Hair Type: All
Hair Porosity: All
Hair Sensitivities: All
Hair Goal: All
Expanding on This Principle
This principle is one of the most underrated principles. The idea of minimally manipulating your hair to maintain your overall hair integrity. Leaving your hair alone is essential for maintaining moisture, maintaining lubrication, and maintaining length. This principle is not always well received and many people do not fully understand how much following, or not following, this principle can affect your hair health.
Over-Balancing the Low Manipulation Principle
Manipulating your hair too much leads to breakage. Always. There's no way around it. We must manipulate our hair to wash, style, detangle, trim, and even massage our scalp. It is unavoidable. Breakage is un-avoidable but it can be reduced greatly. Manipulation is unavoidable but it can be lowered to a safe level for African-origin hair. Over-manipulation can lead to breakage and even hair loss like traction alopecia.
Under-Balancing the Low Manipulation Principle
There is such thing as not manipulating your hair enough. It is called neglect. Neglect leads to excess tangling, huge knotting, and extremely matted, dry, and dirty hair. Not washing, detangling, and being intentional with your hair is just as bad as over-manipulation. When you finally tackle the issue of neglected hair, you will lose a huge portion of it trying to reset your hair back to normal.
Some people see doing their hair an unwanted chore. Or have other life circumstances that lead to anxiety and depression. There are many reasons that one can neglect their hair. The key to avoiding this reality is to come to terms with your mental health and state. Coming to terms helps one to tackle how to cope and move forward. As always, pray and give your mental health to Jesus. He is the one that can fully heal and recover you. He also gives you strength to fight and live in His peace. Next, make a commitment to pay attention to your hair. Understanding your hair is key to coming up with a simple routine. Have a routine that can work through the times you want to be lazy, or don't have the strength to do your hair. Your overall hair regimen should accommodate for the periods of time that you are not able to be in your hair consistently.
These periods can include high stress situations, times of extreme anxiety, depressive episodes, post-partum depression and overall post-partum periods, etc. There are so many situations where one can easily neglect their hair. Having a routine that keeps your hair healthy but allows you to take time away from your hair, will save you so much heartache.
Balanced Low Manipulation Principle
Mastering this routine requires a level of attention you must have to your hair. It is so easy to over-manipulate one's hair. Neglecting one's hair can be many people's reality as well. Having balance means that one is careful with how they handle their hair. How and how often one styles, detangles, washes, and overall touches their hair makes a world of difference. Hair that is not manipulated as much sheds less, breaks much less, and does not have signs of breakage of uneven lengths throughout the hair. The perimeter of the hair is even and not balding. Your parts are even and do not show signs of widening. Your hair is not consistently matted or knotted. You do not feel pain in whatever style you are putting your hair in. Your styling allows you to leave your hair alone for a few days at a time.
Note: If you are doing your hair every day, you are leaning towards high manipulation. If you take your hair out of one protective style and immediately put it into another, you are leaning towards high manipulation. To combat this, always have a go-to style you can do. This style should be done and left alone for a few days before you do it again. Low tension buns or pony tails, mini-braids and mini-twists, braiding or threading hair and wrapping it in a scarf, wearing cornrows and using wigs. These are all examples of how to keep your hands out of your hair for a bit.
The Stigma of African American Culture
For Black women, high manipulation is a big part of the culture. Doing your hair all the time, styling it, sleeking your edges, manipulating your hair to look a specific level of presentable. But originally, African people would do their hair and leave it alone. This is the true heritage of African-origin hair. It is not a secret, and yet it still is. We have to learn to let our hair breathe. Like us, our hair needs space to be left alone. Our hair needs to be free to be itself. Many people who started implementing this principle, saw drastic changes in their length retention. Their hair finally started to take length and thickness. The hair growth is always astounding.
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A wonderful hair gem! This hair gem is not new but it is something to think about. Part 2 is coming next week Thursday! Stay tuned and start to implement these principles in your hair journey. You will see changes, regardless of where you are. Follow the socials, Instagram and Tik Tok: @africanhaircarescience. Make sure to subscribe for personal updates. See you next week :)
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