(natural)Beyond BSL -only finger combing

[Bublin]

Nah, been there done that and got the breakage and weeks of shed hair caught up in my hair to prove it.
Only a comb can completely remove my shed hair and throughly detangle.

I think only certain hair types can get away with this and i know mine is not it.

 

[hair4romheaven]

4a/b medium/thick strands here & I haven't combed my hair in almost 2 years. Works for me. I don't have an abundance of tangles or knots. I keep my hair stretched though.
Eta. I think I'm about an inch or less from bsl.

 

[Bublin]

@Krystle~Hime, I know I sound like a Grinch but remember Sylver is relaxed and Flowerhair has type 3 hair. So keep that in mind. I think MissAlinaRose or the YT she suggested might offer you better direction. Part of the reason folks end up giving up on natural hair is they confuse what can be done with their texture and coil size with what they see others do. So take notes and then try the suggestions keeping in mind the differences in your hair and theirs so you don't get frustrated. I mean @FlowerHair even says she knows she leaves tangles behind but doesn't sweat them. I wouldn't think with her hair, that's something that would be easy to ignore. I'm also sure if she wanted to loc her hair, hers would take longer to loc than mine. So while she may be able to leave some and life goes on, you may find that may mean you just accept to have locs in between loose strands for type 4 hair.

In short, keep an open mind and don't just assume that if it works for people with different hair it will work for you too.

................

 

[southerncitygirl]

i say if it ain'tr broke don't fix it.....i'm a cottony 3c/4a and comb weekly on wash day with a leave-in...if i went any longer than that i'd look straight rasta fo real. my weekly style of choice is twistouts.

 

[curlyninjagirl]

Great question! I just hit BSB and I was wondering this very same thing. I, too, only brush about 3 or 4 times a year and finger comb the rest of the time. I guess I'll stick with it!

 

[Krystle~Hime]

Nonie, Yes ma'am, I was just asking if it's possible to have bsl and beyond hair and still not using a comb. but not asking if it's good to not using one or if it's possible for a 4b to not using one or ..

It's been a year (since october '10 for being more precise) that I hadn't use one with success.
and no I don't have some locs between some loose strands I mean.. i'm not blind, i'm not gonna :covereyes if a thing is weird or seems to not working..

 

[MissAlinaRose]

Nonie I totally understand what you are saying completely. Earlier in my journey I would do exactly what you described. However, I tried the fingercombing thing and it worked. And, I know it has worked for me because when I go to separate my hair or twist/style it, it pulls right apart, there are no massive tangling, and (if I wanted "curlier" ends) I could run a denman d3 on it without any snags/breakage. Granted I don't use it all the time, but it's just an example.

I just think it is another one of those subjects where one's technique staples may be another's disaster.

 

[Renewed1]

3b and beyond hair here. The only time I was able to avoid the comb was up to EL hair (I started bald). After that, I HAD to comb my hair or I would tangle viciously!!

But do what works for you, there is no right or wrong way.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie, Yes ma'am, I was just asking if it's possible to have bsl and beyond hair and still not using a comb. but not asking if it's good to not using one or if it's possible for a 4b to not using one or ..

It's been a year (since october '10 for being more precise) that I hadn't use one with success.
and no I don't have some locs between some loose strands I mean.. i'm not blind, i'm not gonna :covereyes if a thing is weird or seems to not working..

Oh I beg your pardon then Krystle~Hime I was under the impression you didn't know and that's why you asked and that you were interested in knowing if your hair can do that--since you implied you were asking to see if you continue doing this after the success you had. Also I didn't realize you were already BSL so that you are sure it works for 4B BSL. My bad.

Carry on then. Sorry I intruded with my nonsense when you had it all sorted.

The hell?

 

[Krystle~Hime]

Oh I beg your pardon then Krystle~Hime I was under the impression you didn't know and that's why you asked and that you were interested in knowing if your hair can do that--since you implied you were asking to see if you continue doing this after the success you had. Also I didn't realize you were already BSL so that you are sure it works for 4B BSL. My bad.

Carry on then. Sorry I intruded with my nonsense when you had it all sorted.

The hell?

is this.. ironic(i think one day i told you english is not my mother tongue, so.. I can't notice overtone.. ) because i'm not BSL...

In the original post i've said that, that I haven't used a comb for one year now and that i'm totally happy with this.
it's just that I've recently watched vids of Sera, and when she said that she.. i'm just repeatiting myself.. I was just wondering if it's a thing that I will still be able to do once I will pass BSL..

sorry for disturbing y'all next time I won't opening a thread.

