Dee's No Comb No Brush CHALLENGING Challenge

**deecoily** · 06-06-2013, 05:25 AM

See the article about this new challenge here:

NO COMB CHALLENGE

Going back to natural is a journey. For those of us nappy veterans who have been natural for a decade or more (like me) finding out new things, learning new things about our natural hair can still amaze us just like it did we first went back.

For a few months, I have been overwhelmed with work. Far too much work for one person but work I needed to do for my job. It meant my natural hair styling took a back seat. I wore ponytails, puffs, single braids... etc during this hump. Styles that didn’t require daily maintenance but dangerous styles for me to wear day in day out. Combing, brushing, elastics and dense tangles and breakage ensued... I paid a heavy price for that laziness. It took a week to get all the tangles out, I lost a lot of hair out of my tender scalp in the process and a month ago I had to cut 6 inches of damaged ends and broken off hair off.
This is the start of my complete 180 regarding combs and brushes. Since that date I have not used a comb or a brush. No, I am not kidding. Not once. And my hair has thanked me for it. I have come to the conclusion that combs, brushes, picks etc are not friends of my natural hair. Here's why:

My hair breaks easily. It is very dense but fine.
My hair wants to wave up on the top and coil up at the ends. This means it will clump up and wrap around itself. I am not fighting that.
When my hair fights the comb, my hair always loses.

So, this is my routine.

1. When it is time to detangle/restyle without shampooing, I thoroughly wet my hair under a running shower.

2. With the water running through it, I grab a section of my hair with one hand and gently pull apart the clumped coiled sections of hair.

3. At the same time, I detangle the ends by dragging my fingers through my hair, taking out the shed hair as I go. I do this all around my head.

4. After the ends are done, I drag my fingers through my hair in sections, from scalp to ends, removing shed hair and working through any major clumps. This only takes a minute or so.

5. Then put conditioner on, work it through each section of hair, through the coils and leave in as long as I need to.

6. Rinse out conditioner while working fingers through hair from scalp to ends.

7. Squeeze excess water out of ends. Do not shake head (this will create tangles)

8. Use a super absorbent hair towel to squeeze water from ends then place on head and press (do not rub) to absorb water from head.

9. Apply leave-in, stying mousse/cream from scalp to ends, gently separating clumps/coils that naturally form.

Style as required.

For shampoo days, shampoo apply shampoo before conditioning stage, being careful to get to the scalp but not rubbing up and down and adding to tangles.

I can twist it at this stage or coil it around my fingers to make it look like locs. But I do not use any kind of styling tool – just my fingers.

When my hair is thoroughly dry, it shrinks up and clumps into coils and its own sections. It holds its form until the next wet session.

I may use a light conditioning spray between wetting sessions, depending on the weather and the style I am wearing my hair in.

This works for me, it may or may not work for you. But you may want to give it a try. Post your experiences here and I will try to help you out if you want to try this challenging challenge!

~Dee~

**deecoily** · 06-06-2013, 06:31 AM

My damp hair after a conditioning session, towel dried, before styling product. About as natural as it gets!

**LBellatrix** · 06-06-2013, 12:51 PM

Your hair is GORG but you already know that...

I've been no-tools for a while now BUT I did use a comb this past April when I was transitioning from one style to another. I had already finger-detangled as much as possible and slathered it in conditioner but I still ended up giving myself a free trim for the most part.

For those who decide to take on the challenge, I have two suggestions:
1. AVJ is my friend. My DEAR dear friend.

Add it to conditioner or leave-in for extra slip.
2. Unless you have the patience of Job, you're not going to get all the shed hair out in a single sit-down. I find that even after spending an hour or so finger-detangling, I'll still see hair coming out during washing and styling. It hasn't seemed to do much harm though so while it's good to be thorough, you don't have to be perfect.

**CCmomof5** · 06-07-2013, 05:31 PM

I am seriously considering joining this challenge. My main hesitation is due to the fact that when I tried only finger detangling before (for several months), I never felt like the job was really done. But having just read this:

Originally Posted by LBellatrix

Unless you have the patience of Job, you're not going to get all the shed hair out in a single sit-down. I find that even after spending an hour or so finger-detangling, I'll still see hair coming out during washing and styling. It hasn't seemed to do much harm though so while it's good to be thorough, you don't have to be perfect.

