a lil discouraged of staying natural

I just took me braids out after having them in for a month in a half. I had my Big Chop before that so im all natural now. I know you are not suppose to detangle you hair. let alone comb it when its dry so i rinse my hair. When i tell you my hair was a tangle hot mess im not lying. I had my shower comb and fingers trying to detangle my knots, i finally did but i lost alot of hair. it took atleast 45 mins to do this. When the rinsing didn't help i got my Elasta conditioner and slathered it on heavy and tried to detangle that way. Did not work. So i rinsed my hair again and tried my 3 minite miracle deep conditioner by Aussie. It only helped a little. After all of that i had a palmful of hair in my hand. If this is what it takes for my natural to wash and detangle i don't think i can handle this. I need some advice plz.

I am no expert, but I do believe losing quite a bit of hair after taking braids out is normal...I believe that would be the hair you would have lost during the month that you were braided up.

Tangle after taking braids out seem to be quite normal too (pros: please correct me if I am wrong)

Tons of conditioner and oils are very helpful for detangling.

I don't think being natural is the cause of the tangles or the hair you lost...I think you would have lost some hair and would have had tangles if were relaxed too.

Don't worry your whole natural journey won't be like that...this is just due to the braids.....I think!

HTH

I don't really have any advice, but I really hope Nonie shows up.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I made the mistake of not detangling braids after a weave take down.

You actually are to detangle braids BEFORE washing. Otherwise, the shed hair from a month & a half will cause major tangles.

What I did today, after having flat twists in for a week, is put conditioner on my dry hair. You can try that and detangle before washing. That will get rid of the shed hair and cut down on the tangles when you wash.

You gotta give your hair some time chica! Like Mandy said, that hair you are upset about is just plain ole shedded hair. That hair has been trapped by the braids for a month and a half, so of course it looks like a lot of hair loss. Losing shedded hair is normal and it shows that your hair growth cycle is doing what it is supposed to do.
Whenever I wore braids, after taking them out, I would slather my hair in EVCO, lightly hand-detangle, put it in a bun and let my hair marinate over night. This gives your hair a chance to soften, and give the kinks and tangles a chance to loosen up.
Then the next day I would begin the detangle, shampoo, DC, regimen...
Your hair is kinda in shock so to speak after coming out of braids, and you have to gradually and slowly get back into 'handling" your hair.
Right now your hair needs lots of DCing and low manipulation handling and styling.
Give it time and you must have patience with your newly natural hair.

I completely understand where you are coming from! I learned this tip from my mom, when I take my braids out, I put unrefined cocoas butter on the hair that I just took out. When I take them all out, I wet my hair, put conditioner on it, comb it out, rinse, and then shampoo and DC... The cocoa butter makes it easier to take the tangles out when it's mixed with the conditioner and you dont lose alot of hair.. HTH... Keep your head up!

Reg's Wife said:

I'm sorry this happened to you. I made the mistake of not detangling braids after a weave take down.

You actually are to detangle braids BEFORE washing. Otherwise, the shed hair from a month & a half will cause major tangles.

What I did today, after having flat twists in for a week, is put conditioner on my dry hair. You can try that and detangle before washing. That will get rid of the shed hair and cut down on the tangles when you wash.

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I agree with Reg's Wife that you should detangle before you wet your hair. Now while I wear braids for a long time, I redo them one by one frequently so I'm constantly removing shed hair. And when I undo, I undo with fingers moving down the braid slowly and detangling as I undo. I imagine leaving the braids in for a spell causes there to be some knotting at the base, which is where your patience is called to play and you have to be very gentle. Now one thing that will help you relax is to remember that your hair was braided with strands being parallel, and held in place so that it wasn't free to wrap around itself the way it might if you wore your hair in an afro. That should give you the encouragement and peace of knowing that detangling is really just pulling strands apart. So when you get to the base where the hair might be stuck together, use the technique of moving the section back and forth till the strands start to separate then use your fingers to pull them apart. Also once you have separated the strands of a few braids, I'd braid them together making sure to keep the strands stretched by smoothing as you braid. That keeps the strands from wrapping around each other while you work on the rest of the hair.

