What causes stringiness??

Shellwe

The ONLY time I have clumps is when my hair is soaking wet :? The stringiness starts as soon as I try and scrunch the extra water out of my hair with my hands before exiting the shower.

It doesn't seem to matter what type of products I use, I get the same result. I co-wash or low-poo every few days and clarify when needed.

Confused and frustrated :sad1:

curlypearl

I also get stringlets sometimes and I'm not sure why. I hope we get answers on this!

mycurlytresses

Glad someone asked. It is happening to me too and as I am newly natural it is freaking me out.

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qimissung

I get stringiness when I over scrunch and from products that my hair doesn't like.

SweetSquatchii

I have found that using good leave-in that's moisturizing seems to help mine clump better. I use KCKT and a little bit goes a long way. Once I'm done in the shower but while still soaking wet, I'll just use a little bit of KCKT and run my fingers through it. After that I'll either use a wide toothed or fine toothed comb (depending on the humidity that day: wide on very humid days, fine on normal or low humid days) and comb through it while upside down to make sure I get a good coating. Then I plop for a few minutes and diffuse. It seems the more consistent I am with that, the more clumping I seem to get.

HTH!

Shellwe

qimissung wrote: »

I get stringiness when I over scrunch and from products that my hair doesn't like.

I hope this isn't the case for me because it happens pretty much with everything I use

Shellwe

SweetSquatchii wrote: »

I have found that using good leave-in that's moisturizing seems to help mine clump better. I use KCKT and a little bit goes a long way. Once I'm done in the shower but while still soaking wet, I'll just use a little bit of KCKT and run my fingers through it. After that I'll either use a wide toothed or fine toothed comb (depending on the humidity that day: wide on very humid days, fine on normal or low humid days) and comb through it while upside down to make sure I get a good coating. Then I plop for a few minutes and diffuse. It seems the more consistent I am with that, the more clumping I seem to get.

HTH!

I haven't been able to get KCKT to work for me.

The worst part though, is when I do use a LI and rake / comb it through with my finger it just emphasizes the stringiness

SweetSquatchii

Man, that sucks....

When was the last time you did a DT? I know that I also get way too stringy when I need a DT or a PT. Just a thought.

I also just noticed you use KCCC as a curl enhancer.... that makes my hair stringy instantly if I use too much.

I hope you figure it out!

lcl0706

Are you applying product to very wet hair? I get stringy if my hair isnt wet enough when I apply product & scrunch.

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SweetSquatchii

lcl0706 wrote: »

Are you applying product to very wet hair? I get stringy if my hair isnt wet enough when I apply product & scrunch.

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That's a great point... I know a few wavies and curlies who don't do well when applying to super wet hair, but I find the same as you that unless it's SUPER wet, I don't get good results at all.

kimmidawn

lcl0706 wrote: »

Are you applying product to very wet hair? I get stringy if my hair isnt wet enough when I apply product & scrunch.

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+1...I actually had better results when I first went CG if my hair was damp, but now that I'm further into CG, I find the wetter my hair is, the better results I get

Shellwe

SweetSquatchii wrote: »

Man, that sucks....

When was the last time you did a DT? I know that I also get way too stringy when I need a DT or a PT. Just a thought.

I also just noticed you use KCCC as a curl enhancer.... that makes my hair stringy instantly if I use too much.

I hope you figure it out!

I had used to many protein products last week so I just did a DT on Friday. I still struggle with the perfect PT & DT balance. lol. I don't use very much of the KCCC so I don't think that's it, but thank you for the info though.

lcl0706 wrote: »

Are you applying product to very wet hair? I get stringy if my hair isnt wet enough when I apply product & scrunch.


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No I usually scrunch the extra water out before I get out of the shower.

For instance this is what I did this morning - low pooed with JCHCC, CJ Rehab as RO which was left on thru shower. RO upside down with cool water. It's at this point when I run my fingers thru my hair it will get all stringy. I apply my LI and product(s) for the day out of the shower.

I guess tomorrow I'll have to try adding products to soaking wet hair before I get out the shower.

elizard

sometimes i wonder what people really mean when they say clumps vs. stringlets. i haven't seen a picture to document the difference.

i personally don't mind when my individual curls are smaller, because i feel it gives more volume. i WOULD prefer if my curl size was uniform throughout my head, but that's another story!

i notice that using too much product, specifically gel leads to thinner curls. have you tried conditioner only? some people seem to like that.

Shellwe

elizard wrote: »

sometimes i wonder what people really mean when they say clumps vs. stringlets. i haven't seen a picture to document the difference.

i personally don't mind when my individual curls are smaller, because i feel it gives more volume. i WOULD prefer if my curl size was uniform throughout my head, but that's another story!

i notice that using too much product, specifically gel leads to thinner curls. have you tried conditioner only? some people seem to like that.

This isn't the best photo and it was taken after rinsing out CJ Daily fix and squeezing out the excess water before applying RO. I'll try and get a better picture tomorrow.

My hair looks exactly the same after rinsing out my conditioner. HTH

I tried applying my styler to soaking wet hair and that seemed to give me more clumps but it took my hair FOREVER to dry even using the diffuser on medium heat and air flow.

elizard

oh ok i see what you mean. well then i recommend you try the super soaker method. it really works! it's almost too clumpy for me. i don't even use full palmfuls like rudee does. i just wet my hands under the shower and rewet the curls. then i apply a strong hold gel directly afterwards. if you squeeze out too much water, you'll lose the clumps. on occasion, i don't squeeze any water out at all, especially after applying stylers, because for me i get frizz if i do. however, you will def have extended drying time. it's kind of a toss-up.

barcemadis

I have very fine hair, so I don't always want clumps. When I do want them, I don't rake products through my hair. I gather it into 3 ponytails/sections, one in the middle and one on either side of my head, smooth product through a section from root to tip, then scrunch and pump that section. Sometimes I spritz a little water on my scalp during this process too, and it seems to promote clumps. Adding small amounts of water in the scrunching process always gives me great clumps.

Oh yeah, and I do all this on soaking wet hair in the shower. I often scrunch out a lot of moisture and then apply more product, but the original application has to be on very wet hair.

Some products do seem to always make my hair stringy though. Mousse in general, and especially stickier (grabby) gels that are tough to distribute make my hair separate, but adding a little water to stickier gels cures that problem.

I guess my solution to stringy hair is pretty much just add a little more water, lol. Try watering down products or spraying water while styling. If you just add a little at a time, as needed, it doesn't increase the drying time that much, IMO.

curlypearl

Great new tip! I thought I had read everything about stringiness, but hadn't thought of this. Sounds like it will work because definitely, when I put products into very wet hair it clumps better than when I put it into hair that has already had some of the moisture removed.

I'm going to try this on my 2nd day hair today. I really want it to look good - meeting a friend for a fun lunch today.

mycurlytresses

Fixed my hair problem. I had been co-washing (no sulfates or silicones) and only using sulfate free shampoo. I stepped out of the CG box and used VO5 shampoo. I guess I just needed to clarify. Curls are back and strings are gone. :-)

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