I ended my long-term transition to natural at 17 months post relaxer; this was back in June 2014. I would
be lying if I said that it was a challenge to deal with my natural hair
immediately because it was not. My biggest challenge was Knots and tangles! I
had these bad guys literally everywhere! There were hundreds of them all over
my hair and it was just frustrating. Seeing that this was an issue for me I shared
a post explaining my ordeal with knots and you ladies were so awesome in giving
me tips which really helped me to reduce those knots. With the tips I got as
well as my own research and experiences I managed to reduce the knots by 90%.
1. Wash and go´s
Before going
natural I always dreamt of wearing a wash and go and of course after going
natural this was the first hairstyle I tried out and truly loved, however I came
to realise that with this hairstyle my hair also developed countless knots. Due
to the serious shrinkage that occurs as the hair dries up, kinky hair tends to curl
up in itself and loop around itself causing knots.
I decided to avoid this hairstyle until recently
when I discovered that a wash and go could be kept knot and tangle free by
doing conditioner washes every other day and properly detangling the hair. The
only problem with this is that the process is time consuming and because of
this I will continue to avoid wash and go´s.
2. Split ends.
Stubborn
knots should be cut with a pair of scissors and not pulled out or snapped at
simply because this will lead to split ends. I had to learn this the hard way.
3.
Detangling, moisturizing and sealing
Moisturized
hair keeps the hair soft and manageable which makes it easier to detangle. Detangled
hair is less like to knot.
4.
Stretching natural hair.
Keeping natural
hair stretched will keep knots away and will definitely help with length
retention because you will not need to trim your hair often. There are several
ways to get stretched hair which include, twisting, African threading, braid
outs, all sorts of rod sets and blow drying. My technique of choice is
twisting. After washing and conditioning my hair I keep my hair in twists and
eventually moisturize, seal in the moisture with an oil then I proceed to
finger detangle my hair carefully smoothing it out and stretching out the curls
with my finger. If you would like a video tutorial on this technique please
leave a comment below.
5. Sectioning
hair.
I don’t
always section my hair but I know that working in smaller sections make
detangling much easier than working with a huge section at once.
6. Combing
Combing or
finger detangling your hair from the roots towards the ends is a sure way of
creating tangles and knots. Avoid this at all costs.
7.
Protective styling and low manipulation
Protective
styles that keep your hair stretched are a great way to avoid knots and
tangles. Braids and cornrows are great for this but you need to make sure that
they are done correctly and not too tight.
Welcome to Grow African Hair Long (GAHL)