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Home • Haircuts • Straightening

How to Detangle Your Transitioning Hair

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How to Detangle Your Transitioning Hair
By Sabrina Perkins · Updated August 25, 2015
Photo Courtesy of Getty Images
Transitioning is just one of the ways to go natural. Working with two different hair textures may discourage some, but for many it was a blessing and a wonderful way to transform into their natural selves. The line of demarcation tends to create problems during styling, washing, and detangling.

Nevertheless, we are seeing more women embracing their natural texture while holding onto their length and they are making it work successfully. It just takes a few pointers in the right direction, and what better place to get that help than the Curly Q&A section! Levysamantha had a question on how to handle her tangles during wash day and it was a good question because many women find themselves in the same boat needing a little guidance.

Question

How do I keep my natural and relaxed hair from becoming a tangled mess when I wash it? I’m only about three to four months post relaxer while I only use heat on my hair once a month and when I wash it becomes a dry, tangled, and unmanageable mess.

Answer

You just need patience, tons of conditioner, more patience, a wide tooth comb, and sprinkle a tad more patience and sectioning. There are tried-and-true methods to detangling your transitioning hair but the point I want to drive home is applying patience to your method. Remember that Rome was not built in a day and learning to work with two textures will not happen in that time frame either. I have listed the best ways to handle those stubborn tangles without damaging or yanking out your hair.

Patience

Yes, detangling is a chore. It can be time-consuming and tiring, but it is a vital component of textured hair care. Now, there are numerous high points but with anything in life there are ups and downs. Detangling requires you to take your time so do not try to do this if you are in a hurry. You do not want to break your hair by rushing, so try and do this when you have the proper time to complete it correctly.

Work in sections

You will need at least four but you may choose more sections, especially in highly tangled areas. Working in sections allows you to better manage your hair as opposed to causing breakage and increasing frustration. Working in sections allows you to twist up or braid the finished sections out of the way so you can focus on the next section. The object is to work each section by fully removing all the tangles prior to moving onto the next section of hair.

Use a wide-tooth comb

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A wide-tooth comb allows you to detangle efficiently, remove shed hairs, and minimize damage in one fell swoop. Now, you can find any number of them at cheap prices just about everywhere, but the quality may be subpar, breaking and causing split ends from prominent seams. There are some live saver combs: Ouidad Double Detangler and Hercules Sagemann. Both are superior combs that several naturals rave about for proper detangling with snagging or breaking.

Slippery conditioner

Tangles require water and a slippery conditioner or oil. Favorites like Herbal Essences Hello Hydration or TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner pack a powerful punch in the slip department without killing your wallet. They are excellent choices for detangling prior to shampooing on wash day, but they are just two on a long list that many naturals love.

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Slather each section liberally with your conditioner and remove the tangles using your fingers and the wide tooth comb starting from the ends to the roots. Spray each section with water before you apply the conditioner to remove those stubborn knots. You can even add some olive oil to really get the hair moisturized before placing a cap on after detangling each section and allowing it to sit on your hair for 15 to 30 min. prior to shampooing.

Sometimes seeing it being done is better so watch as Michelle B shows you her detangling process using all the tips mentioned above.

How To Easily Detangle Transitioning Hair

The bottom line is to not get so frustrated that you rush through it and do more damage than good. You want to effectively detangle without damaging so that you’re washing, conditioning, and styling becomes easier. Take it slow, remember this is only temporary and enjoy your transition.

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Home • Curl Products

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

What do you think of when you hear the word "mousse?"
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Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t
By Cristina Cleveland · Updated December 19, 2024

Let’s play a game. What do you think of when you hear the word “mousse?” If you’re anything like me, it may bring up associations with crunchy curls, the 80s, and drying alcohols, but you should know that things have changed. Hairstyles, techniques, brands, and product formulas have all evolved since the days of teased, crispy curls. But because we still get flashbacks when we pick up a bottle of mousse, we spoke with a few curly hair experts about when to use mousse, who should be using mousse today – and who shouldn’t. 

Why use a mousse?

Brooke Michie, curl stylist and owner of Lyric Salon in Austin, Texas, first made me reconsider mousse when she used it in Grace’s wavy hair transformation. She loves using mousse on her curly haired clients because it’s “easy to apply, economical per use, has buildable coverage and hold, and can be layered with so many other types of products.”

What hairstyles is mousse best for?

