Traction alopeia and hair extensions

At what stage of your life does it become clear that you should stop wearing weaves? When it gets to be about the stage of Naomi Campbell's hairline (see photo).
Shocked and kind of angry was how I felt when I first saw the photo of Campbell's severely damaged hair line. If you have a passion for hair extensions, it should never be to the detriment of your own hair. Traction alopecia is sadly something most extension wearers are dealing with now after years of wear.
Alopecia is the clinical name for hair loss. Traction alopecia is a result of pulling the hair too tightly in a ponytail, which , according to a local dermatologist, "puts the hair margin under constant traction (pulling).”
Weaves and braids also of traction alopecia. But it should be noted that most women who suffer from it find wigs and weaves easy to cover up the balding areas.
Another cause of alopecia is relaxing the hair. If the chemical is left too long in the hair it can burn the scalp and cause damage to the hair.”
Hair loss in a woman can also have genetic causes. If a mother has lost her hair early in life; so will her daughter.
The condition is called female-pattern baldness, which 20 million American women are said to suffer each year.
When a woman loses hair, she usually does so in a different way from a man, with a woman’s hair loss being an overall thinning — two hairs where five used to be – rather than a bald area at the top of the head.
There are also some medical remedies for hair loss.
Rogaine, however, is approved for women and is said to be one of the better treatments for hair loss. Available in cream and liquid, Rogaine offers two versions, one with a two per cent formulation of minoxidil, which has been approved for men and women; and another with a five per cent formulation of minoxidil, which is not recommended for women because of its potency.
Extensions, with its many cuts and colours come and go but your real hair is all you will be left with at the end of the day. You owe it to yourself to give it some TLC and take care of it.
Here are my four step love your hair tips.

. Do massage your scalp with oils to stimulate growth
. Do sleep with your hair opened at least once a week - set it free from the rubber bands, scrunggies et al
. Do buy products, no matter how expensive you may think they are, for your hair. They are like food for your hair.

Colour by numbers

Just as you identify a paint colour by its name you can identify a hair extension colour by its number.
New hair extension wearers who are sent to buy hair always find the exercise of selecting hair that match their natural colour, tricky.
And if they happen to meet a hair sales person who just wants to make a quick buck off them then they are in big trouble.
I once went shopping for a pack of braids when to my horror I saw a sales lady try to sell red extensions to a lady with brown hair.
You should have heard her trying to convince the woman that the hairpiece was the exact colour of her hair.
The woman, upon noticing the look on my face, asked me for a second opinion. I spoke up and told her that the hair infact didn't match and that her shade is more 4 than it was 33.
To make sense of the numbers I just quoted, I thought that today I would share with you just what those numbers on the pack of hair extensions mean. Bear in mind that some colours vary from product to product.
Some manufacturers may make the hair darker, some lighter. As you know I wear the colour number 4 in hair pieces. But sometimes I swear to you, the number 4 looks green in some brands. It will be in your interest then to ask for a mirror, request that the salesperson take the hair out of the bag so that you can see it better, and hang the slightly opened pack close to your hair. It's only then that you will know for sure if the hair is a perfect match or if it goes back on the shelf. If the salesperson says she can't open the pack, tell her thanks and look for another store that will allow you to do so. Here are the numbers and the colours that go with them.

#1- Jet black
#1b - black but not as strong as jet black
#2 - dark brown
#4 - brown
#6 - medium chestnut brown
#8 - light Chestnut Brown
#10 - medium brown
#27 - strawberry
#33 - dark auburn
#99J - plum red
#130 - copper red

Hair extensions also come in two combined colours to make for a believeable look. The dark colours (like the 1b /30 combination) also help to "tone down" some of the brighter colours. Some popular hair extension colour combinations (in both hair weaves and braid extensions) are :


6/18 - medium chestnut/ash brown

4/30 - Dark chestnut / light auburn

4/27 - dark chestnut/strawberry blonde

8/24 - light chestnut / golden blonde

1b/30 - black/light auburn

1b/27 black/strawberry blonde.

De-weave - let your real hair exhale

One thing I have learned in my years of wearing hair extensions — you must give your natural hair a rest sometime.
Sure hair weaves and fun to wear and easy to style, but underneath the weave tracks your own hair needs to be set free from the tight cornrows that make the tracks.
For those who stick in their weave pieces (eliminating need for cornrows),the need to take frequent breaks from weaves is even greater.
Stuck in weaves not only result hairloss (if not properly taken out) but also should not be worn for long periods at a time.
I have found that three months of wearing a sew-in weave (with intermittent tighting), is enough. Then it is time for a break.
If you’re a hair lover like I am, your break from extensions will last about a week before you get that urge to put it back in again. Remember when the media made a whole hullabaloo about Tyra Banks returning to her roots and how weeks later she was back in the salon chair for a weave? (She actually said she was parting with weaves just for one day but the media didn't get that part).
Even if you return to the weave after a week that's your choice. Personally I would think three weeks is a good rest period. While you are “resting” your hair it is good to give it as much love as possible.
I use Vitale's virgin olive oil for the hair to massage my scalp and I stay away from those heat-based styling tools.
I can’t emphasise to you how great it feels to have water on your scalp during a shampoo (some people use dry shampoo* when wearing a weave) and the warm sun on my scalp when outdoors.
Sure you’d feel a little bit self conscious when you take out the glamorous weave and start wearing your own hair. But the benefit of this exercise is a healthier head of hair. And what’s better than that?

