My Life without combs

For my hair's health, I've had to give up combs and brushes. It hasn't been an easy road and it took me awhile to get here like with everything else that I do.

Because of my hair's tendency to break with manipulation under any circumstances, I learned quickly that combs was only help facilitate this. It didn't matter what I did. I tried numerous wide tooth combs and denman like brushes, with my hair either drench with oil, drench with conditioner, or deep conditioned. I even switched to a paddle brush which I actually like and doesn't hurt my hair too bad (just makes it frizzy).

I finally gave up on the idea of being able to detangle or smooth my hair with a hair tool after 5 years. Instead, I finger comb my hair and finger detangle. I do this by taking small sections, adding oil and conditioner, and separating the hair either by my coils or by groups of strands. I focus on my ends because that's where I get most of my knots at (because that's where my hair is extra coily). To detangle my ends, I just lightly pull on them to stretch them out and this makes them recoil clumped together. For any knots, if I can't separate the individual hairs from the knot, I either cut it out or snap it (yes, I know that's bad but I don't do this on purpose).

I don't get my hair 100% detangled but this works for the most part. Once in awhile, if I feel up to it, I will detangle my hair in the shower under the water stream (usually with no conditioner or oil added). This allows me to detanlge my roots which I usually don't focus on when I'm finger detangling.

This has helped my hair and while I'm still not as patient as I would like, it's working. Once in a very, bright blue moon, I do get the urge to pass a comb through my hair. As soon as I make the third pass, I quickly regret it and stop. More than likely, I will opt for the paddle brush because it is gentler on my hair. The comb will literally rip out all of my hair and even when I start from the bottom, I can hear the Snap, Crackle, and Pop symphony.

My life without combs hasn't been easy but now-a-days, it's not so bad either. With that being said, if you find that your hair's health is lacking and you're not retaining length, you might have to take the not-so-easy path. But don't fret, there are things that make it easier.