Jim’s Got A Problem:
Here’s my problem. I’m an “older” male who has kept his long hair. Now that I’m left with only about 26,000 hairs!! it’s still long, curly … and once I spend 20 minutes in the shower with a ton of conditioner, looks great.
My hair is SO tangly that virtually every hair I have tangles with every other hair. After gobs of conditioner and 20 minutes in the shower separating every hair from every other hair – 2 days later it’s a tangled mess again. I stopped using any shampoo or soap or anything (except conditioner) a long time ago. I’ve never coloured my hair or used any chemicals on it.
So – what’s the most powerful, de-tangler you know of? I’d be prepared to use some spray on Teflon cookware product it that meant not having to slowly, slowly (from the bottom up naturally) separate every hair with tons of conditioner! Please help this super tangled guy!
The Right Brain Responds:
Jim, as always it’s a pleasure to hear from our male readers. We just wish there was more we could do to help you.
What Makes Hair So Tangly?
It’s possible that you have a medical condition that can cause hair to become excessively tangled. It’s called Uncombable Hair Syndrome and it occurs when your hair shaft is more triangular than cylindrical. Without examining your hair, it’s difficult to determine what your condition really is.
Would A Homemade Moisturizer Help?
Probably not, homemade products just aren’t that powerful. There are plenty of good conditioners that should be sufficient to detangle “normal” hair. Pantene is a great product because it combines fatty alcohols and silicones in a very slippery formula. If you haven’t tried that product, you might give it a shot. You might also try using a wide tooth pick in the shower to work the conditioner through your wet hair. Finally, you might also consider using a leave in conditioner in your hair at night to reducing tangling while you toss and turn in your sleep.
You’ve probably heard some of this advice in the long hair forums, but we hope some of this info helps. Please write back and let The Beauty Brains know how this works out for you.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
No shampoo or soap? Eeww. Um, maybe it’s the accumulation of crud that’s tangling your hair? Anyway, use some shampoo, detangle with Aussie Knot Forgotten, which will detangle anything, use a scrunchie to pull back your hair while you sleep, comb out GENTLY from the bottom up every day.
If you are washing, don’t use soap. If can leave a film on your hair that makes it harder to comb. A good shampoo will work much better. But of course the conditioner if the real key. The Aussie product Edie mentioned is made by P&G, the same company that makes the Pantene product we recommended.
You’ve probably already heard about this, Jim, but try sleeping on silk pillowcases instead of cotton… the smoother fabric supposedly makes it less likely for hairs to tangle while you sleep. An added bonus might be a bedmate that thouroughly appreciates the “thoughtful” luxury!
This isn’t the most masculine look…but have you considered putting your hair up in a pony tail before going to bed? This is a trick a lot of curly haired girls do to try to keep the tangles to a minimum in addition to using silk pillowcases. good luck!
To EdieK: There’s quite a few people who don’t use shampoo or soap on their hair on the Long Hair Community forums, and instead use conditioner on their scalp for cleaning. It works pretty well for me when I use something very basic like VO5.
About the tangling… My hair doesn’t normally tangle (lucky me!), but it will tangle at the end of the day if I kept my hair down. I braid my hair very often, so maybe that’ll help with the tangles? Also, try using a little bit of oil or silicone to add “slip” to your hair so it doesn’t tangle so much.
When I was an E.R. intern (& studying full time), I barely (or didn’t) have time to brush my hair. Seriously, once I washed my hair on Tuesday, put it up on Wednesday, Thursday& Friday when I finally had my day off, ignored it, so that on Saturday I had knots all over.
Best of luck, man
I mean, it looked like suddenly I had taken Bob Marley as my style icon, and I’m freaking English!
I had to have the kind and loving help of my partner, for HOURS. And it would usually happen all over again the next week.
