. Oil my ends if I'm going to let my hair air dry but not apply product.

 

[Summerof93]

washing your hair in braids can prevent tangles. I've been doing this to reduce breakage and it makes the detangling process easier.

 

[PJaye]

For years, I was tortured by tangles because my hair is extremely tangle prone (I could literally see it tangling upon itself before my eyes when I wasn’t touching it). As a result, a large portion of my routine dealt with developing an effective method for detangling. It was a true journey of discovery that evolved in stages.

Phase I: The Ultra Slippery Moisturizing Shampoo
This phase was very easy and occurred quite by accident. Simply, the first shampoo I tried at the beginning of my journey was so slippery that it enabled me to detangle while rinsing in the shower. It literally took no more than a few minutes for me to comb through my entire head before the shampoo had completely rinsed away. Unbeknownst to me, I was living on a fluffy cloud in a wonderful dream. It wasn’t long before my fairy tale abruptly crashed and burned when my staple shampoo was reformulated without any warning. It was gone and I found myself at a loss. WTH was I supposed to do now?

Phase II: Methodology
After that bleeping vendor reformulated my staple shampoo, I decided to tackle the issue by rebooting my detangling method altogether because the shower thing wasn’t going to fly any longer. I believed the best strategy would be to focus on keeping my hair as tangle-free as possible at all times, especially during wash sessions. To that end, I didn’t want to overly manipulate my hair. So, I began to carefully apply products using smoothing motions from root to tip using the flattened palms of my hands (whereas before, I would pour a product into a palm and slap it on before gently scrubbing and/or working it into my strands).

I also refrained from twisting, braiding and overly sectioning my hair because doing so also produced tangles. I was happy for the people who could cleanse and DC in multiple sections or twists, but I knew early on that I wasn’t going to be one of them...and that was OK. For me, dividing my hair into two halves has proven to be more than sufficient at keeping the tangles at bay. In essence, the key to success at this stage was: (1) very low manipulation; and (2) applying products via careful smoothing. The outcome of this phase was a significant reduction in my tangle issues. Yet, I still needed to find a decent, non-stripping staple cleanser.

Phase III: Cleansing Conditioners
For my hair, deep cleansing causes tangles and knotting. That’s just a fact of life I have to live with. And since 99% of the shampoos I’d tried cleansed too deeply for my hair’s needs, I began to explore alternatives, namely cleansing conditioners. My reasoning during this phase arose from a desire to keep my hair as moist and slippery as possible in order to facilitate easier detangling and less knotting. Since the only product that behaves this way on my hair is a conditioner, using a cleansing conditioner to clean it seemed like a viable option. Moreover, my hair is rarely product-laden and my scalp is free of issues, so cleaning it doesn’t require a heavy duty product. This lead to an eager sampling of cleansing conditioners. And even though I was highly interested in those that contained mild surfactants (such as cocamidopropyl betaine and stearamidopropyl dimethylamine) and fatty alcohols, I didn’t become obsessive about it. Using cleansing conditioners took my cleaning and detangling process to an entirely different level, especially after I found a few staples.

Phase IV: Styling & Pre-Shampoo Behavior
This stage involved examining, debugging and refining my entire routine, which enabled me to unearth a few important tidbits that helped improve things:

- How I style my hair determines the level of tangling I will experience afterward, e.g., ponytail = minimal tangling; braid-out = medium tangling with possible knots; WNG = serious tangling with knots, dreads and SSKs.
- Incorporating 1 to 2 go-to minimal tangling hair styles works best. I use these for every day wear and leave the heavy tangling styles for special occasions or when I’m feeling funky.
- Identifying and addressing tangle-prone areas. The last few inches of my hair are the most tangled area of my hair. To solve this issue, I began smoothing them out and keeping them untangled through the use of butters and grease-like products. This is referred to as heavy sealing and it works!
- If my hair is tangled prior to a wash session, I detangle it. Always. I never allow water to touch my tangled hair because it’s a sure fire recipe for disaster. Water doesn’t loosen my tangles, it only exacerbates them.
- If my hair is dry prior to a wash session, I add moisture to it by conditioning on dry hair. Always. Water on my dry hair doesn’t add moisture and help alleviate matters; it only facilitates tangles, matting and dreads.
- Oil and water = hard, tangled, matted hair. Oil rinsing is out. Pre-pooing with oil is definitely out.
- Keeping a collection of slippery, never fail, ultra detangling conditioners in my arsenal. If my hair becomes tangled, matted, dreaded, knotted, et al., I have a plethora of solutions at my disposal to effectively address the issue with little to no damage.
- If my hair is tangling, knotting or otherwise behaving disrespectfully, that’s a sign that it needs protein or a trim. In order to avoid such issues, I remain mindful of warning signs and schedule preemptive strikes. My hair always looks and feels better after some protein or a trim; it also significantly reduces tangles.

