Do you need an easy way to comb your 4c natural hair without pain? In this post, I will be sharing step-by-step process on how to comb your natural hair without breakage or pain. This is very crucial for parents with kids who dread combing their kids hair.
If there’s anything to take away from this post, it’s that natural hair should never be combed dry. You should always detangle with conditioner and be very gentle.
I often come across women who tell me they can’t keep their hair in its natural texture because it’s so difficult to comb their natural hair. “Oh, my hair breaks combs” they tell me. Then they ask me “How do you comb your hair?” My response is simple, “I don’t comb my hair” (not unless I absolutely have to, which isn’t often).
I mean are you kidding me? You expect me to wake up every day and try to fight a comb through this hair? No way! Not unless I want to go bald!
So you don’t comb your hair at all?
I remember I never combed my hair dry when it was in a TWA (teeny weeny afro), I co-washed few times a week and then applied a leave-in conditioner prior to combing. On days that I don’t wash my hair, I would simply spritz it with water, apply a leave-in conditoner and then comb. To me, this was the only reasonable way to glide a comb through my hair without experiencing pain.
Also consider reading this post “Five Reasons Why Your Natural Hair Should Not be Combed Often” and 3 Stages When You Can Detangle Your Natural Hair
How to really comb your natural hair without pain
Many black women are used to applying just any type of grease on their dry hair prior to combing because they believe it makes their hair softer and easier to comb. I used to do this method and the only result I got was an oily and dry head of hair!
So, if you are tired of fighting a comb through your hair and want to decrease breakage and eliminate pain, make sure to practice these 5 steps.
Tools Needed: Spray Bottle, Wide Tooth Comb
Products Needed: Moisturizing Conditioner
1) Wet your hair in the shower and then apply a moisturizing conditioner.
2) Allow some minutes for the conditioner to work its way through each strand, then comb (using a large tooth comb) the conditioner through your hair in small sections, starting from the ends to the roots.
3) Rinse out the conditioner, wring out excess water in your hair and let it dry to about 50-60%, be sure water isn’t dripping from your hair
4) Apply a leave-in conditioner and then seal this in with a hair butter or oil
5) Now you can comb your hair using a large tooth comb. Make sure to take your time and comb in smaller sections starting from the ends to the roots.
6) Then style as you wish
Bonus Tip: I find that combing stretched hair is easier than combing shrunken hair. So you can choose to twist or plait your hair after step 4, then take down the style when your hair is almost dry and comb with a large tooth comb.
Why do I have to comb my hair twice?
The first step is to work the conditioner into your hair and to detangle your hair while the second step is to give you a polished and smooth look while also stretching your hair. Water shrinks the hair and gathers the hair strands into small clumped sections. So a second comb will separate these strands and lift the coils up a bit more to create a fuller afro.
If you don’t want to go through the excess steps, you can simply spray your hair with a leave-in conditioner and comb in small sections, like this video below by Sola of DiscoveringNatural.
Tip: Reduce combing if you can
As I mentioned earlier, frequent combing can be damaging to your hair and will reduce length retention, and so I would strongly advice putting the comb down a few times a week. Instead, you can opt for comb-free and curl/coil friendly hairstyles such as comb twists, twist outs, braids, kinky twists, crotchet, cornrows or weave.
Does your head hurt when you comb your hair? How do you reduce pain and breakage when detangling? Leave a comment below to let me know!