Thanks to my wonderful daughter,
I have found the detangler you get for kids by Sauve or Loreal works very well. It is the grape liquid detangler to use in the shower, not the spray in kind. The spray in detangler I do use afterward sometimes and the two together do help.
as a stylist and a cosmetology teacher, i’d love to tangle your hair for recommending pantene. Shame on you! From square one in beauty school, every hairdresser has been taught that you stay away from the 3 “P”s: pantene, pert, and prell. the first one is essentially floor wax, and the other 2 will strip the wax off your floors. while pantene may leave your hair feeling silky and smooth, it’s coating the cuticle with that wax. for people who color or perm their hair, this will make it extremely hard for the chemicals to take since it has to penetrate through all that gunk. it will also make it worse for you when and if you do ever shampoo again, as regular shampoo will make you feel in worse condition by comparison. as far as a true-blue conditioner goes, the greasiest, grimest mayo that you would never ever eat in your life makes a great conditioner. it’s not as bad as it sounds, but miracle whip will not work. the satin/silk pillowcases and picks and wide-tooth combs are great ideas, but here’s a remedy that i heard right out of school, tried myself and was happy with: if you have hard water or any kind of buildup, try mixing 1/4 cup white vinegar (any other kind and you’ll smell like a salad but it’ll still work) to 1 cup warm water, use after the shampoo and before the conditioner. i don’t know what the mechanics are behind why it works, but it seems to work pretty well. i recommend this to parents with kids who have oodles of tangles and i’ve never had a bad report.
but NO PANTENE! =)
Hi Liz, thanks for your comment. Can you please explain one thing to me?
When Pantene is tested on a blind basis (in just a bottle labeled “conditioner” and compared to other products (”regular” conditioners as well as salon products) Pantene ALWAYS outscores the other products. We’re talking large scale tests conducted with hundreds of women across the county (and sometimes in OTHER countries). Over the last 15 years or so we’ve been involved in close to a dozen tests like this and it comes back the same way every time.
If Pantene is “floor wax” as you put it, WHY DO WOMEN LOVE IT? (And please don’t result to the argument we’ve heard before that “women like it because it makes their hair “feel” healthy even though it’s really bad for your hair.” That is just pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo.)
As you know if you’re a regular reader of our blog, we stick to the facts and the facts are, Pantene is one of the best conditioners on the market for most people because testing shows that consumer prefer it. That’s our proof. What proof do YOU have that Pantene is like floor wax?
Great tip about the silk pillowcases I don’t have to detangle my hair any more when I get up, but you need a soft silk I was recommended to buy silk charmeuse
I would just like to say that the reason women prefer Pantene® is because it does EXACTLY what the manufacturer (Soap Giant P&G) formulated it to do: Make damaged hair look and feel healthy and shiny. Does this make it a ‘Good’ Product? I suppose that depends on your point of view. (I equate this with smearing ‘Make-up’ on a bad skin problem) My main problem with Pantene® and similar product(s) is that they don’t really fix any hair problems and they can prevent the even penetration of haircolors and perm solutions. All the while touting those “Pro-Vitamins” which are in too small an amount to be effective.- That “Silicone Wax” is what does all the conditioning. Also the product is so effective at “Sealing-Out” frizz-making, style-killing moisture that eventually, the hair becomes ‘Silicone-Locked’. The hair CAN’T absorb enough moisture even during shampooing, to restore its flexibility. The hair is still ‘Smooth and Shiny’ – Just STIFF, smooth and shiny. And will eventually begin breaking off during Heat Styling and brushing. (Seen as ‘Shedding’) This may take months or years but it does happen. And many people like myself, get ‘Scalp Eruptions’ (Pimples) from these products and most can’t seem to find the cause. Again, just because the general public likes or prefers something does NOT make it a good thing – many people like ‘Caviar”Shellfish’ ‘Champagne’ ‘Pâté de foie gras’ and ‘Veal’ that is their choice – But I find these thing disgusting, immoral and very bad for your health.
What hair products really do “fix hair problems”?
There are many. Starting with The Hair Fixer® by L’Oreal which uses a two-part system of a tablet mixed with a lotion that forms bonds inside the hair to restore strength and mend damage and can even ‘mend’ split ends long enough to be cut off during the normal course of hair cuts. Redken’s ‘CAT’protien treatment which forms salt bonds within the hair to restore strength and stop breaking and splitting. Matrix® Biolage ForteThérapie Cera-Repair treatments which use a combo of natural ingredients including ceramide to smooth and strengthen the hair and cuticle causing the cuticle to become naturally smooth and tangle-free. KMS® Liquid Assets™ which uses a combination of protein polypeptides, natural lipids, vitamins and other natural ingredients to restore dry, damaged hair to a healthy state including causing the cuticle layer itself to become smoother and lay flatter against the shaft to reduce or eliminate tangling. Which I believe is superior to simply”Coating” the hair with silicone. I could name many others including some “Drugstore” brands.
