Tangles and Short hair... Any Suggestions?

[Sianna]

This had not become a problem until just recently, but I am starting to notice that my hair tangles more than it used to.

Back in January, I BC'd down to about half an inch of hair. Now, my stretched hair claims a modest, (but progressive) 2½ inches of length and I seem to have run into a problem with tangling. It is not severe by any means, but I don't want it to get worse.

I could probably prevent it by blowing my hair out, but I don't want to do that too often for fear of heat damage. I can't cornrow to save my life, and can't think of anything aside from that, or two strand twists (which look a hot mess on my hair at this length) to stretch the hair and prevent the tangles.

The only thing that seems to help is my trusty WNG which I do using gel. My hair doesn't really get hard, but I think this style helps because I am less prone to playing in my hair when it has the gel in it. When I wear my beloved fluffed out afro puff, I think I must be playing in my hair without realizing it, inocchio and causing it to tangle. Well, okay I realize it, but I haven't been able to stop.

Anyway, I suppose I could keep wearing WNG's to prevent the old HIH disease, but won't the gel eventually start to dry out my hair?

Suggestions?

 

[Evallusion]

I am in the same boat as you. My hair is about 2.5 - 3 inches and it just gets tangled and matted up like crazy. I still haven't figured out what to do with it...at my length, it would take forever to cornrow my hair at night. The only thing that helps are twists at night...which take 1.5 hours and I'm not beat. I absolutely hate twisting my hair just to take it down in the morning. I think the main way of combating this for me is to co wash more often. I also try to spritz and finger fluff my hair at least once a day. I think this is just the beginning of that "awkward" stage after the TWA.

 

[Nonie]

OP, do you braid/plait your hair for the night?

Evallusion, why don't you plait your hair instead of twisting? Plaiting would be so much easier to do and undo.

When I had a TWA that I wore out daily, I didn't use anything but S Curl on it on wash day, then I plaited it and baggied it every night. I didn't need to reapply, I never had to detangle, I never had knots. My TWA was a joy.

I think gel would be too sticky for my hair, and I suspect might be part of your problem. S Curl seemed to keep my hair moist without any stickiness.

 

[Sianna]

Thank you ladies for chiming in! Evallusion, it is possible that I am, or in the near future, will become jealous of you. I think your hair is growing faster than mine.

Nonie, to answer your question, no I don't braid/plait my hair at night. I figured that it was still short enough that I didn't need to. Perhaps I should do two strand flat twists? That is the only thing that I can think of that wouldn't take forever, even though I have trouble doing the back.

Oh, and the gel I use for my WNG's is like ORS Lock n Twist gel or Eco, not the curl activator gels; though I have used them in the past.

I replaced the curl activator gels with CFCG, so maybe I'll follow your advice and and start juicing and twisting my hair at night. For me twisting is easier to do and to take down than plaits. I always tie my hair down, but I can't do the baggy! I tried it just last night and I HATED it! I couldn't stand how hot the plastic made my head feel and couldn't wait to take that bag off in the morning!

Plus I hate the sound of plastic.

Thanks for the advice, shot haired ladies need love too!!

 

[Pompous Blue]

IA with Nonie. When I 1st BC'd in April, I barely had enough hair to braid, but I braided it up every night or did flat strand twists to prevent tangles and knots. I spritzed my hair with a moisturizing spray before combing it and the tangles melted away. I was able to easily braid/twist it with no problems detangling.

Now that it's a little longer I do 8 cornrows everynight or flat twists. It takes me less than 10 minutes to do them and I still spritz to detangle before cornrowing/twisting. (It's almost therapeutic; I love doing it)

I either wear an afro everyday or a puff.

I find the advice of keeping my 4Z hair stretched to prevent tangles very effective. I have very little hair in my comb (from normal shedding) and I feel braiding helps my hair retain moisture as well.

 

[Evallusion]

@ Sianna LOL

Nonie & Pompous Blue: Thanks for the advice!

 

[Pompous Blue]

Nonie & Pompous Blue: Thanks for the advice!

You're welcome.

That's why I love LHCF. I never would have gone natural EVER had I not learned how to take care of my kinky hair. The valuable advice on here is incalculable. I think I read a post by BlackMasterPiece to keep the hair stretched and you'll be just fine.

Now I can't imagine my hair being anything but natural!

 

[Sianna]

Thanks Pompous Blue!! I really appreciate your advice as well!

You know, it's funny that when my hair was too short for me to really do anything with, I was just itching to get in there and do something with it, but now that it is long enough to actually twist and braid, I don't really want to do it!

I think it's cause it's still so short. I can't wait till I get some real length, but in order to get there, I guess I'm going to have to quit being lazy and twist my hair. I gotta stop these tangles and I guess that's one of the best ways to do it!

Thanks again ladies!