hey jenn - i have only newbie ph experience to give, and i have the 50 mm curl, but what type of brush are you using? a while back mer posted something about a paddle brush i have been using in the am in pm with finger combing during the day...the paddle brush (for me) really helps keep it soft; if i use a comb or bristle brush it doesn't really get back to soft. sleeping with it in a bun or braids, and brushing/combing from the bottom up are the best ways i've found to keep it nontangly and easy to work with. also, i think kerasilk treatment really helps combability (i've been using the cheapo  generic from sally's); i apply the kerasilk from bottom up, brush from bottom up till silky, then reapply about a quater-size dollop of teh kerasilk again to finish......fina fina has the 28 mm and has not reported the same kinda issues so i'm sure she can lend some sound advice...my stylist also recommended spritzing daily with kerasilk conditioner diluted with water....also, what kind of silicone spray or other products are you using - by these i mean what brands?

cheryl

here's a thread about my hair and my care:

http://talk.hairboutique.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20446&KW=merguthrie - http://talk.hairboutique.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20446 &KW=merguthrie

i use moist shampoo, goldwell kerasilk conditioner which is AWESOME!!!! and biosilk. the brush i use is really good too, and the brushing technique is VERY important. it took me a while to get that down, too... a whole month. note my picture with red hair (with my nephew before) and my after pictures.

the kerasilk is $10 a bottle but MUCH WORTH IT. I had 'felty matts' in my PH hair b4 I used the kerasilk.

when i brush, i use just the tip of the brush, just the top part, and a lil piece of my hair and work my way up a lil at a time.

hey jenn - i thought that also, but the biosilk therapy (i think i called it kerasilk above - kerasilk is the same company but the conditioner) works with my ph....

i've been using the generic stuff from sally's which is less than $5.00 a bottle for a size that will last a long, long time. i can't compare it directly with the real deal b/c i haven't bought the real deal...but the generic works well for me.

I don't use Kerasilk or any conditioners on my synth (I don't think synth really responds much to rinse-out conditioners, but I think they can be helpful as leave-ins mixed with water), but I do use Biosilk, which is a silicone serum. You can get it at the drugstore (a small bottle costs about $12), and Sally's apparently has a generic version that's a lot cheaper. Failing that, Citre Shine spray, Dome Care, and Wig Spray might all be options, but as you said, you already have a silicone product. I've found the Brandywine Wig spray (which is quite inexpensive) "tames" the hair well. All of this stuff should be used in moderation, though; it’s easy to OD on it, I think.

To tell you the truth, I don't think using any of these products is as important as treating the hair the way it "wants to be treated" (and sometimes, it takes a little trial and error to figure that out--it certainly did for me). For example, trying to straighten the hair with a hot metal curling iron when it's first applied is the last thing you want to do. I've used a curling iron on my PH to curl it, true, but only on low heat, when the hair was wet and protected in a piece of paper towel. If your hair's already frizzy, that curling iron might have a lot to do with it. It doesn't mean you've trashed the hair exactly, but you may need to (carefully) blow-dry or steam it to get it smooth again. Fina's had great success with the 28mm, but then again, she did very little to it. I don't think she did a lot of brushing--just finger-combing--and she didn't apply heat too early on or attempt to loosen the wave via brushing.

In fact, in Sara's care instructions, it says not to brush the curly/wavy textures at all--just to finger comb them. Of course, this is kind of hard for most of us, especially if the hair is long, so I think Mocha, Cheryl, and Mer's suggestions are all good ones. A wide-tooth comb or paddle brush, used carefully, would probably be your best detangling option. I was using a boar's hair brush on the hair at first, which was useless. It may be good for final fluffing or smoothing, but you really need a good, strong paddle brush, and Mer's suggestion of how to brush it is great too.

Anyway, don't get discouraged. I thought I'd ruined this hair in the first week, but you'd be surprised: It comes back to life quite easily with a little TLC. If you've really fried the ends, you may want to re-trim them when you apply the rest of the hair, but you'll figure it out. It just takes a little time. If you want loose waves, I would also recommend getting some big (as big as they come, so like 1 3/4-inch) hot rollers; I got mine from eBay. I think they're the quickest, most effective way to add wave without damage; braiding is good, too, but it creates a different look, so it just depends on what you want.

If it makes you feel any better, it took me weeks—almost a month, in fact—to really figure out how to handle this hair. It was especially challenging for me because I'd never even used synth before, but I'm so glad I made the switch now. We talk a lot about products and tools with this hair, but we haven't really talked much about brushing, and I think that's a really important aspect, too.

Good luck :)