The amount of sections that you choose to separate your hair into is ultimately up to you; Some people do four, while others may do eight. Sectioning hair is an excellent tip for women with longer hair, however it’s a good practice to begin while hair is shorter, so that you can get used to the process.
Use an oil
Oils* are used during wash day for various reasons. They can be used as a pre-poo, during deep conditioning*, and afterwards as a sealant. Oil can be very beneficial for detangling as well. Rub oil such as coconut* or extra virgin olive oil* on your hands and hair to make detangling a breeze it allows your hands to glide through your hair easily.
The added product helps to loosen the knots in hair as you detangle. *Extra Tip: After detangling with oil, add more to the scalp and down the strand, concentrating on the ends. Put on a shower cap* and leave on for 30 minutes to overnight. Wash out with shampoo and continue washday as usual. You just did a pre-poo!*
Start at the bottom
No, I don’t mean like the Drake song. Another crucial and strand saving detangling tip is to start detangling at the ends and not at the root. It’s much easier to start from the bottom, because you can tackle the tangles as they appear.
By detangling from the root down, it’s possible to cause more tangles, or be more careless with hair, because you may be tempted to rip out a major knot. Gently working your way up to the root ensures that you can gently separate clumped curls without causing any breakage to your hair.
Detangling natural hair has to be done, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Just like every other aspect of a hair journey, learning what works and doesn’t work is part of the experience. As hair grows and gets longer, it’s important to your core techniques as your foundation so that length can be maintained, and so that wash day doesn’t become wash days.