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Detangling is the foundation on which all natural styles are built, but there is a right way to do it and a, well, more difficult way. You can’t just start tear into your locks hoping for the best or you will literally tear your hair up. Check out these five quick tips to detangle your hair with the least amount of damage.

Slippery When Wet

The first thing you need to avoid snags while detangling is moisture. According to Curly Nikki, you should drench your hair with water and liberally apply a conditioner. This will give your hair lots of slip, making it easier to smoothly separate your curls.

A leave-in conditioner may be best for this step, but you can also use a regular conditioner if you don’t mind a little extra work. There are also a handful of new detanglers on the market that will coat your hair nicely so you can comb through as needed. For some it’s best to detangle before washing, others may prefer after. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could also use this step to do a quick co-wash. YouTuber Naptural 85 has co-wash and detangle routine that should save you tons of time!

 

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Divide & Conquer

Getting organized makes for easier work when detangling your hair. Separating your hair into sections helps you to focus your attention and be deliberate on combing through your hair.

Most of us will part our hair into two or four sections, but YouTube Vlogger Chizi Duru suggests parting your hair into five sections. Instead of splitting the hair at the center of your scalp into different sections, it would become its own section. This helps to reduce the tension on hair in that area.

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Work Your Way Up

Never, ever, start detangling from the root of your hair. That will lead to nothing but breakage, damage, and heartache. If you love your strands, begin combing or brushing from the ends of your hair and slowly work your way up the shaft to the root. This method will also prevent you from creating new knots to detangle.

Have The Right Tools On Hand

From what I’ve observed, many people start detangling their hair by using their fingers first and then incorporate a wide-tooth com later into the process for more detailed detangling. However, according to Natural Hair Queen, your hair porosity determines when you should begin detangling. For example, the blogger suggests that people with 4C hair wait until their hair is at least halfway dry before they detangle to avoid further damage to their hair.

Repeat

Be prepared to detangle more than once in a day. If you’re doing a full-on wash routine, then detangling will need to happen before and after you actually wash your hair.

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