I am not a fan of washing hair unless it is braided so I'd even recommend getting your hair wet when in the big plaits. Then slathering on conditioner and undoing each big braid and combing through starting from the tips and working your way down. Don't freak out about shed hair coz each day's 100 shed hairs were trapped in the braids. Once you comb through, braid the detangled hair again. In other words, you should not leave you hair to shrink up on itself when wet or it'll be a nightmare to comb.

And from now on, only ever wash your hair when in braids. You can do many small braids that you don't undo until you hair is dry. Or you can do big braids that you undo and comb during the wash rebraiding each section before moving to the next. And so on.

I don't know how you twist your hair but if you could learn to twist so that each strand gets twisted in the same direction before being wound around the other in the opposite direction as someone very clearly explained better than my lousy vid shows, you will find you can wash your hair all the time in twists and never have to deal with detangling. As you can see, twisting my hair that way keeps the strands parallel to each other so that undoing is just a matter of twisting the opposite way and then separating the strands. I do this only to redo my twists. Otherwise my hair is never wet unless it's safe in twists.

I hope you'll find out which methods works for you and that you will realize that detangling doesn't have to be a nightmare or take half a day.

Hugs,

ETA I like Pinkskates idea of letting hair marinate. When you put it in those plaits I recommended after undoing braids, maybe slather on conditioner before the plaiting and baggy your whole head for the night so that in the AM it will just be slip city when you try to run a comb through it!

OT: Nonie, I just saw your video and it was actually very clearly showing how to twist while twisting!
To answer Princess 2010's question, I don't have much to add after all that Nonie and the other ladies said. After taking down braids or twists I end with a lot of hair which would have been shedding anyway if I was finger combing or doing my hair everyday. Try to prepoo with a mix of oil or a very moisturizing conditioner and leave it on overnight. Wash/Co-wash as usual the next day. Try to DC at least twice a month to help soften your hair and make the detangling process easier. I know how you feel and I have lost patience with my hair before, but it takes time to get accustomed to it.
It's like having a baby and try to figure out what his/her cries mean (hunger, soiled diaper, sleepiness...). Your hair will send you messages and cry for attention, so just be patient and you will be rewarded.

I am learning from this post! I am going to be removing my braids in about three weeks, and while I am relaxed, but transitioning, this will be a great help for when I do eventually take out my braids

I would hazard a guess that you may not have lost as much hair as you think you did. Since natural hair has more bulk that relaxed strands any hair you lose looks like a lot if it's more than 10 strands. I lose a good bit of hair (about the amount you described) almost every time I shampoo and my hair is uber thick. I shampoo my hair weekly or more and I can only imagine how much hair would come out it I kept it in braids for awhile. I think of the hair that comes out as getting rid of shed hair that would just otherwise tangle later on.

Also detangling in the shower with your hair under running water helps tremendously (I don't know why it took me SO long to realize this). And as far as products, Kid's Organics Shea Butter Detangling Lotion actually does a really good job at detangling (or preventing tangles) even when used on dry hair.

For encouragement, the awkward stage of learning about your hair will pass quicker than you think and you'll look back and wonder where the time went. I know my natural hair very well now and yet I can't believe it's been 4 years since my last relaxer. After a while you figure out what's normal for your hair and when something is going wrong (and the more time that passes the less things seem to go wrong). You're going through a rough patch with your hair, but that's what LHCF is for. You'll make it.

Thanks again everyone, I just put a deep condition in and im under the dryer now, so so when im done well see if i can detangle a lil easier now

Princess2010 said:

I just took me braids out after having them in for a month in a half. I had my Big Chop before that so im all natural now. I know you are not suppose to detangle you hair. let alone comb it when its dry so i rinse my hair. When i tell you my hair was a tangle hot mess im not lying. I had my shower comb and fingers trying to detangle my knots, i finally did but i lost alot of hair. it took atleast 45 mins to do this. When the rinsing didn't help i got my Elasta conditioner and slathered it on heavy and tried to detangle that way. Did not work. So i rinsed my hair again and tried my 3 minite miracle deep conditioner by Aussie. It only helped a little. After all of that i had a palmful of hair in my hand. If this is what it takes for my natural to wash and detangle i don't think i can handle this. I need some advice plz.

