When I first started my healthy hair
journey, there was so much information at my fingertips, I was
overwhelmed. It was very easy for me to skip over important details
and even easier for me to become confused. One thing that I was often
confused about was protective styles and low manipulation styles. I
thought they were synonymous. I was sadly mistaken and my hair took
the lashings for it in some instances. Thankfully, I know the
difference now and hopefully after reading through this you will too.
Protective Styles
A protective style does exactly what it
implies. Similar to how a lioness shields her cubs from danger, a
protective style protects your hair (more specifically the ends) from
the elements of the harsh environment from day to day. Common
protective styles are: braids, twists, buns, wigs, weaves (sew-ins),
hair pieces (phony ponies), and cornrows just to name a few. Please
keep in mind that just because it is a protective style, that doesn't
mean that your hair will not break. Without the proper care in these
styles, your hair can sustain severe damage! But that is for another
post.
Low Manipulation Styles
When we think of manipulation, many
often think about their ex, coworkers, family members, etc. It isn't
very often that one thinks of hair in terms of manipulation, but, it
is very easy to manipulate your hair if you think about it. Anytime
you touch, comb, blow-dry, brush, or fiddle with your hair in any way
shape or form, you are manipulating it. A low manipulation style is a
style that requires very little fuss, touching, combing etc. Most
times a person can finger-comb through the style (braid-outs and
twist-outs) or it is a style that may take some manipulation in the
beginning but then is left alone for days (corn rows). The bottom
line is when the low manipulation style is finished being styled it
is left alone for at least the rest of the day.
Now here is the confusing part, a
protective style can be a low manipulation style but a low
manipulation style isn't automatically a protective style. Remember
what a protective style does and you should be okay to remember the
difference. HHJ
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