Detangling your hair doesn’t have to be hard. We show you five ways to detangle your hair naturally and the best natural alternatives to conditioner.
Long hair can be beautiful and frustrating at the same time. When you hair gets long, hair care can get more complex and nasty knots can make your life difficult. But there is no need to panic. If you keep a few things in mind, it isn’t hard to detangle your hair naturally.
1. Start From the Bottom to Avoid Bigger Knots
When you want to detangle your hair, start from the bottom and slowly work your way up to the roots. This applies regardless of whether you comb your hair with a brush, a comb or your fingers. By starting from the bottom you make sure that you don’t accidentally comb even tighter knots into your hair. An additional benefit is that you don’t have to pull as hard, which prevents your hair from breaking.
2. Use Your Fingers to Detangle Your Hair Naturally
Combing your hair with your fingers has a lot of benefits. Unlike with a comb, you can directly feel where the knots are and loosen them gently by pulling the tangled hair apart. Using your fingers also stops you from accidentally pulling too hard. Fingers are also gentler on the scalp than a comb or brush will be.
3. Work in Sections to Separate Tangled Sections
Working in sections is especially recommended when your hair is very tousled.
- Start by separating your hair into smaller sections with your fingers. You can even tuck these areas away with a hairband or bandana.
- Proceed section by section detangling your hair.
- Remember to always restart from the bottom when you start on a new section.
4. Use Water to Detangle Your Hair Naturally
It is easier to detangle your hair when it is moist. Unless you want to wash your hair anyway, simply use a spray bottle to spray some water on your hair before you start combing it. The wet hair may be easier to work with.
5. Use Natural Conditioner to Smooth Out Tangles
Conditioner contains nourishing ingredients and will give your hair a silky touch.
- First, wash your hair and dry it off a bit, then apply the conditioner. If the hair is too wet, the conditioner will wash off too quickly and you will not have the desired effect.
- Leave the conditioner on for one to three minutes and then rinse your hair thoroughly.
Tip: You can also comb your hair before rinsing it. This makes it even easier for you to detangle your hair naturally.
Conventional conditioners can contain synthetic ingredients such as mineral oils, silicones, colorings and preservatives. Use an app such as Yuka or ThinkDirty to check if a conditioner contains potentially harmful ingredients. Our article on Leaping Bunny: The Cruelty-Free Label provides you with information about the Leaping Bunny Label, which can help you find conditioners that are produced without the use of animal testing.
6. Use Leave-in Conditioner for a Low-Effort Method
Unlike normal conditioners, leave-in conditioners do not get washed out right away. They make your hair more glossy and detangle it throughout the day. As with normal conditioner, we recommend using organic leave-in conditioners. Use one of the apps mentioned in the section above to check if a leave-in conditioner contains potentially harmful ingredients, and look for the Leaping Bunny label.
7. Use Coconut Oil as a Natural Conditioner
Conventional conditioners usually contain synthetic ingredients and can be quite costly. Fortunately, there are some organic alternatives that help you detangle your hair naturally.
A lot of conventional conditioners contain coconut oil. However, you can also just use it on its own. It will give your hair a soft and silky feel and make it easier to detangle. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature but it will melt when you hold it in your hands. Use only a small amount of it and apply it the same way you would conventional conditioner. You will find more information about this in our article on how to use coconut oil for your hair. You can buy coconut oil in international shops and local supermarkets or order it online (e.g. on Amazon**).
8. Use Natural Oils as Detanglers
Natural oils are a great alternative to conventional conditioners. If you want to use oil to detangle your hair naturally, you have a lot of choice, since every oil has differnet proeperties. For example, grapeseed oil will make your hair smooth and easier to detangle. Check out our article about grapeseed oil to learn more about it. Other natural options for hair include olive oil, babassu oil and flaxseed oil.
9. Make Your Own Conditioner to Detangle Hair Naturally
Homemade conditioners are not only cheaper and more eco-friendly than store-bought conditioners, but also easy and fun to make. You will find all the information you need in our article about three all-natural conditioner recipes.
Read more:
- 4 Ways to Use Shea Butter for Your Hair
- How to Get Soft, Silky, Shiny Hair: 8 Natural Tips
- How to Thicken Hair Naturally
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