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You had to detangle better before wetting it thoroughly like that

You take some leave in conditioner or detangling spray (Better Braids) or I like just oil and a light misting of water and you detangle..especially the roots; THEN you wash. Aussie slip or one of the other Aussie conditioners are also great.

Tangling is normal because of the shed hairs BUT you don't have to lose more hair than the shed hairs.

Hi Princess2010: I know you were frustrated. I had an experience like yours ONCE...and once was all it took for me to re-examine the way I took down braids or twists.

When you were braided up, did you keep the braids moisturized? This helps the take down process and ultimate detangling. Spraying them with a glycerin\aloe vera gel\rosewater mix is helpful.

Going forward, I would do an overnight pre-poo - as Pinkskates mentioned - or completely saturate the hair in conditioner for several hours, then detangle starting at the ends. More, I would follow this with an Aphogee Two Step Protein treatment and a DC.

Hopefully, you have some pure shea butter or castor oil on-hand to further pamper your hair. And don't comb it...just finger style!

Mandy4610 said:

I don't think being natural is the cause of the tangles or the hair you lost...I think you would have lost some hair and would have had tangles if were relaxed too.

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...true. This has nothing to do with being natural.

I agree with the posters who said to get the shed hair out before wetting. I wore micros during my transition and made the mistake of trying to wash with the tangles still in my hair. I like the idea of putting in oil and conditioner heavily and allowing it to loosen the tangles overnight.

Princess2010 said:

I just took me braids out after having them in for a month in a half. I had my Big Chop before that so im all natural now. I know you are not suppose to detangle you hair. let alone comb it when its dry so i rinse my hair. When i tell you my hair was a tangle hot mess im not lying. I had my shower comb and fingers trying to detangle my knots, i finally did but i lost alot of hair. it took atleast 45 mins to do this. When the rinsing didn't help i got my Elasta conditioner and slathered it on heavy and tried to detangle that way. Did not work. So i rinsed my hair again and tried my 3 minite miracle deep conditioner by Aussie. It only helped a little. After all of that i had a palmful of hair in my hand. If this is what it takes for my natural to wash and detangle i don't think i can handle this. I need some advice plz.

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I think that it would have been better for you had you combed your hair right after you taken the braids out to remove the dirt and build up in your hair and then washed it and deep condition it. There should not have been a problem combing it as it was not really matted up since you had it in braids. just MHO, you should get to know your hair in its natural state then you can learn what you can and cannot do. its not very hard, its an adjustment but its not very hard to manage. Its been almost three years for me and I am still learning all about my hair. I never comb it when dry but if I had fake hair attached to my hair yes I would comb it or weave I would comb it I would add extra oils to it but comb it out so it does not get matted when I go to wash it. If you keep your hair moisturzied and you keep your ends protected with oils you really shouldn't have to much trouble with detangling but this is my experiences others may disagree. I wish you a lot of luck on your journey.

Also OP, to make sure you don't have too much buildup while in braids be sure to use diluted products while in braids (i.e the shampoo and conditioners you are using).

I was just going to say stay encouraged and try different methods. You may respond to each method differently so don't loose hope. Eventually, we all find something that works for us. You will to. Just keep track of what you tried and how your hair responded - a natural diary. Good luck to you.

When I'm getting ready to remove braids, I usually wash them well the night before I take them out. Then I remove them and finger comb each. If there is any dirt and buildup at the root then I carefully pull it apart and remove it the best I can. I comb through each removed braid before moving on to the next one. Shedding hair is just a routine part of braid removal. Don't let it alarm you. As long as there are no bald spots then its just normal shedding. Once I have all the braids out, I make about 5 or 6 plaits and I like to dump some Coconut milk on my hair and leave it on there for a while. Then I go wash and condition it in the bathtub (still braided). When I condition. I will remove one plait at a time and comb through that section with my hair submerged in water. Then rebraid. After I'm done I rinse with cold water and I'm good to go.


Keep in mind that there are always exceptions to the so called rules. While dry combing/brushing is usually frowned upon. There are times when it is a good and almost essential tool. You have to judge for yourself.

