by
Cassandre
Matting and tangling are two things natural hair loves to do when conditions are right. One month or more of overlooking the basics in hair care can sometimes result in those moments of discouragement where the creamy crack seems like the best answer. Having dealt with these issues myself and helped others navigate through the drama of matting and tangling here a few solutions that many naturals overlook.
Trim your hair.
There was a time when I thought that the best way to deal with incessant tangling was to drench my hair in apple cider vinegar and follow up with a great detangling conditioner. Though that did often work for me, I found that it never got to the root of the problem. When your hair have thinned out, split and broken off, it is much more prone to perpetual tangling. These problems can be fixed with certain conditioners, temporarily, but the issue will come back and get worse.
The best thing to do in that case, is to do a light trim, something like 1/4″ to 1/2″ of hair. If that doesn’t dramatically minimize your tangling issue, I suggest cutting another 1/2″ or more off.
What you’ll find is that once you trim your hair, the most healthy parts of it are exposed and therefore less prone to tangling and better able to get to your next goal length.
Wash your hair with a cleanser more often.
If your worst matting and tangling happens right before you wash your hair, consider washing your hair more frequently. The longer you wait to wash your hair, the higher the likely hood of encountering matting and tangling is much higher just because of dirt, shed hair and product build up over time.
Make sure to wash your hair with a cleansing shampoo often enough if you deal with these issues.
Look for products rich with conditioning ingredients.
I love products rich with oils and fancy herbal tinctures as much as the next woman, but those ingredients aren’t going to save you when you can’t get your fingers through your hair.  You’ll want a product that will smooth out your tangles and help you combat your matting issue so you really want to be looking for products that have slip ingredients like behentrimonium methosulfate, centrimonium chloride, and silicones. You don’t want anything that has oils too high up on the list.
Tell me, what are some of your secrets to getting rid of matting or tangled hair?
