Monday 19 August 2013

Quick Fix | Single Strand Knots? An Oil Rinsing Solution

I had no idea just how deadly single strand knots were until I reached a good 12+ months into my transition, they literally popped out of nowhere and attacked what seemed like every God given strand of hair on my head!! But it soon became apparent that I experienced them mainly when airdrying or simply whenever my hair was not straight! I started to research into what I could do to eliminate the awful things, because I knew continually straightening or blowdrying my hair just wasn't an option!

After much research, some testing, and hoping for the best, I found four simple solutions to my SSK problem, one of which I had never tried before and now love! Here are my quick fixes, hope they can help you too!


O I L  R I N S I N G

How ?
Shampoo your hair as usual in sections
Rinse out shampoo and then apply your fave hair oil [you know how I feel about Coconut Oil!]
The next step depends on time and preference but here are some of the options:

- leave oil for 5-10 minutes, rinse with warm water, apply conditioner, rinse with cool water
- leave oil for 5-10 minutes, rinse with warm water, deep condition with conditioner, rinse with cool water
- apply conditioner on top of oil and deep condition with conditioner for as long as you need, rinse with cool water

What & Why?
Oil rinsing is the process described above whereby you add oil to your wash process in order to ease detangling, retain moisture, soften hair, add shine and help reduce/eliminate single strand knots. I don't have an outstanding research article to support this but it works for me as has it for many others so that's research in itself right?! 

I find it is best to detangle with a good detangling brush during the final rinse out stage, which leads me unto my next quick fix solution...


D E T A N G L I N G  B R U S H

Ladies, gents, boys, girls and homies this right here is a big deal! If you do not have a good detangling brush and are experiencing these nasties then you're a long way from being rid of them. A good, in fact great detangling brush can be the difference between matted tangled hair and cotton candy soft hair. I have so far found the Tangle Teezer and Denman Brush to be my best detangling tools yet. More so the TT because the brush bristles are extremely flexible and flow with the direction of each given brush stroke. I swear by detangling directly beneath the shower head, it works a treat for me every time!

I also have a review on the Tangle Teezer from not so long ago HERE


S E C T I O N S 

Everything in sections loves, everything! Not much to say on this but 4 sections or even more =  easier detangling and easier styling. The last time I did not wash in sections was almost 2 years ago!!! Definitely no going back ^_^


M O I S T U R I S I N G  &  S E A L I N G

Finally, and one I'm sure you do already, keeping those ends and strands moisturised followed by a dash of oil. Our ends are usually the victims of SSK's so keeping them moisturised and sealed especially when worn down should help keep SSK's at bay. If you aren't doing this yet I dare you to start now and let me know what you think!


All of these combined following an initial light scissor dusting of my knots have kept me single strand knot free [bar the occasional knot] for a good couple of months now. I hope these tips work a treat for you too! 


Avec amour...

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1 comment:

  1. I usually pre-poo with coconut oil and a cheapie conditioner, but I definitely think that I'm going to get myself MORE oil so that I can do nice proper oil rinses, to the extent where I slowly pour the oil over my hair, catching it in a bowl and throw it on my hair again to thoroughly DRENCH my hair in oil. SSK aren't my biggest enemy, but after protective styling for 3 days straight detangling in general is a hot mess!! Very nice post!

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