Hair Type: All
Hair Porosity: All
Hair Sensitivities: All
Hair Goal: All
(Read the previous blog to catch-up!) Low manipulation is a very important one. It is overlooked because manipulation comes in many forms. Washing, styling, pressing, braiding, twisting, combing, brushing, smoothing, etc. These are all forms of manipulation. Everyone does it and it is easy to constantly manipulate your hair. The definition of manipulation is simply the act of doing something to your hair. This principle does not fully distinguish between hair porosities but through curl patterns and textures/densities. Simply put, the tighter your curl pattern, the less manipulation your hair needs to flourish. The finer and less dense your hair is, the less manipulation you need as well.
Washing, Detangling, and Heat
Washing your hair is a highly manipulative process. From detangling, vigorously scrubbing your scalp, dumping high amounts of water into your hair, putting heavy conditioners/treatments/masques and washing it out, blotting or drying with a towel, etc. The entire process is very intensive AND extensive. There is no way around it. Washing your hair more than once a week is simply overkill. You are damaging your hair way more than doing it good. Remember, good hair care is all about balance. Just because something is good for you, does not mean you need to over-do it.
Brushing, combing, and overall detangling is also a highly manipulative process. Do it only when necessary. Do not get into the habit of constantly combing or brushing hair. Especially when you blowout or silk press hair.
Which leads me to heat. Heat in itself, manipulates your curls into a straight hairs. Blowout, hot comb, or silk press (flat iron). All these methods are added manipulation and can temporarily or permanently damage your curl pattern if you are not knowledgeable of your hair porosity, texture, and hair sensitivities. Be mindful of how much heat you use and how often. If you heat train, still take a break and stretch your hair in other ways. Always balance your heat usage with other non-heat methods like threading, braid-outs, or twist-outs.
Braid-outs, Twist-outs, Bantu Knot-Outs...All the OUTS
These types of styles require one to manipulate your hair into the style. You apply a liquid/cream and set with an oil/gel then braid, twist, etc. You then take it down and separate/fluff it out into your desired style. The process can become super manipulative when done every single day until washday. If you notice you are not seeing growth in length, strength, or volume. This may be the reason. This is a beautiful style but so much manipulation encourages breakage. Give your hair a break.
Solution: After the first takedown of the style, place in a pineapple or scrunchie(s) and cover with a silk bonnet. Refresh by fluffing the next day. You can use a few drops of oil on your fingertips of spritz with water/conditioner or hair milk VERY lightly as to not disrupt your curls.
You can also take an old braid-out style, for example, fluff or brush into a puff, ponytail, or bun. Tie hair in scarf and place bonnet for sleep. Take off both scarf and bonnet and your style should be good to go.
The Low Maintenance Styles
The styles that do not require attention from day to day. Puffs, ponytails, and buns. You can wear these styles for days without re-doing or taking down. These are great low manipulation styles but still require some attention. You must make sure they are not straining or pulling out your hair. If you wear high puffs, make sure you pay attention to the front of your hair. If you wear low pony tails and buns, the back or kitchen area is at risk of breakage and traction alopecia. If you wear ponytails, the middle of your hair in that ponytail is at risk of breakage.
You can initially sleek your hair into a low bun, for example, and tie a scarf and bonnet at night. Take down scrunchie for relief and to mitigate breakage. Put back on. Re-sleeking, brushing, and tying is manipulation so keep that in mind.
Solution: There should be no personal pressure to have "neat" hair. Our hair does not need to always be sleeked and slicked to be considered neat, beautiful, or professional. Embracing your hair means embracing the nature of your hair. Its curliness, frizziness, and nappiness is absolutely and utterly beautiful.
There is a trending style going on called mini twists and mini-braids. You do single twists and braids and leave your hair like this for weeks at a time. You can style the twists or braids in whatever you so choose. I can't say that this is less manipulative than all your hair out, to be honest. You are still manipulating and touching your hair but it is a great way to stretch your hair and reduce tangling.
Sleeking Them Edges
Highly intensive and manipulative. Edge controls are usually heavy and thick and the bristles used to sleek them are usually thick, stiff, and very hard. Edge hairs, also known as baby hairs, are usually fine and fragile. Sleeking them everyday can damage your edges over time.
Solution: Give your edges room to breathe. Embrace your natural edge hairs. They are curly, coily, or wavy. That is fine. Sometimes, put the edge control down! Lastly, wash your edges before applying another coat of edge control. This will keep your hair and scalp from suffocating and hair from falling off. You can use a warm washcloth, your fingers, or simply wash your face. Washing your face will also wash your edges and keep them fresh. Your facial wash is gentle enough for your edges (or it should be lol).
Intensive Protective Styles
Braids, Senegalese twists, faux locs, passion twists, soft locs, bohemian braids, cornrows, sew-ins, french braids, wigs, you name it. All styles that use extensions and are called protective styles. Are they truly low manipulation?
Yes and NO. Yes, the style requires minimal manipulation once it is done. It protects some or most of your hair from the environment and keeps your hands out of your hair. No, meaning to do the style, the amount of combing, parting, product, braiding, pulling, etc...it is intense. And highly manipulative. All the work to put that protect into the style. Is it truly worth it? Not always. Many a time, the work done in the beginning cancels out the true purpose of the "protective" style. There are some instances where many have taken down their protective style and experienced breakage and hair loss. One also has to understand that extensions are added weight to your hair and scalp. The heaviness of the hair can cause hair to break off and scalp to suffer. These are why I call them intensive protective styles.
Solution: Know your limit. There will be articles in the future that go into detail about intensive protective styles and each hair types limit. But knowing your limit and what styles do not work for your hair is key. Do research on the style. For example, seeing too many videos about the issues of taking down soft locs was the reason why I decided not to do them. I did not want to deal with my ends breaking off or accidently cutting my hair. Researching the hairstylist and their policies help as well. Ask the models in their videos questions about their hair and their experience. Take your time before you jump into someone's chair. Not everyone who does hair actually loves taking care of hair. Intensive protective hairstyles should be done gently and lovingly. And one should analyze the hair and be honest with their clients.
Lastly, never go past 6 weeks in an intensive protective style. Past 4 weeks is pushing the limit. Give your hair a break before going into a new protective style. 2 weeks to 3 months between styles is a good enough break. 2 weeks is honestly pushing it for some hair textures.
🌸Make Sure to Subscribe
The Principle of HairCare series is coming to a close! Stay tuned for the last principle and more wonderful updates. I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope it helps someone understand how manipulation can really affect hair growth. Make sure to subscribe to the social media pages, Instagram and Tik Tok: @africanhaircarescience. Subscribe for personal updates on the next article. See you next week :)
Comments