 

[Bublin]

Krystle~Hime you seem to have had great success with finger combing for a whole year so my guess is that you would have continued success with it. Keep doing what you are doing.

 

[Krystle~Hime]

Bublin that's what I will do, and if one day it won't work anymore, i will just change the technique.
next time I will just post in the "random thoughts". thanks Nonie, MissAlinaRose and others that gave their testimonials.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie, Yes ma'am, I was just asking if it's possible to have bsl and beyond hair and still not using a comb. but not asking if it's good to not using one or if it's possible for a 4b to not using one or ..

It's been a year (since october '10 for being more precise) that I hadn't use one with success.
and no I don't have some locs between some loose strands I mean.. i'm not blind, i'm not gonna :covereyes if a thing is weird or seems to not working..

is this.. ironic(i think one day i told you english is not my mother tongue, so.. I can't notice overtone.. ) because i'm not BSL...

In the original post i've said that, that I haven't used a comb for one year now and that i'm totally happy with this.
it's just that I've recently watched vids of Sera, and when she said that she.. i'm just repeatiting myself.. I was just wondering if it's a thing that I will still be able to do once I will pass BSL..

sorry for disturbing y'all next time I won't opening a thread.

OK, I humbly apologize because the tone you came back with me at may have been a misunderstanding due to stuff being lost in translation. So I'm sorry I got testy.

I do know you're not at BSL...which is why I was trying to be helpful and suggest that it's good to hear all BSL stories but if you're doing research for yourself, do keep an open mind. I wasn't telling you it cannot be done. I just saw you get excited coz relaxed hair and type 3C hair that are beyond WL can do this...and if I didn't care, I could've just let you assume life will be that easy for you too.

I don't know if Mwedzi or Sera have posted but I'd love to know if they could go a year without ever combing their hair. In other words, if I were the one asking this question, while it's very encouraging to hear from everyone--especially because all tips can be helpful--I'd also be more interested in people with my hair type. So that's all I was trying to tell you.

I wasn't being mean in my suggestion that you have different hair--unless you get touchy about not having hair like others, in which case, I'm sorry as I wasn't aware or would not have gone there. I was just trying to be as helpful as I always am. So when you posted "It's been a year (since october '10 for being more precise) that I hadn't use one with success. and no I don't have some locs between some loose strands I mean.. i'm not blind, i'm not gonna :covereyes if a thing is weird or seems to not working...", the way I read it it sounded like you didn't appreciate my last post because you felt the need to tell me that you're not so crazy as to ignore mats. Plus I didn't understand why you felt the need to tell me how successful you've been so far with emphasis as if what I was sharing was just wasting your time since you had it all sorted. (At least that's how it came off to me.)

I never assumed you'd be so irresponsible as to allow locs to be in your hair...but I do know that while Flowerhair may ignore a few tangles and then one day apply conditioner and let it marinate and the hairs just slide out with ease, in our case (type 4 folks), it'd be as hard as undoing locs. So I was throwing that info out there so that you can PREVENT this, instead of waiting till the weird thing happens and then you need help or have to cut your hair.

Sometimes it's harder to fix problems and sometimes they cannot be fixed. I have been on this forum for so long and seen people heartbroken because of trying something that someone else did and it messes their hair...when had someone cared enough to point out the differences in their hairs, they would have avoided the heartache.

So forgive me for snapping. I let it slip that perhaps my post may not translate as kindly as I meant for it to be and likewise, maybe yours didn't either and you were not at all writing from a point of irritation.

I'm extending an olive branch and asking you forgive my flying off the handle and not considering the language barrier. But I will not hold it against you if you're not interested. I am still really sorry.

 

[ajoke]

I am not Bsl ,more like SL- APL 4a, but I have drastically cut down on the amount of combing I do. If you have the right technique and it works for you, go ahead Krystle~Hime . Never stop a running system.

 

[hair4romheaven]

Op it can be done. My stylist is wl & doesnt comb either. Just monitor your hair in the process.

 

[Bublin]

Krystle~Hime please post/ask a question however you please. I often start threads that are actually a random thought. At least your thread got some love, mine often get zero response lol.

 

[Krystle~Hime]

Nonie

I wasn't telling you it cannot be done.

it's because it sounded like that I didn't understand your approach. because I don't have a problem with the fact that you can not imagine some 4b hair not detangling with a comb, but you insisted so much on how hair can not be properly detangle etc and on how I may have some "locs between loose strands" that's why i've said " i'm not blind I won't cover my eyes if it will become a disaster and not working" Sorry if I sounded rude saying that

I didn't know the girl was relaxed(i haven't even look at the avi), when manter26 shared links, I automatically thought it will be testimonials from naturals because in the title i've specified that I wanted reviews from naturals girls. Now I know I look stupid

I've repeated that this technique was succesful for me because yourself you said again and you wanted to detailed on why you won't consider your hair combed if we(with missalinarose) do the way we did.

