Lori van Echtelt from the Netherlands
If I had a euro for every time a guy called me up and asked me what he can get for his girlfriends hair because “she is wearing a weave and I hate it”. I would be on a private island somewhere. We have seen the explosion of weaves not only within the black community but with white women as well. I can understand that there is a convenience to wearing weaves. It is “get up and go” hair but we are paying an emotional and financial price.
I have dealt with way too many women who are just plain addicted to their weaves. They will not stop weaving their hair even though they are losing their hair to weaving. I have seen women with absolutely no hairlines. First off, not every hairdresser is skilled at weaving. If it is pulling on your hair that is just not good. Some customers like it tight because they feel the weave will last longer. However the weave is pulling on the customers own hair. After a time the customer will develop traction alopecia. What is traction alopecia? It is baldness as the result of pulling on the hair. This can also be caused by tight ponytails and braids. In some cases the hair will not come back. I have seen women in their early 20’s with complete hairline baldness. The scalp is completely smooth, no hair. Hairdressers will see this and ignore this because they are making the money. At this point the customer will then go to lace front wigs because the permanent damage has been done.
Also the hair is often neglected under the weave. Too often when the weave is taken out, a huge amount of hair breaks off. The hair has not been moisturized while wearing the weave. Wearing a weave is not an excuse for neglecting the hair underneath. Sometimes the customers own hair is accidentally pulled out during the weave removal process. It is upsetting.
I had a hairdresser say to me, “why do women wear weaves, it just does not look good”. I told her that she is honest but not all hairdressers are honest. I am against weaves but if you do choose to temporarily wear a weave, it should look undetectable. It should be “be-weaveable”. Nothing looks as bad as a weave that screams fake Asian/Brazilian hair.
Weaves are not a solution to not loving your hair. If you do not love your hair, other people can see it and feel it. You are not fooling anyone. There is an interesting show on TV where they asked total strangers to give their opinion about a person they just saw. It was amazing how accurate they were. We are sending out a message to the world when we step outside the door about how we REALLY feel about ourselves.
Children and weaves…. I am totally against seeing children with weaves. Children are still developing. I think it is just ridiculous to put fake hair in the head of a little girl. She is beautiful just the way she is. She will learn to love herself from her family. I felt beautiful as a little girl because I learned that from my mother. Even though I was an underweight and a bit odd looking. I felt beautiful in the world. If you are a parent, do not let that critical period in a child’s life slip by.
The hair from weaves is often not hygienic. Forensic scientists have found skin cells from the hairs original owner attached to the weave!!! The hair should be washed prior to use. They are treated with chemicals before transport.
Weaves are not an excuse for proper hygiene. I have asked women, “when was the last time that you washed your hair/weave?” and I would hear silence. The smell of the weave was just stomach turning. A weave should be in for a short time, not for 6 months!
The amount of money that we are spending to walk around with someone else’s hair is staggering. Really.
I cannot stop thinking about the economically disadvantaged women who shave their hair because they need the money. We as women know how emotional hair is. I could not walk around with that energy on my head.
I have worn weaves in the past. I stopped when my partner told me how it really looked. I thank him for his honesty. Sometimes the truth hurts. Never again for me.
Please visit the following link “Whose Hair is it anyway?” By pop artist Jamelia. It is a 6 part video
If you need help breaking your weave addiction, do not hesitate to contact me via Mariposa Import. I have helped so many women to end their weave addiction and to enjoy the freedom of their own beautiful hair.
Love Your Hair!
Lori
Mariposa Import
Lori van Echtelt is the owner and founder of Mariposa Imports (MI), based in the Netherlands. She was on the Black Women in Europe™ 2010 Power List. Mariposa Import started in February 2004. It is the first and original shop focused on curly and frizzy hair in Western Europe. MI specializes in unique, high quality, hair and skin products from America and Afrika. We only sell products we ourselves use. The products we sell do not contain mineral oil or petrolatum, ingredients which block moisture absorption by the hair. We select products is based on our personal experience and that of our friends.
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Hopefully more women will decide to go natural. I’ve been natural for almost 3 years and it’s going very well. It became a hobby learning about how to care for my hair, watching videos, reading blogs, mixing my own products. I think many women would like it if they just gave it a try.
Approaching it like a hobby is a good idea, I think. And I’ve learned I have to slow down when it comes to handling my hair.
