09/09/2014
SECRETS TO A GREAT WEAVE.....
Invest in a good weave and treat it like you would your real hair, wash it, condition it and moisturize it with the right products. But don’t forget to groom and care for your natural hair under the weave
Weaves are complicated affairs. The relationship is fraught so if you don’t pick the right partner from the beginning, you’re in trouble.
Trying to make a cheap weave look good is like trying to turn arm candy into an intellectual. It’s either them from birth or not. Weaves carry a whole lot of stigma which is bound to happen if you just slap it on and get on with your busy life.
As protective hairstyles, weaves are loved by the Black female community. They should, ideally, take the headache out of hair care while allowing your own hair to do its thing, which is grow uninterrupted.
The problem is weaves are not as low maintenance as you think. You must treat it as you would your own hair – which is with kindness, gentleness and understanding. Having a good weave starts long before it goes on your head.
Lay the foundation by investing in 100 per cent silicone-free human hair. Silicone interferes with a host of treatments and things you might want to do such as colour or using heat. It costs a whole lot more, but it is worth it. Invest, and treat it right and it will be worth a years’ worth of wearing.
Think of it this way. If a weave costs Sh40,000, and you use if for 365 days, you will be spending Sh109.5 on your hair, daily. Do a deep conditioning treatment before putting the weave on your head.
What kind of look are you going for? Most women want long and straight, but this should only be for those who have the time and patience to take care of it. To have a weave sit properly on your head, get it professionally cut. Get a razor cut.
Don’t get a weave on and think that’s the end of it. Weaves look terrible because of how badly we treat them. It won’t take care of itself or repair itself when it gets damaged.
Get a precise cut. It won’t grow out, which is fantastic, so you get to keep this look suited to your complexion and face shape for a couple of months. With human hair, the texture grows curly when wet, so you have two options on which to build your looks. Keep that in mind for your cut.
If you must, get a separate person to colour, another to cut and another to weave. They should all be really good at what they do. Longer weaves, 16’ to 21’ look better when curly and fuller rather than bone straight.
Always take care of your scalp. Weaves smell for the silliest of reasons. Don’t use creams or butters on your hair. It gets caught in the tracks. When you wash your hair and treat it, which you should do with human hair weaves, apply treatment only on your weave, not hair, and always rinse it off thoroughly.
The steps are shampoo, condition, treat. Do not use that Olive Oil Sheen Spray. It makes you hair heavy, and less bouncy and it looks cheap and synthetic. Instead, a trick my colourist taught me, spray your paddle brush with sheen spray then brush lightly through your hair.
Look for a hair serum to apply on your scalp. Don’t apply hair lotion, cream or oil on the weave itself. It tangles your hair, leaves it with a gunky feel when it needs to be light and airy.
When you colour your weave, treat it as you would coloured hair. Deep condition it and use hair colour care products to preserve the colour. Use a moisture treatment on it. It left my hair so silky I can’t tie it into a ponytail, which, incidentally, is a great thing.
Apply castor oil regularly and lightly on it to prevent a Naomi Campbell hairline. Wear a satin or silk wrap to bed. Stockings cause stuffiness, which cause it to smell. Brush your hair before bed to prevent tangling the next day.
Wipe the scalp of your hair with witch hazel or surgical spirit every few days.
Tracks take long to dry. Use light oil such as argan designed to be absorbed fully by the skin, on your scalp. Dryness will compromise the quality of your own hair when you eventually take the weave off. Get a bottle with a slim nozzle and apply oil in between your tracks, on your own hair, and not the weave, or will it turn greasy, heavy and matted. Wash your hair twice in a month depending on your lifestyle.
If you work out or sweat a lot once a week does it. Use sulphate-free shampoo. Here is the catch. Ideally, treat your hair twice a month at the very least and alternate moisture and protein treatments.
The latter helps your own hair repair and restore itself, but too much of it, or one without the other makes your hair brittle. Consider a leave in treatment, something watery like Infusium 23 which sinks through the layers of hair to your own hair.
Use a spray bottle for that, preferably during the day and allow to air dry. It has a fresh scent. Never go to bed with damp hair or a wet weave unless you like that musty smell!
In six to eight weeks, about the same amount of time you need to retouch colour, relaxer or texturizer, take off your weave. Give yourself a couple of weeks to reintroduce yourself to your own hair.
Find out how it’s doing. Is it breaking, weaker, stronger, longer, thicker and fuller? Is your scalp itchy or dry? Deep condition, treat and use minimal heat during this period. This is what it means to let your hair breathe. Don’t move immediately from one weave to the other.
