If there’s one thing you’ll never be quite prepared for when your curly hair starts to grow or reaches a certain length is how difficult it can be to manage and manipulate it or how easy it is to get tangles and single or multiple strand knots. Luckily, the “secret” solution to these woes is a simple one and I can honestly say that sectioning curly hair will make your hair journey easier and keep you sane, honestly.

Why Sectioning Will Keep You Sane

As you begin your hair journey to natural hair, it’s quite understandable that you transfer the hair care practices you had while relaxing your hair into your transitioning hair journey. I certainly did this! However, these old hair habits will most probably not fit the demands of a new hair texture.

Curly hair, due to its texture, shape and many times its density will require you to be more skilful, aware and sensitive to your hair’s needs and fragility.

While your wavy or bone straight relaxed hair got a lot fewer tangles, was easier to manage, style and manipulate your curly hair will test your will to walk your new hair path. Things will be a lot easier if you follow the lead of those who’ve navigated this path before and then try to adapt things to your particular situation, rather than to arm wrestle with your hair and making things a lot worse.

Here’re a few things that sectioning your hair will do for you.

#1| Reduce Hair Breakage

Due to its texture, shape and inability to keep moisture in your curly hair is actually more fragile than straight hair, therefore, it will break more easily. Transitioning to natural hair is a journey that, among many other things, is already branded with the seal of “Hair Breakage” and I’m guessing you don’t want to make a generous contribution to this sad ‘party’.

This is certainly one of those parties you don’t wanna host or be invited to, so a good way to minimise and avoid hair breakage during your transition or once you’re natural is to section your curly hair whenever you have to attend to it.

Please don’t confuse shedding with hair breakage these are very different. The former is something that occurs naturally and follows the end of your hair follicle’s life cycle, whereas the latter can happen as a result of hair practices. You can read Know The Difference Between Shedding & Breakage to know more.

#2| Minimise Frequent Hair Trims

Tangles and single strand knots are common and even expected occurrences when you have curly hair. If you’re not seeing them you’re not paying enough attention to your hair and, if you really don’t have them, please do us all a favour and share the secret! 😉

The thing is, although, tangles and knots are expected you can make things worse if you try to manipulate your hair all in one go when styling or detangling. Working through sections will ensure you minimise these and avoid frequent hair trims to fix an unsightly look that can easily progress to hair breakage.

Therefore, if you’re trying to keep your trimming sessions to the strictly necessary, section, section, section.

#3| Facilitate Hairstyling

As your hair grows, you’ll notice that it will become thicker, fuller, curlier and more voluminous which, in itself, will become a handful to deal with. But, if you have high-density hair like me, you can expect to have double the work when trying to style your hair into braids, twists or even a wash and go.

Anyway, high-density or not, it can easily become frustrating and take time-consuming dealing with a curly mane you never knew before, especially when you had such ‘well behaved’ relaxed hair. Again, the best way to approach this task is to section your hair into as many parts as necessary since it will make your task easier.

#4| Better Product Application

If applying hair products on your hair didn’t take you more than 5 minutes when you were relaxed you can expect that time to have a steep increase as your natural hair grows.

There’s no doubt the shape of relaxed hair (or the lack of it) makes it easier and quicker to evenly apply products on your hair. However, the same does not happen once your curly mane grows, especially when you reach a certain hair length (you’ll know this once you get there).

If you want to make sure you reach every single hair strand on your head when applying products, you need to work your hair in 4, 6 or even 8 sections. Better product application means not only better hair coverage, better hairstyles, and less frizz, but also better-moisturised hair, which means less breakage and length retention.

#5| Better Detangling

Detangling your natural hair texture can soon become one of your biggest hair challenges. For some, it can become the deal breaker. Having to detangle your curly mane without a strategic plan can easily become a tortuous job (I learned this the hard way). You can easily spend an hour, or more, in this tedious chore.

If you try to tackle detangling your curly hair without sectioning it you have higher chances of becoming increasingly frustrated with the task, which will make you handle your hair more roughly and speed trough it. Consequently, this will contribute to hair breakage.

By sectioning your hair you’re making sure there are no tangles and knots left behind, you’re actually reducing the time you need to detangling, you’re avoiding unnecessary stress and reducing hair breakage.

Making Sectioning Easier

Okay, so now that you know why sectioning your hair is such a great technique to have, there are a few things you can do and have that will make this task easier, and if you’re all about a quick and easy wash day or hair routine here are a few things to consider:

Pre-Poo – is a treatment you do before you wash your hair that facilitates detangling and protects your hair against excess hair stripping from hair cleansers, it increases hair moisture and helps reduce hair breakage. You can read more about Why You Should Pre-poo Your Hair, 3 Pre-Poo Recipes For Your Transitioning Hair and 5 Tips To Make Your Hair Pre-poo More Effective.

Finger Detangle – as you’re starting your transitioning hair journey it is best to use your hands to detangle your hair. It may sound crazy and take some time to get familiar with the technique, however, it will help you become more sensitive about your hair and realise how fragile it is. Once you’re more attuned with your hair you can use a wide tooth comb if you prefer.

Tools – this may go without saying, but you’ll need some tools to section your hair (yes, sometimes it’s easy to forget!). Some sort of hair clip or peg will probably be your best help, make sure you have 4 to 6. Alternatively, you can also use elastic hair bands and don’t forget a wide tooth comb if you’re not into finger detangling. Here are some other tools and accessories you may need on your hair journey.

Be Patient – do as many sections as needed to make your task easy. Again, don’t try to rush through things, take your time, soon things will become easier and quicker.