Natural conditioner/detangler for long, curly, tangle-prone hair? Preferably that smells good...

My daughter is 8, and has waist-length curly/wavy hair that is very fine and very prone to tangling. She hates things that smell "bad" and does not like the smell of olive oil and coconut oil. I would love recommendations for natural conditioners/detanglers that smell nice so we can brush her hair without tears.

I'm open to recipes, as well as products I can just buy.

Thanks!

A bit of hazelnut or argan oil would likely help. What is the last thing in her hair before attempts to get a comb or brush through it? Is it dry-ish? Is your water hard? If so, lemon juice may be a big help, as it will rinse out any minerals & balance the ph, leaving the shaft smoother. Followed with just a little bit of the hazelnut or argan, in the palm of your hand, then shared with both hands, before ruining through the hair, paying special attention to the ends, and at the base of the skull, where the hair rubs on her collar.

I would use apple cider vinegar though I bet your daughter would not like that smell.

Another choice might be glycerin which to me does not have a smell.

I use mineral oil for some health benefits, I also feel that this might be an option as it has not smell.

I use Carina organics products on my own very fine hair. I do find i get a bit of buildup over time that i need to strip, ideally once a month or so?. I like how natural the ingredients list is, and how light the scents on their scented products are - they are literally the only scented products i keep in my house.

I tend to use their unscented conditioner, and their mint, botanical essences (pine smelling), and citrus scented shampoos.  I buy the huge bottles, and they last me a year or more.

https://ca.carinaorganics.com/collections/conditioning

"The change" made my hair brittle, inclined to split, and tangle even more. I'm also scent sensitive. One thing I figured was that the products I used made it worse and a big issue was making sure I got most of the stuff out. But it changes, sometimes one strategy works, sometimes another...

I have done all of these:

1) Put a wide tooth comb in the shower. Start combing the snarls out there. Do this while wet or with detangler or creme rinse, if necessary, and rinse out the the detangler/creme rinse.
2) Pat hair dry rather than wring it. Stop piling it atop my head twisted in a towel.
3) There's a phase when drying, where my hair is springy/easier to detangle. If I can get the snarls out while in this phase, the job is much easier.
4) I have a cowlick at the base of my skull which is a PITA. I deal with it and the area where my hair combs thru most easily first. The cowlick creates massive snarls which are time consuming. The easy area keeps me at it when I just want to reach for scissorsl
5) It seems like there are times when the comb out (#1) stops working, I put a dime size portion of creme rinse in my hand and with some water rub my hands through my wet hair, then comb it out. Using a tiny amount of creme rinse as a detangler. When I do this, I use a thick creme rinse, like Nature's Gate (if that even still exists?).

Another vote for argan oil. I have a 7 year old daughter with long curly hair. We use argon oil and a commercial product that is not so natural.

I have also started switching over to the Fairy Tale brand of detangle spray. My kids had contact with someone with lice and we tried their rosemary repellent. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fairy-Tales-Rosemary-Repel-Kids-Hair-Spray-8-fl-oz/34034476?classType=VARIANT&from=/search

The kids did not get lice... which may or may not have been the spray... but I found that it DID do just as well as the other commercial detangle spray that we use. I haven't dug into the company, but I trust that there is less junk in theirs than the other stuff I was using. They have a product that is just detangler... but I haven't quite used up the other bottle yet, so I haven't tried it. My kids didn't mind the smell.

P.s. My hair is hip length, very curly, and tends to dry out, if washed too often, and I'm also very sensitive to smells. John hates the smell of apple cider vinegar, and is the main reason I switched to lemon juice.

I have long curly hair.  I use artnaturals shampoo and conditioner, then when still wet,  I finger comb in  argan oil creme by artnaturals and use a wide tooth comb.  This has been the best combo I have found so far.

Not to derail the thread, but I have also heard that wide tooth combs were best for curly hair... and I found it to be difficult to use on my daughter's hair and that it took longer. I found that a de-tangling brush from the Wet Brush brand worked better for me?