Sometimes it's harder to fix problems and sometimes they cannot be fixed. I have been on this forum for so long and seen people heartbroken because of trying something that someone else did and it messes their hair...when had someone cared enough to point out the differences in their hairs, they would have avoided the heartache.

when I started giving up comb I thought I was the only one doing this. I wasn't even trying to copy someone else's regimen. but I totally understand.-, if one day for length reasons it stops working, I will stop doing this technique. but it's because i'm so happy to have found something that work for me, even on a long term Combing my hair make my scalp feeling sore and it's very unpleasant. so I will be sad if I will have to change that.

So I was throwing that info out there so that you can PREVENT this,

and I didn't thank you
in any case I will see with this new year coming if I will be able to continue this way or not.

 

[coyacoy]

is this.. ironic(i think one day i told you english is not my mother tongue, so.. I can't notice overtone.. ) because i'm not BSL...

In the original post i've said that, that I haven't used a comb for one year now and that i'm totally happy with this.
it's just that I've recently watched vids of Sera, and when she said that she.. i'm just repeatiting myself.. I was just wondering if it's a thing that I will still be able to do once I will pass BSL..

sorry for disturbing y'all next time I won't opening a thread.

Krystle-hime ...u post whatever u want girlfriend ...one opinion doesn't represent all!

Sent from my DROID3 using DROID3

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie it's because it sounded like that I didn't understand your approach. because I don't have a problem with the fact that you can not imagine some 4b hair not detangling with a comb, but you insisted so much on how hair can not be properly detangle etc and on how I may have some "locs between loose strands" that's why i've said " i'm not blind I won't cover my eyes if it will become a disaster and not working" Sorry if I sounded rude saying that

I didn't know the girl was relaxed(i haven't even look at the avi), when manter26 shared links, I automatically thought it will be testimonials from naturals because in the title i've specified that I wanted reviews from naturals girls. Now I know I look stupid

I've repeated that this technique was succesful for me because yourself you said again and you wanted to detailed on why you won't consider your hair combed if we(with missalinarose) do the way we did.


when I started giving up comb I thought I was the only one doing this. I wasn't even trying to copy someone else's regimen. but I totally understand.-, if one day for length reasons it stops working, I will stop doing this technique. but it's because i'm so happy to have found something that work for me, even on a long term Combing my hair make my scalp feeling sore and it's very unpleasant. so I will be sad if I will have to change that.

and I didn't thank you
in any case I will see with this new year coming if I will be able to continue this way or not.

Krystle~Hime, I totally understand , and I will try to remember next time to be clearer and also to ask for clarification before jumping to conclusions. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[AimWard]

@AimWard what help you the most to avoid the use of a comb ?(a product or something else..) I know we don't have the same hair texture but I think if you can still do it at WL, it's very great

@Krystle~Hime
It's a combo of the conditioners I use (and how I use them) and what I do to my hair when I go to bed.

I saturate my soaking wet hair with LOTS of slippery conditioner (I divide my hair into 8 or 10 sections prior to detangling). And when I say lots of conditioner I mean LOTS. I generally get 3 uses out of an 8 oz. bottle of conditioner but being heavy handed is what makes the tangles and shed hairs literally slip out. My hair will lock and get matted from time to time and I can easily (though it takes some time and patience) get those out without a comb as well.

I also twist my hair (4 big twists) and wrap with a satin scarf at night for bed. This keeps my hair from getting tangled and matted. In the morning I just take the twists out and fluff.

When I think about it, I really do the same exact things I used to do when I used combs/brushes on my hair. The only difference is when I used combs they would shred/break my ends and couldn't really feel it happening (but when I looked on the floor, tiny broken hairs were everywhere). When using my fingers, I can feel when I'm about to break my hair. I instantly know when to back down and not be so aggressive with a tangle. I hope that makes sense...

 

[MissAlinaRose]

@Krystle~Hime
and what I do to my hair when I go to bed.

I saturate my soaking wet hair with LOTS of slippery conditioner (I divide my hair into 8 or 10 sections prior to detangling). And when I say lots of conditioner I mean LOTS. I generally get 3 uses out of an 8 oz. bottle of conditioner but being heavy handed is what makes the tangles and shed hairs literally slip out. My hair will lock and get matted from time to time and I can easily (though it takes some time and patience) get those out without a comb as well.

