Parting the Back of Your Head: Optional Suggestions

Short answer: You do not need to see the back of your head to part it. Divide your hair into sections you can feel, use the clips as landmarks, work each back section by touch from the crown downwards, and check with a phone camera only if you want to. The parts will be less tidy than the ones you make in the mirror, and that is fine. Everything below is an editorial suggestion, not a tested or validated method.

Why the back is harder

At the front, your eyes guide the comb. At the back, your hands must do the guiding, and they are working upside down and in reverse. The trick is to stop relying on sight and build a routine around touch and landmarks instead.

Suggestion 1: Set up landmarks before you start

1. Detangle first, so parts open rather than snag.
2. Make a centre part from the front hairline as far back as you comfortably can.
3. Make a second part across the head from ear to ear, over the crown. You now have four sections: two front, two back.
4. Clip each section. The clips are your map. You can feel where one section ends and the next begins.

If your hair is short, skip the clips and use the shape of your head as the map: the crown at the top, the bony ridge at the back, and the nape at the bottom.

Suggestion 2: Find the part by touch

Release one back section. With the tail end of a comb or a fingertip, trace a line from the crown downwards and let the hair fall to either side. Run a fingertip along the line. If you feel skin in a continuous strip, you have a part. If you feel hair crossing the line, trace it again.

One optional habit: keep the hand that is not holding the comb flat against the hair just beside the part. It holds the line open and tells you where you are.

Suggestion 3: Work the comb by feel

Bring the tips to the top of the part, where you can feel the line open, and draw slowly downwards along it. Go slower than you would at the front; you are steering by touch. Then move a small step to the side, make the next part, and repeat across the section before moving to the next.

Two orientations are worth trying, because wrists differ:

• Elbow up: reach over the top of your head and draw the comb from crown towards nape.
• Elbow down: reach behind and draw upwards from the nape. You may find this steadier on the lower back sections.

Suggestion 4: Keep count rather than looking

Instead of trying to see what you have covered, count. Decide how many parts you will make in each back section, and count them off as you go. Counting does not tell you the coverage is perfect, but it stops you repeating one strip three times and missing the next.

Optional checks

• Phone camera: a quick photo of the back after the first section shows you how your parts are landing. Use it to adjust your angle, not to chase perfect lines.
• Two mirrors: a hand mirror held behind your head, reflected in a wall mirror, works if you are comfortable with reversed movements. If the reversed image confuses you, touch alone is enough.
• A second pair of hands: if someone in your household is helping, ask them to make the back parts while you hold the clips.

Honest limits

Parts you make by feel will not be as straight as the ones you make in front of a mirror. Hair that is very dense or very short can be harder to part by touch. Neither is a failure. These are practical suggestions rather than a tested method, so keep whichever steps work for you and drop the rest. An applicator is for placing oil along a part; it cannot make the part for you.

Where the comb fits

The NIB COMB applicator is designed to be drawn along an open part with its seven metal tips against the line, and you draw it the same way at the back as at the front, only more slowly. It is sold empty; bring your own oil and your own landmarks.

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No. 006 · Catalogue note. Fig. 01, the cover photograph, shows oil for illustration only. NIB COMB is sold empty: a clear applicator holding about 4 ml, with exactly seven metal tips, a silicone cap and a dropper. Oil not included. Single $17.99 · Pair $29.99 · Trio $39.99 USD, with free worldwide shipping, 4–8 business days. Orders arrive in 4–8 business days, including 2 business days to prepare your shipment. Unopened combs can be returned free within 30 days of delivery; see the refund policy.