Matt McSpadden wrote:Not to derail the thread, but I have also heard that wide tooth combs were best for curly hair... and I found it to be difficult to use on my daughter's hair and that it took longer. I found that a de-tangling brush from the Wet Brush brand worked better for me?

Good point, Matt! I also use a Wet brush, and find it very helpful, especially if I use it in the shower, then only use my hands to squeeze out as much water as possible, and use a homemade 'plop' towel of tshirt, cotton, or flannel, instead of a terrycloth towel. No scrubbing the hair dry, just squeezing it with my hands, then squeezing inside the plop. When I'm ready to take off the plop, I just finger comb it, and I'm done, until it's done air-drying.

Plop: https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=plopping+curly+hair

Never heard of plopping... another thing that changed with "the change" was that I got my natural wave back... If I plop instead of what I've always done, I can eliminate a towel from the process. Yay! Less laundry, less stuff to buy.THANKS!

Matt McSpadden wrote:Not to derail the thread, but I have also heard that wide tooth combs were best for curly hair... and I found it to be difficult to use on my daughter's hair and that it took longer. I found that a de-tangling brush from the Wet Brush brand worked better for me?

I often hear the recommendation for wide-toothed combs, but I find them hard to use on myself of my kids.

BASS wooden hair brush. This is my favorite hair brush. It's more like a comb than a normal brush.

I bought this comb made from sheep's horn, which my daughter does like to use...but her hair never really seems that detangled when she uses it. But, that could also be her method.

I couldn't resist buying a comb made of horn, especially since I was teaching 18 century history and how horn was basically their plastic

My daughter also has a Wet Brush, and she likes that one best "because it's soft".... but she also leaves it all sorts of places and then I use my own hair brush on her hair. Her hair is a bit finer than mine, but about the same texture (somewhere between 2C and 3A)

I use a dog grooming pin brush with metal pins and find that helps.

Coincidentally, my dog brush is also made by Bass. Much less friction-ey and staticky than plastic or wooden pin brushes.  I also find metal wide toothed dog combs tug less/slide better than plastic combs.

I also find that if for whatever reason my hair begins to tangle constantly, it's really damaged. i need to bite the bullet, cut it shorter, and regrow it, with attention to regular trims to cut the split ends.

My wet brush is similar to this one, but has no handle:
https://www.amazon.com/Kitsch-Detangler-Brush-Adults-Easy/dp/B0D4FCVRYN/ref=mp_s_a_1_4


Brushing method may definitely play a role. It works best done like this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rFXJMTS4i1Y

I remembered another technique I used when my hair was at its "stickyest".

A hair stylist suggested this to me... do a final rinse in cold (or cool) water. To close the cuticle of the hair. I have, in winter, backed all the way up to the very back of my shower to only get my HAIR wet in the colder water. But it did seem to help.

Jennie Little wrote:I remembered another technique I used when my hair was at its "stickyest".

A hair stylist suggested this to me... do a final rinse in cold (or cool) water. To close the cuticle of the hair. I have, in winter, backed all the way up to the very back of my shower to only get my HAIR wet in the colder water. But it did seem to help.

I remember hearing about this years ago, too. Once I learned to wet felt wool, I started wondering if maybe the cold water rinse wasn't the best idea. If my hair is used to the warm temperatures of the shower, and then I shock it with cold water, won't it felt/tangle a little? So, for about a year now, I've taken to rinsing my hair in warm water (not hot or cold), and it doesn't seem to have changed the amount it tangles.

My husband says that it's the little "scales on the cuticle" that you're making close while wet, rather than later on as they dry, and that's supposed to help it not tangle as much. It seems like maybe more testing is required? It'd be really interesting to see what's actually happening to the hair, follicle by follicle, with the different methods!

This probably won't work for the situation you describe, but hopefully it could trigger ideas.

Long ago, so long now that my memory is hazy, I experimented with pre treatment before washing to reduce tangles.  It was a tradition I learned about from somewhere in India.  The scalp is rubbed with sesame oil about half an hour or so before washing. This does something to wake up or clean the glands that make oil so they start working right away after shampoo and be a natural conditioner.

This was my gateway into no poo as I noticed this pre treatment would lengthen the time between washing.  It worked really well for my situation at that time.

