The Pros and Cons of Having a Weave

We've always been super-curious about weaves, so we're thrilled that Naomi is here to give us the deets!—Sparkitors

As a person of African descent with horribly frizzy natural hair, I chose to get myself a weave.

What is a weave, you may ask? Well, it's basically your real hair combined with synthetic or human hair pieces. Sometimes, all you can see are the hair pieces. Other times, they are used more like extentions.

I tend to go with a braided weave, because my mom won't let me get a full one, as some things should wait for when you're older (her words, not mine).

According to the grapevine, everybody likes to hear the bad news first, so I will start with that.

Cons

You have to repeatedly get your hair done. Over and over again. It never ends. I get mine done about every month to six weeks. Some weaves last longer, but those tend to be more expensive ($120, $180, $200, etc.)

When you get it done, it will take FOREVER. Just kidding. But it will take a while. The time varies, depending on who does your hair, but mine takes about three hours. The longest it’s ever taken was six hours. Not fun. At all.

After a while, your natural hair will blossom through the braids. You know when somebody dyes their hair, and after a while, their natural color starts to show at the roots? It’s kind of like that, except a bit more “raggedy” looking. Which is partly why you must get it redone.

Taking out the braids is a drag. It takes at least an hour, usually two or three, my hands get tired, and all that I have to get me through are countless episodes of Glee, Pretty Little Liars, and Modern Family.

Now for the good stuff! Pros:

Versatility! Do you hate straight hair? You can have curly hair! Do you hate curly hair? You can have straight hair! I am personally attracted to curly hair. So I get it. And I don’t have to worry about waking up in the morning and straightening or curling my hair. I just wake up, finger comb my hair, and it looks great!

The versatility also applies to hair colors as well—you can literally get any color you want. YAY FOR EVERYONE!

Super-easy styling. I love that I hardly have to put any effort into my hair. I mean, for Pete’s sake! I already take long enough on my makeup. If I had to style my hair as well, my first period class would not know who I was.

I don’t have to wash my hair as often. Also. the oily/greasy thing isn’t a problem. I know some girls are obsessive about washing their hair every day with shampoo and conditioner, but that's a hassle that I can happily avoid!

There are a lot of options. Short hair, long hair, light hair, dark hair. There are a lot of varieties so you can find the one that's PERFECT for you!

It looks pretty natural. If you get a color that goes with your skin tone and flatters you, people hardly ever know that it's not your actual hair!

No gray hairs! Gray hairs are one of my biggest fears about getting old, but with a weave, I don't have to worry about them!

Lastly…

Water doesn’t damage it (at least, not too much)! I can swim with my braids! And my curls stay perfect!

I’m guessing a weave isn’t an option for everybody, but I just wanted to share my “hair world” with other Sparklers!

We would LOVE to wake up with perfect hair! A weave sounds awesome to us—do any of you have one?

Related post: Fix Your Frizzy Nightmare Hair!