How I Keep My Ends from Tangling, Knotting and Breaking Pt. 2 Elle’s Advice

When I had a TWA, I didn’t really think too much about my ends knotting, tangling or breaking. Detangling was a breeze and since my hair wasn’t rubbing on anything, I didn’t think friction was an issue. However, when my hair started to hang, I found my detangling sessions becoming more difficult and my wash and gos seemed to tangle more easily (I’ve mainly worn wash and gos throughout my hair journey). I attribute this to the fact that I didn’t apply my product in sections (I was all about the quick and dirty wash and go) and a lack of hold from a lot of my products — at the time, I really liked conditioner-only wash and gos.

Something had to change, because there was no way I was going to spend hours detangling my hair and I feared that my length retention would be affected. I thought of reasons my hair could be acting differently, and well, at the end of the day, there was a lot more of it, giving it the opportunity to knot and tangle around itself without proper care. Even though I have fairly coarse hair tangling was still an issue, especially due to the density of my hair. If I applied product in two sections only, it wasn’t reaching a large bulk of my mane. So, I started washing and styling my wash and go in sections to help ensure that my product was distributed evenly, regardless if it was my leave-in conditioner or gel. For more information on minimizing tangles when you wash and go, check out this vintage QFTPC video:

Additionally, I started using oils, or even better, heavy moisturizers on my ends to finish off a styling session (wet hair with oil applied above). Since my hair is low porosity, I’ve never been incredibly worried about sealing in moisture (which is a principle up for debate anyway), but hair rubbing against all sorts of things, especially your clothes, will cause tangles, breaking, and single strand knots. So the oil or moisturizer (which is water-based but usually also oil heavy) provides a protective layer from friction. Using a moisturizer instead of an oil will also keep your hair soft and pliable, which makes it less likely to knot around itself. If you want to take it a step further, you can mix an essential oil that is said to strengthen ends, like rosemary oil, with your product to amplify the benefits.

But even today, I sometimes mess up, mainly with sleeping. I usually wear a Sue Maesta (a braid cylinder will also work) hood to bed, which keeps my hair from rubbing against my pillowcase every which way while I’m sleeping. If I fall asleep, especially with a light hold wash and go wild and free…in the morning, I just want to cry when I feel my ends! Even putting it in a bun or pineapple (pictured above) is better than wearing it out. When I use a heavier gel with more hold, it’s not as bad, but I’d still prefer to prevent it altogether.

Even with these tips, it’s still necessary to trim your hair periodically to prevent knotting. I don’t even mean every four months like clockwork, but if you start getting more knots or tangles, or have trouble keeping your ends moisturized, it may be time to let those couple of inches go. Healthier hair will always tangle less than dry, damaged hair.

What are some of your tips for preventing knots and tangles on your ends?