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A post shared by Maya Smith and Brian Smith (@ouidoux)

Image Source: @ouidoux

Maya Smith, International Master of Natural Curls and founder of The Doux®, a haircare line she created specifically for naturally curly hair, says mousse can be used for “any style that requires definition and light hold. It can be used not only to set wash & go’s, but for twist outs and rod sets as well.”

As I’ve been starting to experiment with mousse more, I’ve wondered if I can use it on my dry hair as a refresher on second-day hair. According to Maya, “Mousse is best applied to wet hair for Wash & Go styling, but it can also be used to set a dry twist-out and to redefine the curl pattern. I wouldn’t recommend using it to replenish moisture on next-day hair.” 

What causes that crunch?

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

Maya says, “It’s common for mousse to be combined with gel or cream because most mousse on the market contain alcohol to make the hair dry faster. They are also polymer-rich, which creates a sticky coating on the hair, much like a hairspray. This can leave hair feeling dry and stiff. We formulated our Mousse Def as an all-in-one solution for this problem. It creates the shine and definition of a mousse, yet leaves hair soft and touchable with no flaking.”

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A post shared by T H E D O U X (@ilovethedoux)

What are some ingredients to watch out for?

Maya recommends watching out for ingredients such as sodium laurel sulfate (SLS, Isopropyl, and Prolyene, which “have been found to cause breakage and dry out your hair). The best way to achieve healthy hair is to have that balance between protein and moisture.”

Who should use mousse?

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Brooke says it depends on the mousse, “lightweight, airy mousse or foam is great for wavy hair. Denser mousse is great for 2s and 3s and as a thin layer of added hold for more definition over a moisture foundation for well-hydrated 4s even!” For Maya, it depends on the hairstyle: “I recommend mousse for hair up to Type 4B, depending on the desired results.”

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But before you rule mousse out for your Type 4C coils, Gerilyn Hayes, NaturallyCurly Senior Copywriter, loves using mousse on her 4C wash and go (like Camille Rose Spiked Honey Mousse). “I use about 5-6 pumps of mousse in my hair after shampooing and conditioning. I do this because I want to make sure that I’m starting with a clean scalp and curls that are free from any other previous products. And because my curls are very coarse and need lots of hydration, I make sure that my curls are soaked with water (which is why the shower is great for applying mousse to my hair).

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

To avoid product and water getting into my eyes, I flip my head over and scrunch my curls’ ends to my scalp. Although I do not have a lot of length, I still use this ends-to-root scrunching method to get the optimal curl definition. Sometimes I rake the mousse through my curls and then wrap them in a scarf, giving them more shine. Although rake versus scrunching may look similar to any onlooker, the textural differences are apparent to me!” 

Who shouldn’t use mousse? 

“Curls with moisture as the number one priority,” says Brooke, “or those who don’t need a product with general hold, but seek more of a product/product combo to hydrate than seal.” So if your curls are thirsty and your top priority is moisture, then you may want to opt for something like the LOC Method, which layers a leave-in for moisture, an oil to seal in the moisture, and then a cream for hold.

When to use mousse

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

Brooke prefers “the lightest weight mousse (she loves Bread Beauty Supply Hair Foam) in wavy hair for primary, general hold,” and this is how she recommends applying it:

  1. On freshly rinsed detangled hair in the shower, glaze a small amount over the surface area of the hair.
  2. Then flip and glaze another small amount over the underneath surface area.
  3. Then, apply the majority of it via scrunching and distribute it in your palms, making sure not to flatten the airiness of the foam.
  4. Before scrunching the ends of the hair up toward the scalp with a flat palm into a clenched fist motion, rotating your head to reach curls on either side.

If you’re using a denser foam and need more moisture, Brooke recommends applying it:

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Image Source: @curlsbykeish
  • Once a leave-in or moisture foundation is either combed through or scrunched in sopping wet hair.
  • Then add a little denser mousse by finger combing detangled sections, or for longer curls, scrunching as above. 

“This will create a cast of hold,” says Brooke, but before you worry about the crunch, remember you need to break that cast by scrunching out the crunch. “Release the cast once hair is fully dry by touching curls gently, or scrunching once more to release the wet-looking hold that was necessary during the drying process to maximize definition.”

Interested in trying a mousse? Check out the Best of The Best Styling Products 2024 options for your curls, waves, and coils.

OUR EDITORS INDEPENDENTLY SELECT ALL PRODUCTS FEATURED ON NATURALLYCURLY. HOWEVER, WE MAY EARN AN AFFILIATE COMMISSION WHEN YOU BUY SOMETHING THROUGH OUR RETAIL LINKS.

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