They Can’t Hide Their Love!!!
By: Tommy “Tj” Sotomayor

WEAVE FETISH OR ADDICTION???

I remember when Tyra had that show where she took out her weave for all those women that have never left their home without a weave, women whose boyfriends have never touched their scalp,  she called it “National Real Hair Day”. She raised some eyebrows, Joy Bryant quoted “Hi, I am Joy and i’m a weave- aholic”. lol! I found it funny as hell! But it got me thinking, are a lot of black women or even women in general addicted to weave, I mean when does it go from just switching your look like switching shoes to an addiction?

While watching the Tyra Banks show, I was shocked to see her rocking her real hair which looked way better than the road kill she wore sometimes. Then I saw Solange rocking her bald head. Just recently Octavia Spencer rocked her nappy look at the Oscars. More celebs like, Gabrielle Union, Ashanti, Mary J Blige, and Oprah, rocking their real hair too. While regular girls like me spend so much money on all kinds of weaves, yaki, silky yaki, remi, outre, Indian Brazilian even African sef in this recession…. I see celebs like Beyonce spending 60 thousand dollars on weaves. Rihanna, Lil Kim, Trina, Ciara, Keri Hilson and her 27 pieces…. even white babes like the Kardashians and Britney Spears spend thousands on weaves.

Beyonce without weave

The media is a major factor in deciding the standards of beauty, so all those long beachy waves have not only black girls getting weaves but white girls too. However black girls are the biggest buyer in this industry. Ladies, Do remember celebs have personal stylists who care their weave and their own hair and loads of money at their disposal so you cant always follow everything they do.

“I think I have an addiction”. This is what I hear most ladies saying nowadays in reference to their weave when i try to tell them to take a break, treat their hair or go completely natural if they intend to wear it ALL the time, because the natural hair can stand up to the neglect better than the relaxed hair. I usually win when I have my clients go natural under the weave. MOST CELEBS ARE COMPLETELY NATURAL UNDER THEIR WEAVE. Weave is definitely super convenient , and if installed correctly,it is FAB!! I love a weave. Weaves are very low maintenance and can aid in allowing one to give their own hair a rest from heat styling and such, allows you to transition from a haircut and such

The weave SHOULD BE a tool and not a crutch.

But, far too often it worn AS a person’s hair. To the point where the person is not whole or complete unless they have their unit in place. Or the person’s hair is so damaged underneath that they cannot wear their own hair with confidence. My motto is weave should be an option and not a necessity.

this should NOT be u under your weave

For some weave has become the new crack, they spend their last dime on it and do not feel whole without it. They are those that want to be in the latest like rihanna and buy the most expensive remi and want to owe the hairdresser, they want to buy “a hair” at the expense of sending their kids to school, they owe rent, bills or they borrow because they cannot be caught dead in the streets without it. There has even been reported cases of ladies stealing weave out the store, like seriously????

weave store clerk,

  Now, I have to be real in saying….I’m not willing to give up the weave completely, I LOVE the alter ego I can switch to with long curly hair, but balance is key if you realize that you NEED a weave fix. If you have a weave bill that you cant afford and you hate the mirror without your weave, you may have a problem.

As a stylist here’s MY take:

I believe that weave is a major part of our style culture and i love it, if it makes a woman feel good then I guess it serves of some purpose, however I still feel that it is not healthy because it is very detrimental to the way some women view their hair. I look to the media for trends, yet i still believe women shouldn’t mimic celebs to a tee, but hey thats just me. I just don’t fully understand why black women are the targeted customers of the weave, & overall beauty supply success. I mean these beauty supplies making tremendous amounts of money off of us, just so that we can buy products that take us away from the essence of our natural beauty. It hurts me sometimes that black women/girls have allowed it to go this far, and even more so, that most of us actually believe that we have “bad” hair and use it in a negative tone, when really black hair is beautiful just like all our skin tones so are the textures of our hair. I LOVE DOING BLACK HAIR, I LOVE MY CAREER, each hair is so unique and gives a different result. I think a lot of black women have these stereotypes about their own hair, and they dismiss the idea of taking care of their hair in order to get it to that state of health. I wish more black females could see that, but it is what it is, and AS A STYLE GIVER & LOVER I just want everyone to be happy, and take care of their hair regardless of how they wear it.

SO Just think about it:  do you have a fetish or an addiction?

Addict or Not, PLEASE LOVE YOURSELVES FIRST

Happy Styling & Weave Rockin’,

One LOVE 😉

Malibu