3 Best Products for Natural Hair That Take Forever to Detangle
by Team CurlyNikki
There is regular detangling, and then there is cancel-the-rest-of-the-evening detangling. Cancel-the-weekend detangling so you can rebuild your strength before the new week. If wash day keeps turning into an excavation project, the problem is usually not that you need to comb harder, or even that your hair is damaged (now, you could use a trim- that solves about 90% of tangling issues… even just a dusting can help!).
But for real, you just need better products and likely, a better technique. You need slip. You need patience/time. You need to add warm water (we are starting to sound like a science experiment haha). You need to let the conditioner marinate. And THEN after the distributing, and saturating, and marinating, only then do we go in with our fingers to detangle and finish off, if necessary, with a comb or wooden brush as a last pass. This is how we get rid of those shed hairs in the least damaging way. We also don’t go past the due date on our stretched styles. On our wash and gos, no matter how good day 6 hair looks. We get in the shower and we re-do. It sucks I know. But I didn’t make the rules. You literally have no more ‘I’ll wash it tomorrow’ tomorrows left in you. Stop. And start with these products to make your wash day less dreadful!
| Pick | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| African Pride Moisture Miracle Aloe & Coconut Water Pre-Shampoo | Serious pre-wash tangles | $4.99 |
| Kinky-Curly Knot Today | Shower detangling + knots | $14 |
| Oyin Handmade Oh My Glide! | Detangling before styling or after protective styles | $13.99 |
African Pride: when we need the tangles to give up before shampoo
This is the little inexpensive jar people keep talking about for a reason. The texture gives dry, tangled hair the kind of slip that lets us start separating sections with our fingers before water even makes contact. They took slip to the next level. If there was a slip award. They won. The end. Meeting adjourned.
Use it extra generously on dry hair, work in sections and give the product a minute to sit before pulling at anything. The point is to remove loose shed hair first. If we can turn a one-hour detangle into a calmer twenty- or thirty-minute session, then we’ve done our job. This is self-care, and it should be fun. Turn on some music. Light a candle. Chill.
Kinky-Curly: when the shower is where the magic happens
Kinky-Curly Knot Today remains one of the standards because it is built around slip. It wins the slip award, too! On very tangled hair, we like it on soaking-wet sections with plenty of water working alongside the conditioner. This is where we finger-detangle first, then follow with a wide-tooth comb only if we need it. Ends first. Roots last. You can even leave some in if you’re so inclined… and I suspect you will be!
Oyin: when hair keeps tangling during the rest of wash day
Oyin Handmade Oh My Glide! gives us a lighter sprayable option after the major knots are gone. It is especially useful when sections start grabbing each other again while we are twisting, braiding or stretching. Nikki’s mom LOVES this spray.
Key Takeaway: Sections. Saturate. Slip. Gravity from the shower stream. Fingers. The end. What took hours, won’t. And while you’re in the process, you’ll be singing or praying or chatting away on the phone. Wash day is no longer a dreaded day. You’re welcome.
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