4b and 4c hair types are so fragile that even combing your hair can cause it to break. Making finger combing a gentle alternative that may save you the pain of seeing too many of those mid shaft splits and hair breakage.
By the way breakage is not to be confused with shedding. If you see a full length strand with a white bulb attached to it, this is merely a hair that has normally shed. Those tiny wisps of hair or those mid shaft splits are indicators of breakage.
The Hard Facts
The reality is kinky hair is extremely delicate, so no matter how delicate you are and even if you finger comb chances are you will see some sort of breakage. However, with finger combing you can greatly reduce how much breakage you have when you detangle your hair.
Your fingers are able to feel knots and snags that your comb cannot, giving you the advantage of detecting those rough spots. When combing if you normally see tons of those tiny hairs covering your bathroom sink with finger combing you may get that number down to an insignificant few.
What to Expect
Regular detangling sessions are timely, but when you choose to finger comb the process is a bit more lengthy. Sorry, I wont lie to you : )
Are you expecting to grow your hair longer? Well, expect to spend a bit more time during your detangling sessions!
Natural hair care for the most part is low maintenance, this is even more so true if you live in protective styles like I do.
On the other hand when it comes to detangling and the cleansing process to grow longer hair you have to have patience and sacrifice time.
Not taking the time to properly detangle makes a lot of your hard work irrelevant, because you are essentially breaking off or damaging the hair you have grown.
Finger Combing Time
When it is time to detangle your hair, do it on a day when you know you are going to have time on your hands like a weekend if you normally work during weekdays.
You can gently finger comb your hair while you are watching reality TV (hopefully you aren’t!) or relaxing listening to music. Go through your hair section by section and if your hair is dry make sure you use an oil for some slip.
Instead of solely relying on finger combing you may want to finger comb your hair really good first and then go over your hair lightly once more with a wide tooth comb if you feel like your fingers were not enough.
Kinky ladies, if you are seeing a significant amount of breakage each time you detangle finger combing is something to at least try for the health of your hair. It may be time consuming but it sure beats seeing all your growth on your bathroom counter top.
What are your thoughts? Have you tried finger combing before?
I’ve been finger combing for about a month and I’m seeing a huge difference in my hair. My last relaxer was approximately 9 months ago. I’ve been wearing curly styles.
I have been finger combing my hair every now and then when i have time. However, i always feel like my hair is not fully detangled. Will i ever get use to it?
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I have been finger combing for about 8 months. I haven’t taken a comb to my hair at all during this time. My hair looks a lot better because I’m not breaking so much of my hair off. For my hair, it’s actually much easier and faster for me to finger comb. have some REALLY thick hair, and combs are not my friend.
I’ve wanted to strictly finger detangle for years but have been hooked on my combs especially my tail comb (I know that’s terrible). I just purchased clay, started doing acv rinses, so with that combination of loosening tangles, I plan to strickly finger detangle my hair. I’m also going to cut my own ends for the 1st time. I hope I do a great job cutting my ends and stick with finger detangling.??
Hi,
I have been finger detangling for 3 days now???. That’s right… Just 3 days. I’m a curly haired Indian girl who has always desperately yearned for tailbone length hair. However I have always lost hair growth to breakage. With the help of researching through numerous blogs on natural hair, I deduced that while my hair has no real problem in sprouting from the roots, it sure does break a whole lot from the ends. The day before, I read this blog featuring a beautiful naturalista who says she’s retained her length by ditching her comb for good. She only combs her hair on her natural hair anniversaries. This got me thinking… The only time in my hair routine that my ends get detached is during the vigorous combing sessions that I used to subject my hair to. Such a vicious cycle- breakage-split ends-more breakage. I regret not finger detangling all these many years. All these many years when I could have achieved my desired length and not fantasise like a loser about long curly beautiful princess hair. Now all I want to do is throw away my comb for good, henna my hair, pre poo every time I wash, deep condition often, finger detangle and….oh yeah, snap my comb in half. I want tailbone length hair SOOOOOO bad. Hope finger detangling will be the miracle worker I was always looking for.