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Many months ago I reviewed the Mane-ly Long Hair Hydrate 24 and it quickly became one of my favorite products. I also ordered some Mane-ly Long Hair Polisher-Protector at the same time and recently got around to trying it (I misplaced the bottle for a while…). At first I was a bit annoyed at myself since Champ happened to just go out in pasture and I wasn’t spending a lot of time grooming…then I realized my good fortune. A dirty, tangley pasture mess of a tail was perfect for testing the skills of this product!
Champ had been out in pasture for a good month and a half when I tried the Mane-ly Long Hair Polisher-Protector. I didn’t wash the tail, I left it dirty. I applied the Mane-ly Long Hair Hydrate 24 to saturate the hair first before I applied the Polisher-Protector as it was a dry, brittle mess. The Hydrate 24 softened up the hair and broke up some of the dirt, but it was still a mess of tangles that I couldn’t easily get a finger through, much less a comb. I applied a good amount (several quarter sized globs) of the Polisher-Protector to his tail one section at a time and worked it in well with my hands. I paid extra attention to a few super tangles he had acquired. Once I felt that the tail was saturated enough with the detangler to run my fingers through it smoothly, I went about the detangling process with a comb. If you don’t know the proper method to detangle a tail without ripping out hair…here’s my process.
- Grab the tail from the middle and twist the tail up to the dock.
- Move your hands down the tail a few inches at a time and twist tightly until you have 3 or 4 inches left at the bottom of loose hair.
- Hold the twisted hair with your off hand tightly and use your other hand to comb out the 3-4 inch section at the bottom until it’s tangle free.
- Release a couple of inches of the twisted hair loose and proceed to comb through that until tangle free.
- Repeat step 4 until you’re no longer holding any twisted hair in your hand and the tail is loose and flowing.
The twisting and holding will reduce the amount of hair that is pulled out ripping out and force you to comb properly from the bottom to the top.
After combing out Champ’s tail it looked fluffy, shiny, smooth and clean. His tail was also still tangle free several days later when I went out to check him. This detangler is a quite a bit thicker than your average one, so a bit harder to apply and you end up applying more than you sometimes will with other similar products. However it is heavy duty stuff and can get out some pretty gnarly tangles. It has a pleasant, but not obvious smell.
I recommend the Mane-ly Long Hair Polisher-Protector as a partner to the Hydrate 24 to get out some seriously messy tangles (got a Friesian or Gypsy Vanner? This stuff might be your new best friend). It is not my favorite product for everyday detangling because it does need a separate conditioner and is quite thick and more tricky to apply evenly, but it is great in a serious tangle situation or for a horse with some serious mane and tail.
You can purchase the Mane-ly Long Hair Polisher-Protector here.