Tangle prone--help!

chicklegirl

I've been having major problems with tangles for the last month, especially in the ends of my hair, and am wondering if this is just par-for-the-course for wavies during the winter (since I didn't have this problem when I was straightening and using cones). I'm starting to worry because I'm noticing more split ends than I did during my first two months doing CG. Any thoughts? Suggestions?

Pertinent background: I live in a very dry, cold area--central Washington. Right now the temperature is 32 degrees, 60% humidity. I still haven't figured out dewpoint and how it affects my hair, so maybe that's the issue? But I have eliminated humectants as much as possible, which has helped--somewhat. I'm using conditioners with plenty of slip, but that doesn't seem to make much difference.

This morning I PT'd with yogurt, co-washed, used a heavy conditioner, cold-water rinsed, combed through with a leave-in, went very easy on product, super-soaked, diffused, and am still having tangled ends--even though my hair otherwise feels very soft, moist and happy. What am I doing wrong?

ETA: I just checked and according to Wunderground.com, the dew point here is 23 degrees. From what I've read, that means pretty dry, right? Is that why I'm getting all the tangles?

plunkybug

Yes, it is possible that the weather is aggravating things. Keep up with the DTs and PTs as needed.

Maybe try the Spritz and condish method?

IAgirl

Wunderground is awesome. Dewpoints in the 20s are low.
If you have split ends and tangly ends, the one equals the other. Imagine a frayed piece of string and a bunch of other frayed pieces of string. They're going to tangle much more than nice, smooth, un-frayed pieces of string (or hair).

If you can, trim them off. I had very long hair and very tangly. I kept cutting it and once all the damage was removed, it is far, far less tangly. No tangles at night, even.

I'm also using humectants in winter with no problem -- in fact, my hair likes it -- but the places I work and live are kept from getting too dry. I do spend time outdoors in 20 degree and lower dewpoints -- wearing a hat!

Yogurt is not going to penetrate or even bond well with the hair. As a PT it's not super-effective. The acids might do some good, maybe some of the degraded bacterial proteins are small enough to bond with the hair, but you might need hydrolyzed protein which is often added to conditioners and protein packs like Ion Effective brand or Aphogee or the gelatin PT recipe kicking around here to get a good effect.
Suave Coconut has amino acids for protein and those may simply rinse off.

Hope you can get untangled!

chicklegirl

Thanks so much for the suggestions, ladies. I'm off to whip up a new batch of aloe-free FSG (I forgot I added that to my last batch and am wondering if it's partly to blame), then trim off bad ends and spritz-n-condish.

IAgirl, I found your gelatin PT recipe and will give it a try tomorrow, when I have some extra time.

Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!:reindeer:

plunkybug

Let us know how it all goes.

chicklegirl

Yesterday I did the spritz-n-condish, and my hair really loved it: soft, bouncy waves and fewer tangles. I had used it once before but back before the really dry winter weather set in (also, I may have used a lighter conditioner), and the difference was much more dramatic this time around.

I think taking the aloe out of my FSG helped, too. It doesn't have much hold, but the waves were nice and defined to start out with. I think I can use a little bit of Giovanni L.A. gel layered on top to get better hold.

I tried to clean up my split ends, but quickly realized there were just too many, so I'm going to my stylist for a trim up tonight, and I think I'll do the PT after that.

KeLynn

Honestly, this is the reason I went off the CG method. My hair was soooo freaking tangly on CG, and I just couldn't find anything that was as good as silicones at detangling.

plunkybug

Sounds good chicklegirl. Some people find honey or agave nectar in their FSG adds some extra hold.

Get the ends cut off and keep up with the protein and moisture. Your hair will improve over time. Silicones are a "quick fix", though not really a "fix" at all if you ask me. They hide a lot of damage, IMO, and if you can't see the damage, you don't know it's there to fix.

chicklegirl

plunkybug wrote: »

Some people find honey or agave nectar in their FSG adds some extra hold.

Yeah--I found I could use honey or agave in my FSG up until mid-November. Then when the dewpoints started to plummet around here, the honey and agave turned my hair to tangled straw. As soon as I took them out of my FSG, most of that went away. I tried the aloe instead, but apparently it also doesn't work well for me during the intense dry cold.

I did get pretty reasonable hold today with the Giovanni L.A. gel layered over FSG, so I'm optimistic I can keep using it, and hopefully the tangles will diminish after I get my trim.

ETA: @ KeLynn--I've been using KCNT, which has great slip (similar to what I got using coned "smoothing milks" and serums). It fights my frizz and seems to help with but not totally eliminate the tangles. I'm hoping IAgirl is right and that the big culprit behind my recent tangle attacks is all my split ends. I'm not ready to give up on CG yet, since I've had such good results up until recently.

chicklegirl

So after the trim, my tangles are virtually all gone. Today I used FSG with a little bit of the Giovanni gel cocktailed in, and got some nice, defined waves. And soft, bouncy hair I can run my fingers through--YAY!:blob4:

I think there may be a few lingering split ends (because of a very few small tangles here and there), but I can go after those myself. Thanks again for sharing your wavy wisdom, Plunkybug and IAgirl. The spritz-n-condish is now a part of my go-to routine. And I'll be doing the PT/DT on a regular basis through the rest of the dry cold weather.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

plunkybug

Glad it is helping!

chicklegirl

I finally got around to making some PT today using IAgirl's recipe and loved it. I added the honey, even though recently my hair has not responded well to it--but I think that it worked out okay since I could rinse out the PT. I also added banana, and although it was hard to get all the little chunks of banana rinsed completely out of my hair, my hair was SO soft and shiny.

Thanks, IAgirl! You and your chemistry superpowers rock!:thumright:

IAgirl

chicklegirl wrote: »

I finally got around to making some PT today using IAgirl's recipe and loved it. I added the honey, even though recently my hair has not responded well to it--but I think that it worked out okay since I could rinse out the PT. I also added banana, and although it was hard to get all the little chunks of banana rinsed completely out of my hair, my hair was SO soft and shiny.

Thanks, IAgirl! You and your chemistry superpowers rock!:thumright:

:blob4: Thanks! That's so funny.
Glad you like the PT. Sorry about the banana bits, if you have a blender, food processor, or electric hand mixer, it might help you get the banana pureed. Baby food banana is a second choice, but some of the good stuff is altered when it's canned.

Glad you solved the tangle problem too.

chicklegirl

So, how often on average do I need to PT? It's still bitter cold here (right now at 10 p.m. it's 0 degrees--though it did get up into the teens today--with a dewpoint of -4 degrees), but since I'm so new to CG I have no frame of reference for frequency of both PT and DT. I'd rather stay ahead of the tangles, than wait until my hair feels terrible... but I'm worried about what might happen with too much protein?

pedaheh

When you start to notice your hair loosing its bounce and shine and starting to tangle, it is time for another PT.
I'd guess for medium hair that you should do a PT once a month. I don't have medium hair, so I'm just guessing.

chicklegirl

Thanks, Pedaheh! And I'm going to borrow some of your tweaks to the recipe--this last time I just used coconut oil, but my hair really loved the avocado DT, so I want to try avocado oil with the PT like you did.

May I just say: you wavy ladies are so lovely and generous with your knowledge and experience--thanks to all of you! :notworthy:

plunkybug

Or when it is feeling overly soft and mushy and feeling overconditioned or not as curly as it has been/can be...like mine is. I am pretty certain I need a PT.