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Sareca is right! Minimize comb usage!

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lilamae

lilamae

Active Member
Just surfing the net and I found a Dermotologist study on combing black hair. The abstract suggest that it is not good for our hair type::nono:

Three subjects with virgin African hair combed daily had surprisingly short hair length measurements of 40.1 ± 14 mm, 60 ± 10 mm, and 69 ± 20 mm at 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years after a haircut, respectively. This observation raises the possibility that combing African hair on a daily basis may result in the equivalent of a daily haircut in some people. This observation is based on few participants and will require confirmation in population studies

But they probably didn't give those poor girls any serum or oil or nuthin:sad:
 
what about a wide tooth comb? If I didn't comb I'd get knots. Maybe this is for natural hair and not relaxed hair?
 
Girl I hear ya with the knots. My hair would be a hot mess. It was so hard for me to give up brushing, but giving up combing too? Hmmm.... :)
 
What?? That's crazy! I mean, I always knew it wasent the greatest thing for our hair, but seeing a study on it?? WOW! And yup, Sareca was soooo right! After lurking in her threads, I picked up her lo-manu reggie and it's been working great for me...even though when I finger comb on wash day I get a lil scared (cuz of the tangles) I still stay true and don't use a comb! So I guess I'm NEVER usung a comb again! (I hope) :lachen:
 
Cinnabuns said:
Girl I hear ya with the knots. My hair would be a hot mess. It was so hard for me to give up brushing, but giving up combing too? Hmmm.... :)
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Girl!!! Try the fingercombing!!! Took me awhile to get to get used to it...but it works!!! Esp. with the oil rinses!! :grin:
 
I am natural; and I cannot, not comb my hair. I would have knots and tangles for days. Even my pressed hair has to be combed. I really don't understand the mentality behind not combing one's hair. Someone please enlighten me on how this is accomplished without your hair turning into a tangled, knotty, matted mess???
 
I cant comb daily no matter how wide the teeth in the comb are. I normally finger comb daily and only comb on wash days. From time to time I'll try to comb my hair and it's never a good outcome. :nono:
 
pinkskates said:
I am natural; and I cannot, not comb my hair. I would have knots and tangles for days. Even my pressed hair has to be combed. I really don't understand the mentality behind not combing one's hair. Someone please enlighten me on how this is accomplished without your hair turning into a tangled, knotty, matted mess???
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Your hair is gorgeous so obviously combing on occasion isn't hurting your hair. I think the type of comb (wide tooth) makes all the difference and also combing while the hair is soaked with conditioner instead of dry.
I see people comb their hair (dry) with a rattail comb and I cringe! :nono:

I've pretty much given up the comb and brush altogether (except when I detangle every 2 weeks) and my hair is thanking me for it.
 
pinkskates said:
I am natural; and I cannot, not comb my hair. I would have knots and tangles for days. Even my pressed hair has to be combed. I really don't understand the mentality behind not combing one's hair. Someone please enlighten me on how this is accomplished without your hair turning into a tangled, knotty, matted mess???
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Even though I'm texlaxed (last time in June)...I still did received massive tangles!!! Sometimes even dreds if I did not comb my hair! :perplexed And my hair (while texlaxed) is thick and still very curly...so it's still prone to tangles. What worked for my personally is oil rinses and then coconut oil throughout my hair, then castor oil on my ends. With this, I'm able to ONLY fingercomb once a week, when I "poo" with baking soda and DC...all that weekly stuff.
 
pinkskates said:
I am natural; and I cannot, not comb my hair. I would have knots and tangles for days. Even my pressed hair has to be combed. I really don't understand the mentality behind not combing one's hair. Someone please enlighten me on how this is accomplished without your hair turning into a tangled, knotty, matted mess???
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I think usng different methods like using a wide tooth comb and detangling in the shower are good methods to minimize damage.
 
Originally posted by lilamae
I think usng different methods like using a wide tooth comb and detangling in the shower are good methods to minimize damage
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Originally posted by ttlayli
Even though I'm texlaxed (last time in June)...I still did received massive tangles!!! Sometimes even dreds if I did not comb my hair! :perplexed And my hair (while texlaxed) is thick and still very curly...so it's still prone to tangles. What worked for my personally is oil rinses and then coconut oil throughout my hair, then castor oil on my ends. With this, I'm able to ONLY fingercomb once a week, when I "poo" with baking soda and DC...all that weekly stuff.
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Originally posted by Healthytresses
Your hair is gorgeous so obviously combing on occasion isn't hurting your hair. I think the type of comb (wide tooth) makes all the difference and also combing while the hair is soaked with conditioner instead of dry.
I see people comb their hair (dry) with a rattail comb and I cringe! :nono:

I've pretty much given up the comb and brush altogether (except when I detangle every 2 weeks) and my hair is thanking me for it.
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Awww, now I get it! Thank you ladies; I practice a lot of techniques some of you mentioned, i.e. combing in the shower with tons of conditioner in my hair, only using a wide tooth comb, and definetely no small teeth rat tail combs any where near my head! YIKES those things are death to my hair!:blush:
ETA: Healthytresses, thank you for that sweet compliment!
 
