Hola, curlies! Today, I want to talk about
protective styling. Of course, this is a popular topic among the natural hair community. Everyone has their different ways of doing protective styling, from braids, twists, buns, cornrows, updos, tuck and pins, and several others.
Protective styling is simply a method that protects the precious ends of your hair from the outside elements, therefore preventing breakage and dryness. It's very beneficial, and long term usage of PSing (protective styling) helps to retain length to your tresses due to lack of constant manipulation. This is how dreadlocks grow so long; they never have to be touched.
But the problem that I have been facing lately is that some women think that the only way to fully protect their hair is to rock weaves. Everybody and their mamas (literally) are getting weaves as their summer style. A lot of them believe that that is the only way.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not
knocking the weaves. They are cute and stylish, but they are not for me. I'm just
not into the fakeness. I believe that if you have the ability to grow your hair, you shouldn't be trying to rock someone else's. If you know me personally, you know that I'm a die-hard natural, and I don't just mean with my hair. I mean with everything I
do. I don't wear make-up, mascara, fake nails, fake eyebrows, all that junk. I try to eliminate every unnatural chemical/compound from my life that I possibly can... that's just
me. I even make my own
toothpaste and
deodorant, for crying out loud. Weaves are just not for me. I have never worn one, and never will.
"Never say never!"
Yeah, right;
try me. >_>
Anyway, I understand that most people don't have time to do much with their natural hair when they are running out the door to work and what not. I don't have a problem with people wearing weaves sometimes. As long as it isn't something that's too tight on your scalp, then cool. But people who wear weaves
back to back as their PS... that's just not cool. Your hair doesn't have any time to breathe and recover. That's
still constant manipulation, whether you know it or not. Women fall in love with the length that they retain from wearing weaves, but they can lose that length if there is constant stress on the scalp from heavy fake hair. I just don't like people being pressured with it just because you don't have to really do your hair for like a month or so. Your real hair still needs pampering. I would never go an entire month without washing my hair or at least putting water on it.
At least with a wig, you can just take it off and tend to your real hair. Wigs look more fake, but you can still do your thing so that you don't lose the length of your hair. Weaves are
cool, but don't let that make you lose your hair underneath. No need to look cute for two months and end up bald in the process. O_O;
Weave Facts: Pros & Cons
1. Extensions are made up of synthetic fibers that normally aren't very heavy on your head.
2. Women don't have as much time to go to salons as they used to, so often a weave is the way to go.
3. Most weaves are very low-maintenance.
4. You can
experiment with weaves, which means you can try that new color that you're afraid to use on your real hair.
5. Weaves made up of real hair look more natural and can be styled as if it were your own hair.
6. You should still shampoo and condition weaves as if were your own hair.
7. Watch your hairline when wearing tight extensions. You can lose your edges over time.
8. Think about the principle of the matter. There are jokes about horses going naked (LOL) because of their tails being snipped, but it's true. There are men in India and other countries,
voluntarily chopping off women's ponytails against their will to sell to the US for money. Yes, all because we want to have that 'good hair'.
Demoralizing a woman so another woman millions of miles away can look cute with HER hair. That's just so wrong on many, many levels.
So before you try to wear a weave, think about why you really want to. If you know for a fact that you will miss your real hair within two weeks and have to take it down, then don't do it. If you're only getting one because all your friends have cute microbraids or Havana twists and you feel left out, don't do it. It's only peer pressure. Don't let
anyone force you into getting a weave if you know that technically, it's not your thing. And don't pressure anyone else into getting one, either. After all, it's not your head. If you love weaves to death, keep doing your thing. Just don't pressure anyone else with it!
Be like Shameless Maya... Do you, boo! ;)
Until next time, curlies!
~Epic Realist~
More styles like this at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curls-of-Innocence/256662627753918?ref=hl
