Braids are a form of protective styling. Not only do they help women alleviate the need, time, pressure and stress of daily hair maintenance but they can also help the hair grow. Before I decided to wear a braided bob which required my hair be trimmed, it had grown to mid back after years of wearing braided styles with breaks in between to let my natural hair breathe and reduce the chances of breakage around my edges.
Similar to braids, weaves are also a form of protective styling that help women’s hair grow. Weaves get a pretty bad rep and people who wear weaves, especialy black women, are often accused of being brainwashed. Many people in the natural hair community put them down for wearing hair that is not their original hair texture. Some say they are ashamed of their natural hair or they are adopting the style, texture flow of another race.
Now, first, we all know that people of color have all grades of hair and that no race owns one style or texture. Still, I recognize that a lot of women of African descent grew up with societal, media and even messages from their own family that are negative about their hair. To hear one’s natural hair being called “bad” or “unruly” or “nappy” or “kinky” or “hard-to-comb” or “hard to manage” or “hard to deal with” all one’s life can certainly cause a person to internalize a lot of hate towards one’s hair.
But simply put, a lot of women wear weaves because they give them a chance to have a wake up and go style. Like with braids, weave-wearers also do not have to necessarily style their natural hair everyday and can have their natural hair protected from heating implements, sun, water, wind and the atmosphere.
My baby sister, who is in her late 30s, asked me to take out her weave the other day and I was blown away at the length of her natural hair. She keeps her hair in weaves and so I do not remember the last time I even saw her natural hair. This is what it looked like. I mean it was as long as the weaves she wears and there was no breakage and the quality was pretty undamaged.
That’s pretty cool. The only concern is the stress on the hair of her edges which had causes some substantial breakage. That type of problem is why women need to give some time in between styles and insist their stylist does not pull too tightly or braid their edges too tightly. Also, they should remind their stylist to not sew in braids on their edges. Rather choose a style that covers up the edges.
Finally, use a hair growth balm like Sulfer8 or some other old school ointment on the edges scalp daily while wearing one’s hair in braids or weaves to limit damage and encourage healthy hair.
Good luck, ladies!
I am a content creator, social media agency owner, former attorney and publicist, wife and mom. I love working in cafes, wine, food and music festivals, Sunday brunch, home decorating, travel and life.