HairBoutique Blog

Finger Combing Hair How To

Finger combing, also called finger picking or finger raking, is exactly what it sounds like.  It’s using your fingers to comb, pick or rake through your tresses.

Some people use only one hand or a few target fingers at a time while others employ both hands and all fingers.  This is a matter of personal preference.

(Image to the side of Rihanna.  Does she or her celebrity hairstylist finger comb, pick or rake her hair?)

Performing Finger Combing

Finger combing can be performed on wet, damp or bone dry hair and is most popularly done during the follow times:

1.  Pre-shower to detangle strands before cleansing or carefully pick out big knots or tangles.
2.  During cleansing to distribute shampoo or similar cleansing products.
3.  After hair has been prepped with rinse-out conditioner to soften strands for easy detangling.  Finger combing when the hair has lots of conditioner on it will give hair lots of slip and make it easy for many to detangle with fingers.
4.  At the end of the cleansing cycle after hair has been towel blotted and coated with a styling cocktail consisting of a variety of hair care products ranging from a leave-in conditioner, defristant, styling creams, mousse or detanglers.
5.  During the hair drying cycle especially when rough drying or long finger diffusing.
6.  On bone dry hair to tousle strands without breaking up newly formed scrunched waves, curls or other texture.
7.  At night before going to bed.
8.  At any other time when a wide tooth comb is not available.
9.  In combination with other styling tools such as wide tooth hair friendly combs made out of soft non-scratchy materials.
10.  When preparing hair for application of other products such as styling cocktails.
11.  During dry styling of hair into updos, twists or ponytails.

Some people only finger comb, some finger comb and use a wide tooth comb while others use finger combing, brushes, picks or wide tooth combs at different times.
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Although it might seem the least likely texture to tangle, fine hair definitely has tangling challenges. Especially when fine hair is damaged or allowed to be blown about in the wind.

Fine hair that is long is also more prone to tangling and some will find that the tangles form tiny little knots at the nape of the neck if the tangles are not dealt with immediately.

Most hair experts will tell you to deal with tangles effectively with either rinse-out conditioners (right after you shampoo), leave-in conditioners (after you towel blot) or deep conditioners.

While that advice MAY work for some people with fine strands, for the most part it does not work. Why? Because fine hair tends to flatten easily and while rinse out, leave-in or deep conditioners might help initially with removing tangles, the likely result is flat hair. Or even worse….the beginning of oil slicks from too much conditioner.

If you read the advice to use conditioners for thin or fine hair, throw it away.
Continue reading “Hairstyling Tips: Prevent Fine Hair From Tangling” »