Within the last week and especially these last two days I’ve come across a serious issue within the community. It’s a growing concern. I want to save all of you weave wearers from the “loss of edges” due to improper care of edges, as well as improper weaves.
The picture above of Naomi Campbell is SAD!!!
As reported by a gossip site, “The model, who was charged last week for alleged assault on an airline, appeared to have a receeding (receding…Lol what do you expect from a gossip site) hairline as she left a London police station on May 29th. That has been happening for a while,” Ragnarsson said. “The hair stylist Sam McKnight said to me in the ’90s, ‘She’d better be careful with those weaves, she’s going to lose her hair’.”
There’s so much to say about this crisis. Let’s start with just a simple instruction. When you are wearing a weave, and you leave your edges out (the best way to make the weave look natural), PLEASE remember that your edges are not part of the weave and the weave is not part of your hair. Thus….keep them separate when caring for your hair in the maintenance stage. Separate your hair from the weave by brushing your edges away from the weave, toward your face softly and with little product to make your hair manageable IF necessary. A great brush is the Mason Pearson…. my favorite. You will hear me talk about it again and again. 85% of my clients own a Mason Pearson. Now comb, brush or style your extension hair. After you have finished styling, blend your hair back in with the extensions softly. Rigorously brushing your edges into your extensions can and will cause breakage.
As far as the newer hair phenomenon….front lace wigs… they are Great if you don’t need your edges, Great for cancer patients, Great for hair loss, and Great for one-off events. NOT GREAT for regular use. NOT GREAT for growing your edges back. Ask Naomi, Tyra and soon, Beyonce.
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June 27th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Who does a weave a way that forms a nice circle around the hair looks real. I was told they he was in Ohio. thought that maybe you would know.
Sincerely,
DJ Ricks
June 27th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I would like know more about this type of weave.
June 28th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Hey DJ,
I don’t know the individual that you are talking about.
However, I do know that the technique that you are referring to is an older technique. And honestly, I would only use the technique if I was doing a full head of curly hair and left no hair out around edges. If you think about it, your hair doesn’t grow in a circle, so why put a weave in that way?
September 15th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
To all the ladies who have ruined there hair. I have to do a shameless plug for my stylist Dickey and HairRules.com. I was bald from dumb stuff and in less than a year I had a head full of hair and a new attitude about going natural.
November 21st, 2008 at 7:09 pm
what the hell is up with that weave? i have had some down right messed up weaves. Purple,yellow, green the whole goddamn rainbow. But never a weave that looks like this. Biggups to the hair dresser. You need a whuppin.
December 29th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Poor Naomi…her hair stylist must of been having a bad day
January 18th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
It’s unfortunate that so many black women believe they need weaves and perms to be pretty and that long, straight hair is the only way to be beautiful. I wear sister locks and they are one of the best natural styles in the world. My hair has never been fuller, healthier, thicker, or longer. And my hair grows! Have we really come as far as we’d like to believe when extensions and weaves and perms that damage our hair and undermine our credibility (weave jokes are meant to denigrate black women who wear them) are the norm and just about every black woman in the media wears her hair this way? I understand that in a white-controlled society, black women do what they have to do to get modeling and acting jobs, but where are the powerful black women who have already made it who can set a better example? It’s really incomprehensible to me that intelligent women like Oprah and Michelle Obama, for example, don’t realize that natural hair is just as, if not more, beautiful than fake hair or hair that has been straightened to the point of breaking off, thinning, and falling out.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Hmph.
(rolling up my sleeves)
Ok. I’m black. Not mixed. Black. Actually, West African. And I also happen to be a woman. Those two things never separate. Ever. And let’s be honest being such, its not an easy task. We are bombarded by a media that either belittles us and/or disparages our impenetrable beauty and our incredible ability to overcome, what so ever is laid at our feet. Or demonized by it…whichever you decide.