Elegance, thank you for that comment. I am a big lover of hobbies. If we see it as taking baby steps, then it is not overwhelming. I say to “Make it fun”. One week twists, the other bantu knots. The possibilities are endless. Thanks again for idea.
Hey Lori like what you had to say on the topic of weaves I think the addiction to weaves can be a symtom of a black woman not loving her own hair and of the believe that only hair that looks a certain way is acceptable. Some people use weaves as a type of protective style and that is ok but it would be nice if they woukd let their own hair out to play sonetimes and how do you learn to love your own natural hair if you never see it .
Gr. from MisRoos on Twitter
Hi MisRoos, Girlfriend I am so in agreement with you. I have known many black women who prefer the fake Chinese hair to their own even when you tell them that it does not look good on them. You can look directly into their eyes and the eyes never lie. You can see that they really hate their hair. This is not for all black women but it is the case for some. If they only knew how absolutely beautiful they are, they would not hide. I have told many a sista that they are so beautiful and ask them why are they hiding? Some have cried. Others in the beauty industry are getting rich off the low-self esteem of others. Its strange, there is a part of me that really dislikes the beauty industry and that is why I approach it from a perspective of getting women to really fall in love with authentic selves. This world would be a better place. MisRoos, thank you sweetie for your input. Girl power!
haha ppl on this crap forum are so dumb. everybodies preferences vary. I personally like wearing weaves and if you ppl don’t like it then tough cause i dont care what ppl think. i wear weaves cuz i can change the style of my hair as i get bored with my hair sometimes. you kind of people are making it out to be that weave wearers are the ones with the problem but infact complainers like you are the ones with the problem cuz you can’t accept the fact that ppl have different oppinions on hair. get over yourselves and if you don’t like it then don’t look at them duh!
Well, if we’re going to be 100% honest I think we all know that the primary reason most women (but mainly Black women) wear weaves is to get and keep a man! Those guys who claim they hate the weaves irritate me. They’re the same damn men who claim they hate makeup but they rubberneck women who have a pound of war paint on their faces! I guarantee if their girlfriend/wife went natural meaning “nappy short hair in a TWA” and NO MAKEUP they would be upset and even break up up with her in favor of another Diva with a “weave-a” and a face that looks like it was done by Technicolor! It’s too bad women can’t stand up to pressure and overcome their fear of datelessness.. and decide the hell with this I’m going to be myself and if you don’t like it, oh well. Also, children should NOT have weaves or even relaxers. Not all healthy for the hair or the self-esteem.
Wow…what a defensive post.
yh i agree it was defensive but it just annoys me. It seems like lori has a problem.i mean it was ok when lori was wearing weaves but all of a sudden when someone said their personal opinion she stopped wearing them and now whoever wears weaves are wrong and hate themselves. so its only ok when she does it (double standards). I personaly prefer straight long hair but i cant acheive that with my natural hair so i wear a weave, plus it saves me time doing my hair in the morning for work. Lori you need to accept ppl for who they are, you need to understand that everyone is different in terms of style so there is no right or wrong especially for hair, if it was wrong to wear a weave for the reason of not liking ur own hair then there would have been some kind of law that forbids that. therefore u have no right to tell people what is right or wrong, do you think your god or something?. oh and when u said u are against seeing children wearing weaves, it is none of ur business, its the business of the that particular mother and that daughter, its not like the child is being abused it is just hair! I think ur main problem is the fact that you care WAY! too much about what ppl think so you put ur feelings aside to please the world. for example theres ppl that dnt like tattoos, does that mean i should stop wearin tattoos and get it removed cuz of wat strangers who i’ll probably never see again think? some ppl say that wearing make up means that ur showing the world that u selfhate and ur hiding ur true self, does that mean its wrong to wear makeup and also every human on this planet is different behind closed doors. we r human we r simply not made to be perfect machines. oh and one more point which really angered me. you said ”weaves are not a solution for not loving ur hair, if u do not love ur hair people can see it and feel it” and my responce to that is that why should i care about what strangers (who wont even meet me again) think about my hair its just hair! its like clothing or shoes. if i said something about them i hardly think they are going to go all loopy and write a blog about how they used to have their hair like this blah blah. and as for ppl who cut their hair to sell it, its their choice i dnt think they r forced to do it love. Live ur life and lori i hope u can just be a little more selfish and wear things because YOU like it not because of someones honest opinion. have a nice day goodbye!