4 Tips for weave wearers with natural hair

The natural hair movement is on the rise and in full swing. Many women have stopped using chemical relaxers and are rediscovering their natural hair. Despite the new trend, women's quest for long hair has not diminished. Most have found it difficult to equate the natural look with hair length gains since this is not automatic.

For it to be long without chemicals, however, it would have to be blow-dried, which in essence, means exposing the hair to heat.

Natural hair, especially for blacks is weak and as such, it only does well when not constantly handled, ie, leaving it alone. One can make hair length gains by wearing weaves. They fill the gap for women who want great looking hair, while keeping their natural hair hidden and uninterrupted underneath (called a protective hairstyle in natural hair circles). However, even as you wear the weave and keep your own hair, you may come across a few challenges. So how do you sail through them?

Leave out minimal hair: When you wear a weave, you do so to protect your hair and as such, it is important you leave out as little of your own hair as possible. The more hair you leave out, the more potential damage can be caused to your strands. This also means you will have to manipulate your hair, increasing chances of your hair breaking. The weave is meant to protect your hair from harsh elements like weather or friction. If you want total protection of your hair, wear your weave with a lace closure. Your hairdresser should be able to guide you on this.

Weave texture: Choose those as close to your real hair as possible. This limits the amount of manipulation that has to be done to the hair in order to get it to blend naturally. For your kinky hair, wearing dead straight weaves and leaving out part of the hair to blend is a mistake. Since our hair tends to revert when exposed to humidity, daily flat ironing will keep your hair looking seamless and blending well but the heat may damage your hair. Your goal is to avoid any use of heat like blow driers or flat irons while wearing your weave. Deep wave and kinky curly weave textures will blend better with such hair.

Duration: Ensure you wear the weave for a maximum six weeks at a time. Kinky hair has a tendency to get tangled and matted more easily than straight hair. When you keep your weave on for long, it will lead to serious matting, which also leads to excessive breakage because you are forced to de-tangle your hair when you remove the weave. Matting can sometimes be so bad that one is forced to cut the hair.

Avoid synthetic hair weaves: Synthetic weaves may be cheap but they have a more drying effect on the hair than natural weaves. Synthetics strip moisture from your natural hair and are not able to hold on to moisturising oils like human hair weaves. They can also lead to an itchy scalp. Good quality human hair weaves may be a bit expensive but are the best option.