I seem to remember there are commercial pre treatment and other traditional ones, but can't remember what they are.

If memory serves, it took two shampooing to remove the oil...but, before that, it took two shampooing to remove the city grime anyway.  Eventually it took one shampooing to get the oil out. The key I found out was to apply to just the scalp, then get a fine tooth bone or wood comb to pull it down the hairs.

My hair is mid back length, wavy, and dense (a hair stylist said I had enough hair for 3 people and had to use two kits on my hair when I got a perm in the eighties). It is low-porosity which means my hair cuticle is very tight. It repels cold to room temperature water and too thick styling products. It takes a long time to get wet and takes a long time to dry. First I brush it with a brush. I prefer ones without nubs as they are easier to clean. Dust clings to the nubs. My hair breaks the bristles off of most brushes. Then I wet it via shower or a continuous spray bottle. I use Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream in Island Fantasy on the two days I wash. I use Jessicurl Too Shea Conditioner in Island Fantasy and then comb with a wide tooth comb that has a hook to hang it in the bathtub/shower. Jessicurl also has Citrus Lavender and Unscented Options. Island Fantasy is blend of citrus, coconut, and vanilla. If my hair is soaking wet, I scrunch out the excess water with small microfiber hair towel before applying the conditioner. Then I plop/plunk (type of turban for wavy hair; learned it from watching a video on Jessicurl) with a long microfiber hair towel for 15 minutes. If or when my hair is just damp, I style it. To style I apply Butters and Black Soap Low-Porosity Hair Cream, and finish with Butters and Black Soap Low-Porosity Hair Oil. I brush the top of my hair again with styling products in it. The top is straight and the bottom is wavy. I condition and style daily. To check porosity fill a container with water. Place a single hair in it. If it floats at the top, the hair is low-porosity. If it floats in the middle it is medium-porosity. The hair cuticle is just right and can use any hair styling products. If it sinks to the bottom, the hair is high-porosity. The hair cuticle is very open. Then do the same first steps but reverse the last two and different products. The first step is wet the hair, apply your regular conditioner, apply a high-porosity hair oil, and finish with a high-porosity hair cream. A vinegar or conditioner makes it easier to comb hair.

I have waist- length, fine, wavy, and extremely tangle prone hair. It also used to be frizz prone.   I make majority of my beauty products myself, but not shampoo or conditioner. I have tried natural alternatives, but in the end none of the options worked for my hair. As far as shampoos, I alternate between 2-3 so that there is no buildup. I have tried probably over 100 shampoos over lifetime, including very expensive ones - mainly because of tangles, ouch. The ojon volumizing formula used to work great for me, but they don't make it anymore. There was also an organic brand called Siam Seas which was excellent but they stopped making it. This is what I found:

1. At least every other wash, I use a swimmer's shampoo, currently Newton Bay. It is supposedly a "clean formula", smells like mint. We don't have chlorinated water, but this shampoo has been a miracle. Ion shampoo also worked for me too, but it is stinky and the ingredient list is overwhelming. I mostly alternate Newton Bay with unscented Desert Essence shampoo. That one does not detangle. Some swimmers shampoos did not work for me.

2. As far as conditioner, I found that behentrimonium methosulfate / rapeseed oil derivate is the magic ingredient for tangles. The desert essence unscented conditioner has BTMS in it. My favorite however is a conditioner bar with this ingredient. Currently that is Brixy, the one that smells more minty. I hate unnatural scents, but I think they have other scents.

3. I was a huge fan of mason pearson brushes, natural/ nylon bristles combo. However, I finally got the TEK wooden brush and it really works for my hair, detangling without ripping any hair out. I had other wooden brushes before also, but they did not work for me; it may be that the TEK has sturdier and slightly longer bristles. I do not brush wet hair except lightly combing with my fingers. Now that I found decent shampoo and conditioner there is no need. Even if there is a tangle, I can easily brush it out.

4. I still keep it natural/homemade with scalp oil (jojoba plus essential oils) and also rinse my hair with rice water every once in a while. My hair seems to love rice.