Combing vs Finger Detangling: Which is Better?

Style Icon Mela

By Cipriana of Urbanbushbabes.com

To comb or not to comb that is the question! Well for those who know my hair practices the answer is obvious. For those who don’t, let me just say the comb has become a distant memory…….comb what, comb who?  All jokes aside for my hair I feel finger detangling on dry hair has become a necessity, not an option at this stage of the game.

Type 4 hair is the most fragile of all hair types because every curling point along the strand is a potential point of breakage and the curlier the hair the more potential points of breakage. In additiona, we curlies have to factor in dryness that results from a lack of sebum traveling down our highly textured strands. (Sebum is an oily substance, released from microscopic subaceous glands on the scalp, that lubrciate the skin and hair.)

Given these factors I prefer finger detangling, and I personally have seen a huge improvement in density, length and health of my hair due to finger detangling. But I’m not here to delude you — finger detangling does add more time to your detangling sessions and I know this is not what most people want to hear but sometimes more work is required to reach your personal hair goals.

Fingers can feel more tangles that you can try to undo as opposed to a comb that sometimes will not pick up until it is too late and SNAP your strand. Now I tried finger detangling years ago and it was an epic fail and this was only because I was not properly and thoroughly taking the time to completely detangle my hair. The result was patches of dreads in some areas of my hair which eventually I had to cut out. Now I have mastered my detangling method so well I can take a section of finger detangled hair and run a fine tooth comb clean through (I would never suggest a fine tooth comb ya’ll, just making a point). If you have never tried finger detangling and want to give it a shot here is what I would suggest; after finger detangling a small section of hair run a wide tooth comb through that section to test your work. If it goes through, then you’ve done the job right. If not, you have more work to do.

Although finger detangling is my preferred method, I know that time is a prohibitive factor. Keep in mind that longer hair equals more work and time — and if you don’t want to put in that time, shorter hair might be the best option. But if you take the time to master finger detangling it can change the life of your hair.

Do you detangle with your comb or your fingers? Which method do you prefer and why?