Finger Detangling

My new found love is finger detangling. I find that when I finger detangle I have a lot less shed hair...I mean a lot! The only draw back is that you must be patient when finger detangling. If you ain't in the mood to be mess'in with your head DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT attempt to finger detangle your hair...either put detangling off another day or use a wide tooth comb.


How do you do it?
Finger detangling is really quite easy and all you need are your fingers. When you are ready to detangle your hair, separate your hair in parts and detangle each section separately. When you are ready to detangle a particular section, only take part of that section and start from there; do not attempt to do the whole section at once! To begin the process, gently run your fingers through your strands in a vertical manner as if your fingers are the teeth of a comb. When you encounter a knot, or tangle, stop and take time to untangle that particular section. Once you are done, run your fingers through your strands again and continue this process until you can freely run your fingers through (without stopping to work through a tangle).


When do you do it?
It depends on your hair routine. Use the finger detangling method whenever you are ready to detangle your hair.


What should you avoid doing?
- Avoid pulling your hair and/or running your fingers through it rapidly

- Avoid working with a lot of hair at a time : The truth of the matter is, the smaller the number of strands you work with at a time, the faster it is and the better the results and let's not forget the less chances you have of causing any damage.

- Avoid broken nails : if you have a broken nail, avoid detangling before cutting it off because strands can attach to the broken nail and you can pull these strands out while working through your hair without even knowing it

- Avoid using anything else in your hair but conditioner while finger detangling
:this means, the only thing you should have in your hair is a good conditioner. This is because, the conditioner coats your hair and makes detangling easier, while keeping your hair from any damage, in fact, a conditioner is a sort of shock absorber to our hair during our detangling sessions. Do not try finger detangling under the shower because the water will wash the conditioner away and do not do it on your hair alone, no matter how wet your hair is.
:I add a mixture of conditioner and water to a spray bottle and mist my entire head first. Then I work in small sections and mist those individual sections again and add a nickel size amount of conditioner to the section if needed.

Tips
- I have noticed that, when I wear protective styles in between washes, finger detangling becomes a breeze. This is easy to understand though, because protective styles such as twists help stretch the hair and stretching the hair minimizes tangles. If wearing twists or any other protective styles is not an active part of your hair regimen then do no worry, you can braid/twist your hair in large sections before going to bed on the night before wash day to stretch your hair a bit.

- Being gentle is key. Even if you are not using a comb, finger detangling can still be harsh when done without enough care. Be gentle and patient and you'll reap the results.

- Take time. Do not try rushing through a detangling process because you might end up causing more damage than good and later find out, while styling, that your hair has some terrible knots you might not be able to undo.