Let’s face it ladies: the argument about hair will never subside. Ever. It won’t– so we should just agree to disagree. Why? BECAUSE WE’RE WOMEN!! The very essence of beauty. And hair plays A HUGE ROLE IN THAT BEAUTY. Any women on the face of the planet has an opinion about her hair, ANY WOMAN. Whether it is highly fevered or a complacent one or even an apathetic one, its an opinion, nonetheless. I mean I agree that its unfortunate that some women NEED to wear wigs, weaves and perms to feel validated. Its sad, and I’ve been there but I (and I feel we all do) had to ask why myself why I do the things I do and love the things I love. You must do them for the right reasons, do them to fit you and who your are. I am: high maintenance, love beauty, love myself and my body and also love life and very much want to make the best out of said life. That’s just me. I love wigs, and weaves but I see them a part of me, I also love afros and am trying how best be able to grow mine out and still wear my wigs when I want to. Let this be said: I don’t give a damn about what anyone else thinks because if they don’t know what they’re talking about they will make their own assumptions anyway. We’re black women, and ignorant questions/comments about our hair will be made unless we keep it real. ITS BLACK HAIR. Its DIFFERENT. ITS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO DEAL WITH. Especially in a world not catered to us.
That is the fact of the matter.
ANYWAY–
If want to wear my hair a certain way, so I go to the means to do all that.
That’s me. And I love primping and love having pride in the way I look, but I know many many insanely gorgeous women that do half of what I do and rockin’ it til the wheels fall off. To me as black women, we cannot diverge on some something so silly as hair. We all have it. We all wanna do something with it. We all have days when it looks kinda crazy and we dont feel like messing with it or days when you have no idea why it looks this good. Its hair. Sometimes it has a life of its own.
Black women: we’re diamonds. So multifaceted, so drastically different from one another. We hold on to two incredible sets of ideologies, and can never put one down for the other. There’s no one else in the world that ever truly relates so we have the option to make our own damn rules, and its lovely. Lets embrace our differences and let our beauty shine. As I said before it is truly undeniable.
(went on for quite a bit. Whew. But it was necessary.)
March 27th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I feel you “sista!” All you have to do is braid your hair in cornrolls and then put your wig on. Holla!
May 14th, 2009 at 11:38 am
naomi campbell looks like a MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
June 1st, 2009 at 12:29 pm
i agree wiv u gwenie.d ,i myself am anatural but wont bash anyone 4 gettin a weave but they are damaging,if u want da striaght hair look myb get a wig these days wigs aren’t as conspicious as they used 2 b ladies.
August 12th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Hi Noel,
a couple of months ago I cut my hair off so that I could “start over.” (My hair was damaged badly from over perming it.) As a result i have a hair full of naturally healthy curly hair! The only problem is that its still short so I’m interested in trying weaves to have long hair when I want to. Unfortunately a lot of people tell me that I have to at least get a “kiddy perm” to make the weave manageable. i was wondering if you had any suggestions on what style of weaving would allow me to try out extensions without damaging my hair so much.
August 25th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Hi Noel,
I have naturally thin hair that doesn’t work well in most styles. Do you have any thickening techniques that you suggest? I do not have a perm, but when it is pressed out the thinning is so apparent! Help!
November 4th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I’ve been wearing weaves for 15 years. The best advice I have for keeping the edges healthy is to use a good conditioner everyday. I use Let’s Jam regular conditioning gel. It’s awesome for laying down edges and keeps them healthy. NEVER put a holding gel on the edges if you brush it out instead of washing it out it will break your hair off.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Marqswishia,
You don’t have to kiddie relax your hair! Press it out. There are products out there to help you keep your natural hair straight and to fight humidity.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Anglea,
First try going to see a dermatologist to make sure you’re not fighting a losing battle. Thinning hair can have multiple reasons. Read my blog on “Why is my hair thinning” You might want to do a mild permanent color. The opening of the hair shaft to deposit color plumps up the hair shaft.
March 18th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Girl you don't know what your talking about. Oprah does not wear weave. That is her real hair. And her hair is long and healthy. Rocking straight hair has nothing to do with wanting to be white or fit in a white world. I have rocked both relaxed and natural hair. I did this because I thought my natural hair was cute and I think my relaxed hair is cute.
March 18th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
That is a lite. Learn to do your own hair and you wont have that problem.
If you want a straight style get micro braids with straight hair or get a full sow in. Do not leave hair out because you have to flat iron