How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

Long natural hair is a stunner and there is no disputing that. From being able to be manipulated into different gorgeous styles to just having other people stare in awe – and some wanting to touch – whenever you’re in public, long natural hair is one that you wear with pride. However, with this beauty comes some drawbacks and one of these is that long hair gets easily tangled and knotted. This can be a real bummer as tangled hair snaps, breaks and can lead to further damage not to mention the pain if not taken care of before styling. Fortunately, today’s article will be providing a step-by-step guide on how to properly detangle your long hair.

HAIR SUPPLIES YOU’LL NEED TO DETANGLE LONG NATURAL HAIR

  • Detangling brush
  • Wide-tooth comb
  • Hair detangler/leave-in conditioner/hair moisturizing cream and hair oil
  • Hair clips (optional)
  • Spray bottle

Step by step detangling tutorial

STEP ONE: PREP THE HAIR

Prep the hair by spritzing hair with water from your spray bottle to get it damp not wet. This is an important first step as it will ensure your hair is easier to work with for the next step. Depending on your hair, dry hair can be hard to work with as it snags, breaks, causes pain, and is difficult to detangle.

STEP TWO: SECTION THE HAIR

See why step one was necessary? It makes it easier to divide your hair into sections. If you have fine long hair, you can put it into as little as four to six sections but if your hair is on the thick side, you’ll need to put it in as many as eight or ten sections so you are able to properly detangle the entire hair. As you cut up each section, you can clip them with the hair so they don’t get entwined. If you don’t have hair clips, you can put them into loose braids or twists.

STEP THREE: DETANGLE

Taking one section of hair, apply a moderate amount of your detangler or leave-in conditioner, or hair moisturizer, and gently work that in with your fingers, starting from the ends. Starting from the ends helps you to unravel and get rid of knots and tangles which can create bumps or get your fingers stuck when you detangle from the roots all the way down. After finger-detangling, follow with a detangling brush or a wide-tooth comb, starting also from the ends and all the way to the roots. Repeat this for each section before styling as desired.

Best Detangling Products

THE HONEST COMPANY CONDITIONING HAIR DETANGLER

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

Detangles knots & leaves hair more manageable. Made without parabens, dyes, synthetic fragrances, silicones, sulfates, formaldehyde donors.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.5 stars by 42,764 verified users.

PANTENE CONDITIONING DETANGLER SPRAY

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

This leave-in conditioning mist treatment separates hair strands for easy styling, and it helps restore your hair to be soft and smooth with a healthy-looking shine. Enriched with antioxidants to reduce protein loss, Repair & Protect Detangler helps hair stay stronger against damage.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.6 stars by 9,374 users.

MILK_SHAKE LEAVE-IN CONDITIONER SPRAY DETANGLER

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

Milk proteins in milkshake hair products help regenerate hair structure, making hair easy to brush and detangle. They help keep ends healthy for beautiful, lightweight, manageable hair!

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.6 stars by 14,725 verified users.

CANTU COIL CALM DETANGLER WITH SHEA BUTTER

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

Made with the painful pull of knotted strands in mind, our Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Coil Calm Detangler 8 oz is exactly what it sounds like–calming, designed for detangling, and made with your coils in mind. Our shea butter formula softens hair to make detangling a breeze all while giving your curls a healthy and renewed glow. Say goodbye to painful detangling and start styling your curls the way you want when you use this soothing formula.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.5 stars by 3,620 verified users.

MY BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL DETANGLER SPRAY

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

The My Black is Beautiful Moisture Luxe Detangling Spray instantly softens and detangles hair. This lightweight formula provides luxe moisture and nourishes each strand, giving you added shine with a smooth finish.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.4 stars by 1,282 verified users.

Best Detangling Brushes on Amazon

CRAVE NATURALS GLIDE THRU DETANGLING BRUSH

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

Ordinary bristle brushes work against the hair, basically ripping through and pulling out the knotted hair instead of gently separating it. But the unique cone-shaped plastic bristles work to separate the hair sideways instead of down, gently unraveling even the toughest tangles.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.3 stars by 77,038 verified users.

FIORA NATURALS HAIR DETANGLING BRUSH

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

Ordinary bristle brushes pull out the knotted hair instead of gently separating it. Our innovative flexible bristle brush bends and flexes to gently remove knots without breakage. Anti-static Nylon bristles distribute the scalp’s own natural oils for silky, shiny healthy-looking results.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.7 stars by 10,388 verified users.

NINABELLA ORGANIC DETANGLING HAIR BRUSH

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

Ninabella anti-split-end hairbrush for women, men, and children can seamlessly eliminate tangles without pulling or tugging on your hair. At the same time, it will protect your hair from any other pains or damage.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.6 stars by 26,573 verified users.

WET BRUSH ORIGINAL DETANGLER HAIR BRUSH

How to Detangle Long Natural Hair

IntelliFlex bristles glide through tangles with ease, with 45% less breakage and 55% less effort for 100% happier hair. Flexible bristles minimize pain and protect against split ends and breakage.

AMAZON CUSTOMER RATING: 4.7 stars by 57,262 verified users.

Read next: Stop Making These Tangle-Causing Mistakes

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