When I was a child I had really thick naturally curly hair, it was wild to say the least and combing it or getting it combed always took a long time, and within a half hour it was out of control again. By the time I was a teenager I learned to deal with my hair and how to work my curls to my advantage, and as I got older my hair thinned out and became more manageable.
I now have a daughter and lucky her she inherited my thick curly hair. When her hair at its best it is beautiful but if we don’t stay on top of it and can become pretty much uncontrollable and very difficult to comb. But through trial and error we have learned a few tricks to keep her hair manageable and pretty.
Keep it Clean: You might think that letting a little oil build up on curly hair might make more flat, and less crazy, but in fact while it may make it flatter it also seems to cause loose hair to intertwine with the other hair, and huge knots can occur. Keeping it clean keeps oil and dirt from building up, and causing knots.
Comb from the bottom: Hair that is thick, curly, and easily knotted is difficult to comb from the top and straight down, you will encounter many knots along the way and will likely end up breaking you comb or getting it caught in the hair. A better way is to comb the hair in sections, start about 2 inches up from the bottom and comb down, once you get the knots out of that area move up another couple of inches, and comb down from there and so on until you have reached the top of the head, this will help you gradually get out all of the knots while keeping from pulling from the top and damaging the hair.
Choose the Right Comb: Remember the old beauty tip about brushing the hair 100 times a day. This isn’t really the best thing to do for thick, curly, easily knotted hair. Brushing it will just cause you to rip at the hair, and will make it break. For thick, curly easily knotted hair you will need a large comb, with large thick teeth, and there should be a little distance between the teeth. If you would like to brush to distribute the oils throughout the hair which some experts say is good, comb the hair first and get out most of the knots before brushing.
Never Ever Sleep With Wet Hair: If you have thick curly hair the worse thing you could possibly do is to sleep with wet hair, your hair will look like a nest when you wake up in the morning unless of course you are not normal and never toss or turn during the night.
Deep Condition: Deep condition at least once a week. After deep conditioning comb the hair out thoroughly.
Braid the Hair before bed: Braiding the hair before bed keeps the hair all in one place. Therefore it keeps it for getting all knotted up. This is the best trick that we have learned. In the morning you just comb out the braid. Don’t just pull it out, comb the bottom of the braid, then unbraid one row, comb that, then go to the next row unbraid and comb that. Keep doing that until the hair is all combed out.
Product Recommendation: We have found that if we use Bed Head Control Freak shampoo and conditioner on my daughter’s hair when it is in control that it will help the hair stain in control. It works reasonably well when her is knotty when she uses it, if her hair is all combed out when she uses this her hair stays nice. With most shampoos when she comes out of the shower her hair will already be knotting up.
Keeping long thick curly hair in good condition, and under control takes a lot of work and commitment, but when we follow these tips things are a whole lot easier.