I think that after wearing braids you should actually detangle your hair before washing it. First I part the hair down the middle in two sections, then take small parts in each section, detangle the section with my fingers. Then put conditioner on the section before I detangle with a comb. I repeat these steps, holding the finished sections with a clip so it doesn't get in my way, until all the hair has been detangled. Then I get into the shower and detangle again with conditioner and a comb. And after having braids in your hair for a month, don't be alarmed about the amount of shed hair that you'll lose. Hope that helps.

Princess2010 said:

I just took me braids out after having them in for a month in a half. I had my Big Chop before that so im all natural now. I know you are not suppose to detangle you hair. let alone comb it when its dry so i rinse my hair. When i tell you my hair was a tangle hot mess im not lying. I had my shower comb and fingers trying to detangle my knots, i finally did but i lost alot of hair. it took atleast 45 mins to do this. When the rinsing didn't help i got my Elasta conditioner and slathered it on heavy and tried to detangle that way. Did not work. So i rinsed my hair again and tried my 3 minite miracle deep conditioner by Aussie. It only helped a little. After all of that i had a palmful of hair in my hand. If this is what it takes for my natural to wash and detangle i don't think i can handle this. I need some advice plz.

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Please, don't feel discouraged! I know exactly what you feel like because I've been there. Years later, I discovered many things I could do to make the braid take-out process a lot less discouraging and daunting. I learned that first of all I have to wash my braids no less than every 2 weeks, and moisturize them very well so that there's little to no build-up near the base of the braids. Then, when it's time to take out the braids or twists I fight a lot less with the hair. If the hair is clumpy, I wiggle it at the base until the hair separates, then I comb my fingers through. After, I take my wide-tooth comb to GENTLY comb through all of the hair in sections to get out all of that loose shed hair you were talking about. I'm not lying when I say my shed hair can fill up at least half a grocery store plastic bag, but can easily be balled up into a much smaller amount. After doing all of this, I soak all my hair in a good conditioner, put a cap on it, and leave it for hours, overnight, or until I plan to visit the salon for a wash. If I'm washing my hair myself, I use my wide-tooth comb to detangle from tip to root as my hair sits under the stream of shower water. Before all the conditioner is completely washed out, I take a MOISTURIZING shampoo (like Kendra or The Roots) and I focus on washing the base of my hair and scalp. For the rest of my hair, I squeeze my hair up and down like it's a sponge for the shampoo to foam up that way. Again, I rinse and do it again. Then the deep conditioner must stay on for a good amount of time to moisturize my hair. If you have a bonnet dryer, sit under that until your hair is properly moisturized.

Your hair doesn't get the moisture it needs when it's confined in braided extentions, so how you treat your hair once the braids are removed would mean making sure your hair soaks up as much moisture as possible. Always use your wide tooth comb to detangle your hair as you rince the deep conditioner out of your hair. Briad your hair, twist it, cornrow it, roller set it, bantu it, or do whatever else you do to your hair to have it dry stretched and detangled... but moisturize it with a good leave in and creme first.

I haven't read to see if you posted an update, but I hope you haven't given up. Always try try again!

I haven't given up...YET...but today wasn't as big as a struggle as yesterday. I did a henna treatment today with henna,100% cran apple juice and cholrlestol sp? with ginseng. and deep conditioned with Aussie three minute miracle. My hair feels better and it detangled better, a lil tangled at the ends but not to bad. I was able to rollerset my hair. Thanks for all your help ladies I really appreciate the advice and support you guys have given.

That's great

How has your hair been since?

Just take advice from the gurus here and everything will be fine! Don't give up because of one setback. If we all gave up after only one, then this wouldn't be long (not just with length) hair care forum It's a long process and once you finally get a method down, there won't be any stopping you.

I just took down my first sew in weave last Friday and I lost a LOT of hair, but I expected that. The funny part; though I lost so much hair, my hair seems thicker than ever and is about 1-2 inches longer Thanks chlorella!! (At this point, you're thinking, "Thanks! Twist the knife a little bit deeper, why don't ya!")

I removed all shed hair while my hair was dry - I was very careful! I put Giovanni's Deeper Moisture Conditioner in, and sprayed Qhemet Biologics Castor & Moringa oil in and slept on it for the night. The products helped, but it took me forever to detangle; however, I took my time and the payoff was worth it.

Look how much I lost from 8 weeks of not combing!