NW/SO Wouldn't preening damage hair? o:

[lll_Alice_lll]

Since you constantly have to touch the hair all the friction would seem to damage it.. ><

[Aderyn]

Well, the hair would be coated in sebum which would really, really help cut down on the damage from the friction.

[lll_Alice_lll]

Well, the hair would be coated in sebum which would really, really help cut down on the damage from the friction.

True but that's after you did it xD

[Nique1202]

True but that's after you did it xD

Yeah, but you're preening to push the sebum down the hair shaft, if I understand the process. So, your fingers get coated in the sebum AND you're pulling it down the hair shaft as you go, protecting it as soon as you get there.

[Aderyn]

You typically don't preen day one of going NW/SO, you usually have a decent amount of sebum built up anyway. Nor is preening something you have to do every 5 minutes. After you preen once or twice, you will have sebum down the length of your hair to protect it from friction anyway.

Regardless, you don't need to treat hair like a vintage lace tablecloth that you cannot touch ever, hair is fairly strong and is quite resilient. It can handle being washed regularly, detangled daily and manipulated for hairstyles.. so I'm pretty sure it can handle a bit of preening. :p

[proo]

I preen in twists, milking sebum down the length as I twist,
always going with the cuticle.
Once my scalp got used to NW, it stablized: no flakes, little shed, alot less sebum.
I preen once every few days, takes about 5 minutes, so there's not much manipulation.
Sebum seems to contribute strength to the hair, provides great root lift
and imho is far better than product at maintaining an updo.
It's tempting and advisable in the beginning to over preen till the scalp calms down
after which the process becomes quick, easy and very hair-friendly.

[Horrorpops]

Hmmmm, I didn't think preening required that much friction? I'm not WO or SO but I still massage my scalp and preen a little, just to stimulate my scalp. When I do it, I do it pretty gently. Using the pads of my fingers and not tugging or rubbing the hair in any vigorous or rough way.

I imagine it all depends on how you do it - kinda like brushing. :)

[LadyCelestina]

Yes it does cause damage,but for people who do NW/SO,it likely causes much less damage than they would get with shampooing or other washing methods,or they prefer the way their hair feels when they go NW/SO and preening is a necessary part of making it work.

The sebum coating probably also helps to protect the hair a bit.