...I'm thinking that I should just accept the challenge

. However, I haven't tried detangling in the shower in years, mostly because it typically takes me so long that I use all the hot water before I'm done. PLUS my hair sheds so much that I can't catch it all in the shower, and we end up with a very clogged shower drain.

Any suggestions on how to minimize the time factor and the clogging of the drain?

**OHR** · 06-07-2013, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by CCmomof5

Any suggestions on how to minimize the time factor and the clogging of the drain?

Try one of these in the tub. I have all 3

**deecoily** · 06-08-2013, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by CCmomof5

I am seriously considering joining this challenge. My main hesitation is due to the fact that when I tried only finger detangling before (for several months), I never felt like the job was really done. But having just read this:

...I'm thinking that I should just accept the challenge

. However, I haven't tried detangling in the shower in years, mostly because it typically takes me so long that I use all the hot water before I'm done. PLUS my hair sheds so much that I can't catch it all in the shower, and we end up with a very clogged shower drain.

Any suggestions on how to minimize the time factor and the clogging of the drain?

You can pre-condish. I am going to try this when my new supply comes in

. I am using Tigi Curlesque Hydrating Conditioner and it specifically says it can be used as a pre-poo. So if I pre-poo, it will take less time to detangle and use less water too. I am on rainwater tanks so I am always mindful of the amount of water I use.

I catch most of the shed hair in my fingers so it doesn't end up on the shower floor. I get about a half a palm full if I detangle every few days. Any longer and I end up with a fist full of hair. I shed a lot too. I have noticed that most of the hair I shed is properly shed hair and not broken off hair.

Also I don't pay too much attention to the shed hair that ends up in balls at the end of my strands. I cut these off when I style later on. In the shower I only deal with the hair that comes out when I drag my fingers through.

**hivierhair** · 06-06-2013, 05:32 PM

I will definitely join! I have been finger detangling and for the most part I have seen a lot of length retention from avoiding tools. Lately I have been tempted to return to combs, but this challenge may help give me the resolve I need to stay strong. Thank you for the tips, I will incorporate them next wash day!

**Mikalia42** · 06-06-2013, 10:18 PM

Now that I've trimmed my ends(I used a comb to make the process a little easier) , it's back to no combs. Haven't used a brush in three years. Today was the first time I used a comb in months. I'm not perfect when I finger detangle--I don't get "all" the shed hair out. I just get out "enough" and focus on breaking up tangles and matting (which I do every three to four days).

**deecoily** · 06-07-2013, 04:46 AM

The hardest thing to get past is learning that the joining and dense areas (I don't like to call them "mats" because that just sounds wrong) I get are all a part of the action of the hair type I have. I had to learn that I get no more tangles than I did when I combed but I now have a more "touchy feely" relationship with my hair. I actually have to FEEL these densed-up areas and work them through with my fingers gently instead of just grabbing a comb and pulling until they're out. I admit, I was afraid of them at first.

When you feel a thickening (matted area) forming, or hair is joining up in places (starting to form what you may call mats), don't panic about it. It can be worked through in the next wet session, or with oil if left too long. It's just the way your hair wants to be in its natural state and it's nothing to panic about.

**KnottyAuthor** · 06-08-2013, 12:55 PM

Since i took my locs down in Dec., all I've been doing is no comb. i bought a few and even a new Denman brush..tried them at FIRST to release the last mat/tangle but it felt violating to me. lol. After 7 yrs w/o a comb, Im just not with that life anymore. My fingers do a good enough job for what I'm doing with my hair and I see it thriving, especially in my crown area and along my edges where it's weak. I remember when i was loose before this area stayed broke and shreaded using brushes and combs. It' thriving and the same length as my longest hairs. So, I'm going to 'listen' to my hair this time and keep with the combless/brushless theme..so yeh, add me to the challenge.

Beautiful pics Dee!