In September, I saw my friend/hairstylist Shanelle for the first time in seven months. My hair had grown a lot since the last time that I had seen her. I had a lot of split ends though so I ended up needing a hair trim/cut.
I’m fine with the length of my hair as it is. I did want to learn how to prevent breakage in order to retain length moving forward though. I learned that (for me) the biggest culprit causing my hair breakage was hair wash day.
It was interesting to note that during the years I’ve been natural, I had never asked how to properly detangle my hair. Rather, I had asked about which hair products to use on natural hair. It turns out that I need to be a lot more patient and gentle with my hair during wash day.
I’m sharing the steps that my hair stylist recommended below. I’ve been using the tips since September. I have been pleasantly surprised to see how much less hair I have been losing each time. They are the following:
How To Prevent Breakage
- Section the hair. Start with four sections and divide further as needed.
- Spritz the hair with water.
- Smooth your preferred conditioner and/or oil mixture through to the ends of your hair – section by section.
- *Be sure to GENTLY detangle each section with your fingers before combing or brushing.
- Twist each section.
- Leave the conditioner in your hair for a few hours or overnight.
- Wash and shampoo your hair.
- When you prep each section of your hair for your desired final style, be sure to GENTLY detangle each section. Once again, use water (and a leave-in conditioner or cream if desired) to detangle each section with your fingers before combing or brushing.
Biggest Takeaways
–Water, water, water. I never realized how powerful water is when it comes to detangling my hair.
-Use your fingers. I had been doing everything else except the most important thing – detangling my hair with my fingers BEFORE using a comb or brush.
-I also decided to go back to my beloved Breezelike wooden comb. During the pandemic, I had started using the EZ Detangler because I had read such great reviews about it. It works great on my sons’ hair BUT I feel like it pulls SO much of my hair out. Now, I only use it on my hair when I do “wash and gos” as the final step because it does define my curls really well.
I hope that these simple tips help you as much as they have benefited me. In the past, I have shared how to do straight natural and twist-out natural styles. I’ll share the newest style that my stylist taught me how to do – the wash and go – later this month. I love it!
