Let’s just get it out there – you do not remove tangles by tugging a brush or comb harshly through your hair to pull the knot out. Your hair may be a tangled, knotty mess after a shower, a day at the beach or a swim in the gym’s pool but pulling and tugging it is not only painful but it can permanently damage the follicles. There are ways to prevent and fix tangles the right way. Let’s go through the process so you can have gorgeous knot-free hair.
The first thing to remember when considering how to get tangle free hair is to always finish off your shower routine with a short cold rinse. By adding a quick flash of cold water just before you get out of the shower, you are sealing the cuticle, and this works to hold the hair in place and helps to prevent future knots as well as pesky frizz.
One of the worst things you can do if trying to avoid tangled hair is to wrap your hair in a towel to dry or try to rub the moisture out of it. Instead, hair experts have recommended that you 'blot' your wet hair instead, as this will help to dry it in a much more gentle way and will not rough up or damage the hair cuticle, which so often leads to tangling.
Though we always tend to reach straight for the brushes and combs to try to rid our hair of annoying knots and tangles, one of the best and most effective ways to reduce the chance of knotting is to put down the comb and use your fingers instead. When your hair is still wet, have a go at combing with your fingers from roots down to the tips. This more gentle way of doing your hair can help to prevent tangles and knots from forming.
If you go to bed at night with fine hair and wake up in the morning full of tangles, you might want to think about what it is in your sleeping pattern that is doing the damage! One great tip is to invest in a silk pillowcase because they are much more gentle on the hair than other materials like cotton. Alternatively, you could always try and see if there are any changes if you wear a bun or braid to bed, giving you hair less opportunity to move around and tangle up.
It is really important to remember to have your hair cut by a professional on a regular basis. Most experts recommend that once every six weeks is a good routine to get in to. Maintaining things like split ends, especially when you have dyed hair, is vital to avoiding unnecessary tangles and knots. Hair dye can sometimes weaken the cuticle, which makes it more susceptible to knotting.
If you had a particularly bad incident and your hair has become incredibly tangled, a good way to deal with the situation would be to invest in a wig brush. Wig brushes have strong metal prongs, and if you spray them with a lightweight hair conditioner and proceed to gently brush from root to tip, the metal prongs will glide through your hair without causing damage or straining.
If you have been camping or spent all weekend at s festival, sometimes your tangled hair can border on a near-dreadlock level! If this is the case, then squeeze out a quarter sized amount of leave-in conditioner and apply it to the affected areas, allowing it to absorb for a good few minutes. When the conditioner has been sufficiently absorbed, start trying to lightly brush through the tangles and eventually you should be able start to see a difference.
I found I had less tangles when I started sleeping with my hair in a bun. I also find it helps to do a full brush/comb through before washing my hair.
Do you suffer from knotty hair? Will you try these tips?