Hair catching on other hair and getting zigzag shapes

naturecat

Whilst my hair is drying, the clumps tend to wrap around each other. Sometimes the clumps catch and pull on one another, and this results in the hair going straight for part of it, and also weird zigzag shapes. Is this a sign I have too much gel and the hair is getting overly stiff and not able to bounce back into its usual curl after being snagged? How can I stop these weird shapes from happening?

wavesandsmiles

I'd like to know the answer to this too! I get this problem mostly with gels; my curls typically won't do this when I have mousse. I don't know if it's from using too much product, uneven distribution, too much scrunching, a product that is too sticky.. but those are my theories so far.

chupie

Well the zig zag shapes are normal. I don't know about clump wrapping. I don't think it's a gel thing.

naturecat

It's more than zigzagging… not sure how to describe it. But it just suddenly goes straight when wrapping around another clump…. curl and then dead straight. It looks bizarre.

sixelamy

Pull the clumps apart after you scrunch. That works for me.

naturecat

sixelamy wrote: »

Pull the clumps apart after you scrunch. That works for me.

I've tried that lately. Sometimes it works but other times the hair is too stuck and stiff and the hairs tear apart from their clump, frizz out, and go straight (those parts need to then be pin curled with extra gel). Maybe I don't need as much strong hold as I think I do?

waymire01

I have to comb my hair out of a plop with a wide tooth comb to "organize" the clumps, and then scrunch to recurl, or I get the same thing... it's just a mess of clumps wrapped around clumps, sometimes in the middle of a curl which looks awful. One of the biggest reasons I don't use gel.. it tends to "freeze" my curls in one position before they are finished doing their thing and mine keep tightening as they dry. Have you tried conditioner styling? The cast is very light and it doesn't interfere with formation on me.

naturecat

waymire01 wrote: »

I have to comb my hair out of a plop with a wide tooth comb to "organize" the clumps, and then scrunch to recurl, or I get the same thing... it's just a mess of clumps wrapped around clumps, sometimes in the middle of a curl which looks awful. One of the biggest reasons I don't use gel.. it tends to "freeze" my curls in one position before they are finished doing their thing and mine keep tightening as they dry. Have you tried conditioner styling? The cast is very light and it doesn't interfere with formation on me.

That's just it, waymire! My curls get frozen in zany positions. I would so love conditioner styling, but I'd get flat hair. I need at least medium hold to get my curls to stay. I think brushing after plopping (haven't tried plopping in awhile, maybe I should revisit this) would pull out my curl, as my pattern is weaker than yours.

However I think I have some ideas now. When my curls freeze weird, I think the key is rewetting those specific curls. I made this "curly" tea with amla infused water, epsom salt, and protein. Spraying my hair with it at any point in the drying process helps the curl reform. Sort of like the SMasters technique, but lite. Also, I wonder if, after drying or close to it, scrunching in some mousse, esp on wonky bits, then diffusing again, would help. I imagine it softens up the toughness of the hold. So I may try my usual techniques, then some mousse (for cleaning it up/volumizing), then some more gel to help hold/reset the curl. I wish I had more mousse choices; the only mousse I can use is Giovanni. It's a nice one, though not curl enhancing in any way.