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Five Reasons You Shouldn’t Comb Natural Hair Often

A lot of women often ask me how I manage to comb my natural hair, because their hair is VERY tough and nearly impossible to comb. In this post, i’d like to explain five reasons why your natural hair doesn’t have to be combed often.

Since our hair isn’t straight, it doesn’t need to be combed every day in order to main its aesthetics. Curly and coily hair is happy being coiled up, which is the reason why you might find your hair all coiled up minutes after combing it.  

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How often should you comb your hair?

I’ll recommend just once a month! I’ve gone months without even TOUCHING a comb.

How do I comb my hair without using a comb?

You can do finger detangling, which won’t be as painful, time-consuming and damaging as regular combing.

Five reasons why 4c Natural hair shouldn’t be combed often

1. Regular hair-combing will result in mechanical damage which is an impediment to healthy long hair. 

Because our hair has the tendency to coil up with each other, combing your hair often can result in excessive breakage. So while you may think you’re taking good care of your hair by combing it, you’re actually doing the opposite by damaging it.

2. Since every curly hair has the tendency to curl back up, combing it would be a waste of time.

Unless you intend to wear your hair in a particular style which requires your hair to be perfectly combed out, combing it would be unnecessary. Instead, you can wear curly hairstyles such as a twist out or even a bun. 

3. Combing 4c hair can be painful, particularly if combed dry, which most people tend to do!

Even if your hair is combed the proper way with conditioner and from end to roots, it can still be painful if you’re tender headed. I have a sensitive scalp, so any tugging and pulling can be very painful at times.

4. Combing natural hair takes time!

As you may know by now, your hair can’t be combed the same way you would comb a weave or any other straight hair. In a previous post on Natural hair combing, I listed 5 steps that must be followed to effectively comb 4c hair, so make sure you read it. Unless your hair absolutely must be combed for a particular hairstyle, you can skip this step and move on to styling.

5. 4c hair likes to be KINKY.

Temporarily disrupting the coil pattern in your hair will result in unhappy and tensed tresses. This is why it seems like it’s hard to grow 4c hair. All the excessive force and tension on the hair strands can lead to breakage, which can frustrate hair growth.

Remember, your hair is unique and must be treated with total loving care.