KNOTS!!!!

NYCgirl · 09-27-2011, 04:35 PM

Yes, I said KNOTS!!!

That’s the only word that truly describes what I experienced yesterday/Monday morning. Rewind to Sunday night: I did my usual weekly detangle and wash routine. Since it was late and I didn’t want to go to bed with hair wet with stylers, I decided to simply put in a conditioner overnight. So after getting out of the shower, applied KBB Sweet Ambrosia (my staple post-wash detangler leave-in), did a final comb thru with my wide tooth shower comb and I applied the Shescentit Pomegranate Curl Quenching Conditioner throughout and grabbed an oil that I had from the Curls line (Target) and applied a little of that over the conditioner to lock it in for the evening. I covered my hair with a plastic cap, followed by a scarf and went to bed.

The next morning I returned to the shower and because I had an oil in my hair I used a little of my Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Moisturizing Lather Shampoo for a quick single wash to remove my overnight treatment. I again used my KBB Sweet Ambrosia, did my usual towel blot and when I went to comb my hair this time………………I immediately ran into KNOTS all over the place!!! I’m not talking little tangles type of knots I’m talking about KNOTS as is CLUMPS of hair!!!!! WTH!!! I didn’t panic………I went back into the shower, hand sectioned my hair as best I could into 4 sections and applied Aussie Moist to each section and revisited each section to separate and comb through the KNOTS! In total there were like 3 major ones that literally took me 20 mins each to work with to detangle the hair……it was almost as if my hair was trying to lock on me.

Ultimately, I got all the knots out, applied my Curl Junkie Hibiscus & Banana Deep Fix and left that on for a couple hours, rinsed and styled my hair as usual; wash & go.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this before? Somehow, I think I recall having had a similar episode a few years ago midway through my transition. But I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong that resulted in the knots and if there is an easy way to go about removing the knots. One thing that I did consider was the fact that I had not done any pre-wash removal of shed hair and maybe those were the culprit/cause. Any ideas!?

wavyone · 09-27-2011, 06:01 PM

I was just about to post something similar. I may still post because my situation is a little different. About 3 times now (out of 4 months being CG), I've gotten one large knot--really as you said, a mat--in the back of my hair, underneath. These are impossible to comb out, even with a deep conditioner. The first two times I actually cut them out. I attributed those to the Deva AnGell I was trying out and stopped using it. So, more time passes, and I just had another one after using my Biolage Rock Hard Gelee without a leave-in under it!!! This one was weird. I was trying to comb it out gently in the shower and all of a sudden the whole clump of hair came out on its own. I've never lost hair like that before--usually just stray hairs. It was very disturbing!!! I'm wondering if the gel is the reason. I can't think of any other reason. Unless it is the fact that a couple of times I have used a soap bar. Do we have any of these things in common? (Gels, soap bars?) Sorry I am not helpful--hopefully someone else will be able to point us in the right direction!

honey3 · 09-27-2011, 06:13 PM

i don't know what happened to you.

i have learned anyway that using a rinse out conditioner as a deep conditioner can destroy your hair (gum it together) and force you to get a hair cut!

if the instructions tell you to rinse it out after 3 mins it may be better to do as the manufacturer said.

you may not be a 4b, but if you have 4b hair, excessive protein use, can knot your hair also.

other things that might cause knots would be not detangling your hair properly, not brushing your hair every couple of days. all types of hair will lock naturally if the hairs are not separated every couple of days.

NYCgirl · 09-27-2011, 08:25 PM

@wavyone: I don't use soap/shampoo bars at all and as far as gels are concerned I do use KCCC once a week for wash-n-gos. I use it in a 3-step application: my CJ conditioner followed by either coconut or argan oil followed by KCCC. All my styles, be it a wash-n-go, braidout or twistout, last a week at least (I wash my hair once a week regardless).

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NYCgirl · 09-27-2011, 08:32 PM

@honey3: perhaps the extended use of the conditioner contributed to the knots as while I've used this conditioner before, the longest I've left it in was 2 or 3 hours without a problem.

As far as brushing my hair is concerned, I only brush the sides/front/back of my hair if im putting it up in a big poof atop my head after applying some type of moisturizer but aside from that I never brush my hair. Are you referring to dry brushing the hair which I've always heard was not a good thing to do or using a Denman as part of the application of stylers? I've heard of that but have never tried it.

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steph35 · 09-27-2011, 11:32 PM

gotta try to detangle more than once a week, miss. That's what I have to do now and I still get at least two (small) knots, once in a while. MUCH better than when I did it once a week, much better a knot than a clump, and such is life as your hair grows!

honey3 · 09-28-2011, 10:29 AM

this may not work for you.

what i do is that i dampen my hair with water. use a detangling leave in conditioner, then apply oil to my hair.

then i use a wide tooth comb, then soft tipped brush, then fingers to separate the hair. I do this once a week (wkend) because I always style my hair in a loose bun. My brush is made by Conair.

If i let my hair down, then by wednesday i have to use the brush to separate the hair again.

Fmasuhr · 09-29-2011, 04:04 AM

well my hair was always like that as well, i run my fingers through my hair after my shower every night to get rid of the knots. lately ive been using n LOVIN' marshmallow root! its got amazing slip and great for softness and helps any scalp problems that you may have. after i use it the next day i have wonderful curls!