I also twist my hair (4 big twists) and wrap with a satin scarf at night for bed. This keeps my hair from getting tangled and matted. In the morning I just take the twists out and fluff.

When I think about it, I really do the same exact things I used to do when I used combs/brushes on my hair. The only difference is when I used combs they would shred/break my ends and couldn't really feel it happening (but when I looked on the floor, tiny broken hairs were everywhere). When using my fingers, I can feel when I'm about to break my hair. I instantly know when to back down and not be so aggressive with a tangle. I hope that makes sense...

The bolded is my experience to a T!!

 

[NappyNelle]

Krystle~Hime please post/ask a question however you please. I often start threads that are actually a random thought. At least your thread got some love, mine often get zero response lol.

Bublin You better start your threads! I'll respond.

AimWard MissAlinaRose Krystle~Hime I think our success with finger combing also has a lot to do with the quality of products and our primary styling choices. Generally, we are keeping our hair moisturized and stretched during the day, and taking care to keep our hair stretched in the evening. If we're not allowing tangles to develop, there's less work to do.

I also noticed when I started steaming that the major fairy knots 'fell' out of my hair. I do have to be careful when I'm taking down twists (or preparing to wash a braid out) to not create knots by being impatient and ripping through my hair.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie I totally understand what you are saying completely. Earlier in my journey I would do exactly what you described. However, I tried the fingercombing thing and it worked. And, I know it has worked for me because when I go to separate my hair or twist/style it, it pulls right apart, there are no massive tangling, and (if I wanted "curlier" ends) I could run a denman d3 on it without any snags/breakage. Granted I don't use it all the time, but it's just an example.

I just think it is another one of those subjects where one's technique staples may be another's disaster.

MissAlinaRose, if ever I tire of my method, I will travel to where you are so you can show me. Do you have fine hair too? I don't like using brushes though, so I suppose my comb could work in lieu of Denman right? Otherwise this method is just out of my league.

So you gonn' be there to demonstrate hands on if I can find you should I ever need to try this? I'm not kidding. It sounds so foreign to me that I'd love to see it done.

Some other questions, is your shrinkage as crazy as mine? Also do you have fine or course strands? I didn't even notice if you had an album but I might just go snooping if you do.

 

[Naturel]

I may include this in my 2012 challenges. I know it's possible! I big chopped 3 times due to damages. During the first two BCs hair care; I always combed my hair. I was thinking it's impossible to not use a comb. Since the last BC, it's been two years I only comb to detangle on wash day; that's it; and my hair is doing so much better Thank you Krystle~Hime for this thread.

 

[FlowerHair]

I saw my name mentioned...

Finger combing works for me, but I have very thick strands that don't tangle as much as thinner strands. I think that's part of the reason why it works so well for me.

Right now I'm losing a ton of hair though, due to postpartum shedding Boohoo!!

 

[Bublin]

Double post!

 

[Bublin]

AimWard thank you in advance!
NappyNelle what conditioners do you use that give great slip? Cheapies like Tresseme don't give me slip. I love Keracare Humecto but thats too expensive to use great quanities of.

 

[ajoke]

Bublin, surprisingly, I find that Tresseme naturals, the green bottle gives me a lot of slip. I got a bottle the last time I was in London. To be honest, right now the only thing I'm sure of is that I have fine hair and some sort of type 4 hair. The no combing method works well for me.
Nonie, I think because you stay on top of your trims, and generally keep your hair stretched, you'd be able to successfully pull off finger. I find the only times I have issues with finger combing is if my ends are shot.

 

[NappyNelle]

Bublin I think the products I used are really expensive in the UK. I fell in love with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose and GPB; and Giovanni Smooth as Silk. Moisture + protein has saved my hair.

 

[Krystle~Hime]

AimWard MissAlinaRose
i think we are okay to say that saturating hair with condish is very important for that ! but i'm so shocked Aimward ! only 3 uses of a 8oz bottle ? maybe that's a lil preview of how dealing with WL is !
my favorite condish for detangling is the banana conditioner by The body Shop, but i've found that every condish that contains BTMS and cetrimonium chloride are excellent, like the "garnier fructis triple nutrition" one
even by just adding Cetrimonium(a tablespoon)in my ayurvedic paste, it's awesome, I let the indian mask on my hair overnight and when I rinse, knots are melting after that when I use my condish for detangling, it's just an ease
NappyNelle i totally agree, I use flaxseed gel(even if it doesn't provide an hard hold) for putting my hair in twists and even if my hair have shrinked by daily moisturizing, after 2 weeks i just have to seperate my twists and there aren't so much knots. (that's why i loved being in the twists challenge !! ) so trying to keep hair stretched and styled also help a lot.