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I agree to an extent, 1 only comb 2-4 times a week,always wide tooth comb, I wash twice a week,so usually detangle in shower.
but not combing for 2 weeks equals more breakage.
 
SherryLove said:
this is interesting. i comb my hair once a day and do not experience any breakage.
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At first, I was like, "Who's that? Is she new?" as I was admiring the beautiful, ultra-long mane! Then I saw your name! SherryLove it's great to hear from you! :wave: You're looking gorgeous too!
 
i agree w/ the original topic. i threw out all my brushes (well, okay, except for my pretty purple one that's for decoration only), and my fine toothed combs, and i only use the wide-toothed comb on the ends.

i finger comb when necessary, and gently pull apart any tangles whenever i do get them, so i'm good. plus, since i stopped combing my new growth altogether (about 2 months ago), my hair's gotten about 10,000 times thicker.

of course, if combing works for you, go for it. its just that i'm pretty sure my strands are allergic to combs, lol

by the way, i'm relaxed, 25% 3c / 75% 4a.
 
I know Sareca does have a good poiny. I too have issues with my ends trying to knot up. In fact I just got back from detangling a few minutes ago:grin: with a comb unfortunately. But I will practice finger combing and see how that goes.

I am also curious in trying a different technique by soaking a wooden comb in some oil and detangling my hair.
 
Yes, she is. It because of her I also have adopted a low manipulation regimen (comb 1-2X a week), and i have noticed that I now have no breakage and my hair is thickening up.

My hair is definitely doing better, but I don't think my hair would do well with no combing at all or even finger combing only.....my hair is way too unruly
 
Also the seams on the comb is what slices your hair off and cuts your ends off. When I do use a comb I use a wide toothed seamless comb only! bonjour
 
Bah!

if your hair is blowdried and dried taught and streight, combing isnt a problem as the scales should be relatively sealed and oil distributed feely amongst the hair

combing when airdrying in a natural state will inevitabley cause breakage.

i comb every 3-5 days.
 
I tried airdrying and just fingercombing for the past 3wks Last night I washed my hair and went to detangle w/ a comb...I had MASSIVE tangles. I mean, I haven't had knots like that in years. I think i'll go back to using a comb maybe once a week.
 
Mornin' ladies. Special shout out to SherryLove... I'm lovin' that siggy! Welcome back.

Anyway, ITA. The comb is the devil. J/K :lachen: But seriously I never would have thought I could go without combing for weeks at a time until I ran across all these stunning heads of hair that have banished the comb/brush or use it sparingly.

I think the real problem people have with lo-mani is they don't know how to deal with tangles. I've had tons of tangles and my hair isn't broken off. I learned to deal with them from Robin the hair lady. She's the master of tangle management. I'm texturized, I co-wash a few times a week, I wear my hair out every single day and I only comb once every 2-3 weeks (today is day 20). :yay: Oil rinses keep the tangles to a minimum for me, but when I inevitably get matted or dreaded hair I use Robin's method to take them out. She uses just her fingers. It takes about 10-15 seconds. I never have breakage from it and my head is never sore afterwards. I no longer fear the tangle or the dread. :nono: Tangles and dreads are simply a collection of shed hair they don't cause breakage. How you handle them does.

So here's how I detangle...

I start by thinking of my fingers as a really really big wide-tooth comb. I made a claw shape and start at the top of a small section and gently and loosely shake the hair from side to side while moving down towards the ends. Whenever I reach a tangle I stop and pull it gently apart with my fingers and repeat until there aren't any more. If it's really bad, I pull one hair at a time from the tangle or dread (like she does in the videos below). It usually takes 6-7 passes sometimes less. NEVER pull straight down on a tangle (like a comb would). :nono: In my experience, the comb (not even a wide tooth) will be as responsive or gentle as your fingers. Once my hair is tangle-free and my fingers slide easily through it I use the wide-tooth to help extract the remaining shed hair.

Don't fear the tangle. Manage it. :armyhat: Thicker hair is waiting on the other side.


Here's how I deal with matted or dreaded hair
http://growafrohairlong.com/takingoutplaits.html

Here's how I comb it once my fingers will pass easily through my hair. You'll see her stop when she reaching a tangle and gently pull them apart.
http://growafrohairlong.com/about.html (um, ignore her proving her hair is not a weave in the beginning) :wink2:
 
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Good points Candy. You can't rush the process and I use a palm full of oil for each section of hair when it's d-day.
 
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