As you can see, during this stage I learned that how I treated my hair before and after a wash session mattered, particularly as it related to tangles.

Phase V: Cones
Early in my journey, I’d adopted the “cones are bad” philosophy. However, over the last few years, I’ve reexamined that stance. After a thorough sampling, I’ve come to learn that very little compares to the slithery, slippery goodness of a good conditioner that contains cones. Mind you, it has to be a good conditioner because any that merely has cones in it will not suffice. I love cones. I use them because they’ve proven to be very effective detanglers. Don’t sleep on cones.

Each stage of my journey has served a purpose that has brought me through some trying times. At each step, I always listened to what my hair wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do to it. IOW, ayurveda, tea rinses, oil rinsing and other methods are wonderful techniques that offer many benefits, but my hair wasn’t feeling them. I do what my hair tells me to do and it rewards me by remaining attached to my head and not being difficult. Currently, my entire routine is quite simple and very easy, for which I am very grateful.

In an effort to be as helpful as possible, I tried to include all relevant information. Hence, the long-winded post. I sorry.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

For years, I was tortured by tangles because my hair is extremely tangle prone (I could literally see it tangling upon itself before my eyes when I wasn’t touching it). As a result, a large portion of my routine dealt with developing an effective method for detangling. It was a true journey of discovery that evolved in stages.

Phase I: The Ultra Slippery Moisturizing Shampoo
This phase was very easy and occurred quite by accident. Simply, the first shampoo I tried at the beginning of my journey was so slippery that it enabled me to detangle while rinsing in the shower. It literally took no more than a few minutes for me to comb through my entire head before the shampoo had completely rinsed away. Unbeknownst to me, I was living on a fluffy cloud in a wonderful dream. It wasn’t long before my fairy tale abruptly crashed and burned when my staple shampoo was reformulated without any warning. It was gone and I found myself at a loss. WTH was I supposed to do now?

Phase II: Methodology
After that bleeping vendor reformulated my staple shampoo, I decided to tackle the issue by rebooting my detangling method altogether because the shower thing wasn’t going to fly any longer. I believed the best strategy would be to focus on keeping my hair as tangle-free as possible at all times, especially during wash sessions. To that end, I didn’t want to overly manipulate my hair. So, I began to carefully apply products using smoothing motions from root to tip using the flattened palms of my hands (whereas before, I would pour a product into a palm and slap it on before gently scrubbing and/or working it into my strands).

I also refrained from twisting, braiding and overly sectioning my hair because doing so also produced tangles. I was happy for the people who could cleanse and DC in multiple sections or twists, but I knew early on that I wasn’t going to be one of them...and that was OK. For me, dividing my hair into two halves has proven to be more than sufficient at keeping the tangles at bay. In essence, the key to success at this stage was: (1) very low manipulation; and (2) applying products via careful smoothing. The outcome of this phase was a significant reduction in my tangle issues. Yet, I still needed to find a decent, non-stripping staple cleanser.

Phase III: Cleansing Conditioners
For my hair, deep cleansing causes tangles and knotting. That’s just a fact of life I have to live with. And since 99% of the shampoos I’d tried cleansed too deeply for my hair’s needs, I began to explore alternatives, namely cleansing conditioners. My reasoning during this phase arose from a desire to keep my hair as moist and slippery as possible in order to facilitate easier detangling and less knotting. Since the only product that behaves this way on my hair is a conditioner, using a cleansing conditioner to clean it seemed like a viable option. Moreover, my hair is rarely product-laden and my scalp is free of issues, so cleaning it doesn’t require a heavy duty product. This lead to an eager sampling of cleansing conditioners. And even though I was highly interested in those that contained mild surfactants (such as cocamidopropyl betaine and stearamidopropyl dimethylamine) and fatty alcohols, I didn’t become obsessive about it. Using cleansing conditioners took my cleaning and detangling process to an entirely different level, especially after I found a few staples.

Phase IV: Styling & Pre-Shampoo Behavior
This stage involved examining, debugging and refining my entire routine, which enabled me to unearth a few important tidbits that helped improve things:

- How I style my hair determines the level of tangling I will experience afterward, e.g., ponytail = minimal tangling; braid-out = medium tangling with possible knots; WNG = serious tangling with knots, dreads and SSKs.
- Incorporating 1 to 2 go-to minimal tangling hair styles works best. I use these for every day wear and leave the heavy tangling styles for special occasions or when I’m feeling funky.
- Identifying and addressing tangle-prone areas. The last few inches of my hair are the most tangled area of my hair. To solve this issue, I began smoothing them out and keeping them untangled through the use of butters and grease-like products. This is referred to as heavy sealing and it works!
- If my hair is tangled prior to a wash session, I detangle it. Always. I never allow water to touch my tangled hair because it’s a sure fire recipe for disaster. Water doesn’t loosen my tangles, it only exacerbates them.
- If my hair is dry prior to a wash session, I add moisture to it by conditioning on dry hair. Always. Water on my dry hair doesn’t add moisture and help alleviate matters; it only facilitates tangles, matting and dreads.
- Oil and water = hard, tangled, matted hair. Oil rinsing is out. Pre-pooing with oil is definitely out.
- Keeping a collection of slippery, never fail, ultra detangling conditioners in my arsenal. If my hair becomes tangled, matted, dreaded, knotted, et al., I have a plethora of solutions at my disposal to effectively address the issue with little to no damage.
- If my hair is tangling, knotting or otherwise behaving disrespectfully, that’s a sign that it needs protein or a trim. In order to avoid such issues, I remain mindful of warning signs and schedule preemptive strikes. My hair always looks and feels better after some protein or a trim; it also significantly reduces tangles.

