As you know from my post yesterday, I pre-pooed with a mix of Aubrey Honeysuckle Rose conditioner and Vatika Oil from Saturday into Sunday. On Sunday night, after finishing cleaning the house (with the exception of the dishes, because Wei always says he loves washing dishes, so I didn’t want to steal his joy;)), I hit the shower and shampooed. It had been a while since I clarified and I debated between Ion Curl Defining Shampoo, a sulfated, yet moisturizing shampoo, and the unopened bottle of Lavender Garden Terressentials Mud Wash under my sink. The Ion shampoo won and I diluted it in water before applying.
After shampooing, I used Herbal Essences Hello Hydration to finger detangle under the shower stream. Now, this is where the something new comes in.
I picked up this shampoo brush at Sally’s for $0.99 about a year and a half ago. I very rarely use it, but Wei gives it a work-out! *lol* Well, I’ve been getting a lot of tight, little knots caused by shed hairs. I’ve had to resort to the scissors at least once every wash day the last month or so. That got me to thinking that finger detangling hasn’t been sufficient lately. And, I’ve read of some who finger detangle first and then use a wide-tooth comb, Denman brush, Tangle Teezer, etc. to finish the job. So, I decided to use the shampoo brush to comb through my hair as a final step before rinsing my conditioner. Yup, I used the shampoo brush!
You see, when the Tangle Teezer (TT) was the craze early last year, someone wrote that this cheap little shampoo brush was just as good, if not better. If I remember correctly, they said that this was because the teeth on the shampoo brush aren’t as sharp as the TT and it they don’t have seams.
So, anywho, after doing a thorough finger detangling, I took the shampoo brush in the palm of my right hand and the ends of my hair in the left. Then, I slowly combed through my hair, working up from the ends to the roots. If I met any resistance as combing, I stopped to remove the “obstruction” with my fingers, then resumed combing. The brush really glided very easily through my hair when it was fully saturated with conditioner and I allowed the water stream to flow over it. It also made my curls clump nicely. But, I don’t know if I’ll use the shampoo brush every wash day. Maybe every other. And, I’ll be keeping an eye on my ends as I used the TT for a hot minute after a big “trim” and noticed an inordinate amount of splits almost immediately. So, if that happens, I’ll stop using it immediately.
Back to wash day. To finish, I applied Aubrey Green Tea Rinse directly over the HE HH and rinsed with cool water. Then, I set my hair in six braids for a braid out with Wonder Curl Get Slick Smoothie and Butter Than Love Pudding, using the shampoo brush again to evenly distribute the products through my hair.
As it was about 8 pm by this time, I knew that there was no way that my hair would dry overnight. So, I decided to finally take the Salon Dryer on Wheels, which I got over 2 months ago, on a test drive!!
I realized pretty quickly that I needed to do something with those hanging braids if I wanted more than my scalp to dry! So, I secured them across and against my head with large bobby pins.
So far so good! The dryer is pretty loud though and I used the timer, which sounds like a ticking time bomb. But, it seemed to be doing a decent job of getting my hair dry. I sat under it for about an hour. My hair didn’t dry entirely, but I’m hoping that it will finish drying overnight *fingers crossed*. I’m writing this post Sunday night, so I’ll have to comb back with the final results later! Sorry for the delayed gratification!! But, I’m sure you’ve been there before ;).
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hairscapades 
I need to get me one of those dryers! Also I have some Wonder Curl Get Slick Smoothie and Butter Than Love Pudding, what are they used for ?
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The Smoothie is like a leave-in (when applied on wet hair) Tiffany and the Butter is a styler/moisturizer.
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After I finger detangle, I use a wide-toothed comb and a modified Denman, and sometimes use the Denman to help along if my hair gets tangled while I’m twisting (which usually happens if I can’t twist immediately after showering). I honestly don’t know if the modified Denman is somehow better; I can’t tell yet. I have recently had a CRAZY amount of shedding, which I first thought was breakage. But when I noticed that I actually didn’t have a lot of snapping-off hairs, and that almost every single hair I examined had a white bulb at the end, I figured it was shedding. My daughter will be 2 tomorrow and my son is 10 months at the end of the week, so I’m guessing that the hair thickness I’ve been enjoying for the last couple of years is really because I’ve been either pregnant or post partum. I think my hair is getting back to its natural thickness, which is a relief. It seemed to be getting so thin!
I had never heard of the TT before this year, and I’ve never heard of a shampoo brush before. The shampoo brush I MIGHT try, but the TT definitely not. It reminds me of a strip of velcro too much.
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Yeah Pennie … stay away from the TT!! Fortunately, I stopped using it within 3 weeks/uses, if I remember correctly. And, since I do S&D every wash day, I quickly realized what was happening. I’ll be keeping an eye on my ends as/if I use this shampoo brush too!
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Fingers all the way. It’s been probably more than 4months since I totally stopped using even my big teeth comb. It’s been way longer since I stopped using the Denman and that dreadful tangle teezer. They both ripped my hair out. So my fingers are my friend.
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I’ve almost exclusively finger detangled for a year and half … and I might continue to mostly due that …. but, I figured I’d experiment a little since the brush was already in the shower;). The Ouidad Double Detangler is too, but I figured my fingers are about the same and, in fact, better than that. The Denman, I’ll avoid at all costs. I did pick up one from Sally’s late last year, I think. I got it home, looked at it … got nervous and returned the thing without ever opening the package!! That thing is not made for my fine, split-prone strands!!
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Fingers only. I have used my finger only routine since January 2012. I have become an expert in parting my hair with my fingers (lol).
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Queen, I do have to put out the metal rattail to get a clean part. I don’t need that often, but every now and again, I’ll pull that out. Wish I could say that I had it mastered with fingers alone … but sadly, that is not the case;).
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I have thick hair, in terms of density, more so than strand size. Recently, I had been sporting a puff, and boy did I suffer. I usually wear my hair in twist. I have been comb free for 6 months, but the tangles were too much for me. After gently dry detangling, I prepooed with a conditioner, and used a comb in the shower. I was just as careful as you were Shelli.
I feel that we have to listen to our hair. My hair is tangle free now, and I will go back to finger detangling. I say listen to your hair, and make needed adjustments, but always with caution and care.
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Agreed!! That’s why I’ll be paying attention to how my hair reacts when I use the shampoo brush. I didn’t use it at all this past wash day because I was doing a henna treatment. We’ll see next week. But, like you, I think I’ll reserve it for when my hair is seeming extra tangly, like it has a lot of shed hair captured in it. I’ll still rely on finger detangling first and foremost.
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Be very careful with those shampoo brushes! I blame those and a heavy handed Domincan stylist for the breakage in the back of my hair. I’m transistioning so my hair is pretty fragile. I side-eyed them while they were shampooing someone else so I don’t know why I allowed them to use it on my hair but she was really heavy handed with it and yanked and yanked at my hair. My hair is extremely thick and luckily its restricted to the nape area but I’ll never use that brush again!
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I will Mango. It sound like the problem you had was with how it was used though … and, even the gentlest of tools can cause major damage used incorrectly. When I used it, my hair was already finger detangled and I was very careful using it to do a final “comb” through.
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