While the L’Oreal might be called Hair Fixer, it certainly isn’t doing any real repair work. In fact, the product you reference contains silicones (simethicone, amodimethicone). The amino acids are just a gimmick that don’t actually reinforce the hair’s structure or strength.
Redken Cat treatment is more hair care gimmicks that don’t do anything special. While taurine, argenine & lysine are important amino acids they don’t work as Redken says. Putting amino acids on hair to rebuild it is like pouring thread on a hole in your favorite blouse and expecting it to be fixed. It doesn’t work that way.
The rest of the products you named are also just gimmicks to dress up standard formulas. None of the ingredients you mentioned including vitamins, ceramides, etc. have ever been shown to have any superior benefit on hair.
You undoubtedly know which formulas you’ve used and had great success with and your opinion on such matters is helpful. However, you seem to have learned all your science about why things work from the marketing departments of these salon brands. Having worked on the formulating side of this business, I know that the marketing departments rarely let the truth get in the way of the story they want to tell.
No hair care product actually repairs hair problems. They are all temporary fixes.
Talking to people as if they are just a bunch of “Empty Headed Idiots” who’s sole education has been poured into their brains through marketing hype is a very poor way to run a website.
I’m so sorry you took offense Jim. None was intended. I just wanted to encourage you to question the things you might think you know.
You say that these products work in a certain way (forming bonds, mending split ends, etc.) but yet provide no supporting prove beyond what the marketing departments of these companies say. If you could point to some study or other bit of science that supports it, I would love to learn more.
I’ve just been jaded by the things that I’ve heard in this industry and get a little sensitive/frustrated when people try to push things that I have researched and know aren’t true.
It is not meant as any slight to you or your professional abilities. As I said, I’m certain you know what products work well. I’m just skeptical of your explanations why.
jonathan i love you
Great blog, homemade remedies are not a solution to very tangled/matted hair. Tangled hair is such a big problem in the hair care industry.
There is a product on the market called the Take Down Remover Cream. It removes dreadlocks,but it works well with very matted/tangled hair. Dreadlocks are just long strands of uncombed matted hair .
We are so fustrated with the downplayed issue of Tangled Hair with kids, men, parents, longterm care patients, and women. We provide the service of detangling and advice-but it is not enough.
Infact, Pet owners have the same problems with matted pet fur
Tangled hair should be taken seriously. Most hairdressers just want to cut the hair when it is serverly matted or tangled. We are trying to save hair.
We get distress calls and emails from people all over the world. They tell us that their dear hairdressers just want to cut their hair off. Mothers don’t know what to do with their daughters matted hair-that is getting worse by the day. People healing from longterm hostpital stays have the same problems with their hair.
Education on Tangled Hair Issues are needed dearly.
Technically there is nothing that can “fix” your hair once it has grown out of your scalp. All the products on the market and all the home remedies do the same thing: make the best of the problem you have already grown out of your head. Prolonged use of any product will bring out the worst in it. Use what works to make your hair as managable as you can, and then when it isn’t “wow”ing you anymore, switch. In the mean time, take on a diet rich in iron, protien, vitamine E, amino acids, et cetera. Your hair will begin to grow out healthier and in 5 years or so (for medium length hair) you will have great hair (and nails!).
I personally rotate between home remedies, drug store brands, and high end hair products. All have their benefits, and all have their downsides. I just don’t use any one of them for more than a few months at a time. I am currently using a moisturizing conditioner from Bath and Bodyworks (i didn’t even know they carried it…) I LOVE it for detangling, and it smells like vanilla, nice bonus. When the bottle is gone, I plan to switch to aveeno, which i recently used a sample of and thought was very useful.
I see this is an old post, but if i found it, maybe someone else will stumble on it, too.