As you can see, during this stage I learned that how I treated my hair before and after a wash session mattered, particularly as it related to tangles.

Phase V: Cones
Early in my journey, I’d adopted the “cones are bad” philosophy. However, over the last few years, I’ve reexamined that stance. After a thorough sampling, I’ve come to learn that very little compares to the slithery, slippery goodness of a good conditioner that contains cones. Mind you, it has to be a good conditioner because any that merely has cones in it will not suffice. I love cones. I use them because they’ve proven to be very effective detanglers. Don’t sleep on cones.

Each stage of my journey has served a purpose that has brought me through some trying times. At each step, I always listened to what my hair wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do to it. IOW, ayurveda, tea rinses, oil rinsing and other methods are wonderful techniques that offer many benefits, but my hair wasn’t feeling them. I do what my hair tells me to do and it rewards me by remaining attached to my head and not being difficult. Currently, my entire routine is quite simple and very easy, for which I am very grateful.

In an effort to be as helpful as possible, I tried to include all relevant information. Hence, the long-winded post. I sorry.

Don't you DARE apologize! Awesome post. Thanks for taking the time to share!!!

 

[sarumoki]

I switched shampoo: Elasta QP and Mane Choice. I steer clear of translucent shampoos

I also use Elasta QP shampoo. In addition, my hair is braided since I wear wigs. I shampoo with the braids in and don't take them out until I DC.

 

[Soaring Eagle]

My theory: If I get tangling from a shampoo,then the shampoo simply isn’t for me.

My solution: Throw it away/Return to the store.

My favorite cleanser right now is the Curls Blueberry Bliss Hair Wash. I don’t know if it is a shampoo or not, I don’t even think Curls (the company) knows if their product is a shampoo or not. Many people have asked and they keep saying that it’s a ‘hair wash’. They are quite adamant that it is not a cowash though. Lol.

Anyways, it gets my hair clean and I can detangle with it— Win Win!

 

[faithVA]

I also use Elasta QP shampoo. In addition, my hair is braided since I wear wigs. I shampoo with the braids in and don't take them out until I DC.

I want to try the braids when my hair gets a bit longer. Right now it' short enough not to tangle.

 

[faithVA]

My theory: If I get tangling from a shampoo,then the shampoo simply isn’t for me.

My solution: Throw it away/Return to the store.

My favorite cleanser right now is the Curls Blueberry Bliss Hair Wash. I don’t know if it is a shampoo or not, I don’t even think Curls (the company) knows if their product is a shampoo or not. Many people have asked and they keep saying that it’s a ‘hair wash’. They are quite adamant that it is not a cowash though. Lol.

Anyways, it gets my hair clean and I can detangle with it— Win Win!

I agree with this. Sometimes we also need to upgrade our shampoo to a salon quality.

I may try the curls at some point.

 

[PJaye]

Don't you DARE apologize! Awesome post. Thanks for taking the time to share!!!

Thanks, I appreciate it. I figure, if it can help someone, then it's worth being long-winded.

 

[toinette]

i wash my hair in 4 sections. When I Shampoo, i grip the ends of my hair together and massage/lather my scalp with the pads of my fingers from the other hand so that the ends are not loose and cannot tangle on themselves. After I'm done washing all 4 sections, I go through each one and apply a cheapie conditioner with slip like HH Hello Hydration or Aussie Moist and I detangle with a huge rake comb. I twist each section up again as I move on the the next one. Then i rinse my hair out while in the twists. Then I apply DC by splitting each of the 4 sections in 2 so that I have 8 twists in the end. After I DC, I rinse out the DC either still in twists or i undo each twist, rinse and retwist. This method saves me time cause no longer to i need to detangle before i shampoo and i dont have to comb or detangle after the shower either.

 

[Chicoro]

It's in French. You don't need to understand the language. You can just look at HOW she keeps her hair sectioned in the shower. If I didn't use braids, I would try this.

 

[Evolving78]

You can put your shampoo in an applicator bottle mixed with distilled water, wash in 2-4 sections, wash in the shower, and use downward motions. Hydrating/detangling shampoos are the best.