* hair shampoo is a gel like product with a minty smell. It is to be applied to the scalp either using a cloth or cotton balls and it actually cleans your scalp. Look out for that tingly feeling in the scalp when the gel touches the scalp.
It is used by many women so that their tracks stay tight longer and to prevent that awful wet-weave smell that wearers get when washed hair is not properly dried.

Photo: Solange Knowles, Beyonce's little sister not only took a break from hair weaves, she cut her own hair off as well and now sports healthy hair.

When less is more

A male friend, already familiar with my love for weaves and hair extensions, watched me sitting across from him during lunch recently and asked me if I took off my weave. I laughed and almost choked on my grilled chicken and callaloo dish at his question. Poor thing was puzzled as ever at my sudden burst of laughter.
No, I told him, I just put in a different one. He had a look of doubt on his face.
"But it doesn't look like a weave."
Aha. And that's the thing. What should a hair weave really look like? Well for those who don't have a clue about weaves, it should be very long, silky straight and dolly like and bulky.
But not all hair weaves are created equal. Some women prefer the bulky look because they think it makes them look like healthy hair is growing out of their scalp. Other women, like me, believe that less is more.
That's why my friend found it hard to tell that I was wearing a weave.
At a recent fashion event a woman raised more than a few eyebrows and a few snickers too, with her long thick lion's mane hair weave.
In the meantime my less is more weave went unnoticed.
To achieve a less is more hair weave consider these tips

. You don't have to use up all the hair contained in two packs of hair just because you bought two packs of hair

. For hair extensions that are fine you can get away with two packs of hair

. For hair extensions that are curly you'd find that one pack of hair alone would do the trick

. Try tracking (leaving out some of your hair and adding fewer rows of the weave pieces) to get an unweave-like look.


. Try shoulder-length weave pieces instead (10 to 12 inches rather is 22 inches)

Check out Niecy Nash's photos with less pieces in her hair weave and with more hair weave pieces in. In which one the photos does her weave look more believable?

The skinny on lace front wigs

The first time I saw one was on the head of that famous transvestite Ru Paul — and it was in stunning blond.
Then I saw it on the head of Beyonce and yet again on Tyra Banks.
The first time I got to touch a lace front wig it was at a store in a downtown mall.
You would have thought there was a giant magnet in the stoe pulling at a tiny one on my backside or something because I literally froze.
Inside the hair place, which could barely hold five people, one customer sat on a stool holding the stem of an oval mirror up to her face and turned her head this way and that as the store clerk framed her face with the fine netting attached to the wig.
The netting blended into her forehead seamlessly and gave her a hairline.
While one customer edge up closer to the stool for a closer look, two women kept the assistant clerk busy telling her about the wigs they wanted to try.
I managed to slip into the corner of the cramped store and that's whee I came face to face with Michelle Obama -- not the first lady of the US but the lace front wig in her name.
Sleek, straight in a number 2 (hair extension speak for dark brown), it was an asymmetrical bob cut that really captured the essence of the First Lady's do.
The net (lace front) , which framed the hairline extended to just above the mannequin's nose like a veil.
I was told later that once purchased the net is cut to the wearers hairline for a believable look.
Tabs with glue on them , bigger versions of what they once sold in those Lee Press On Nail kits , are sold with the wig to ensure that it stays put.
The cost of the lace front in T&T started at 700 TT (just over 100 US) and I actually convinced a friend to buy one at that price. She only had to put on the wig at the store for a few minutes before she was convinced to buy the synthetic hair.
Poor woman was so in awe of her new look that the following day she raided her man's shoe box of savings and pinched the $700.
That, of course, is another story.
I also talked my neighbour into investing in a lace front. The woman used to wear those heavy and bothersome hair hats before she met me. Would you believe that she has two lace front wigs now and is shopping around for a third.
As for me, I own just one lace front wig -- for now. It's a human hair straight bob that was originally long past my shoulders. I cut it short in order to make it my own, unique to me (see pic)
If you're going to invest in a lace front wig ensure that the quality is good. Try to stay away from synthetic hair if you don't know much about it. The thing with synthetic hair is that it's troublesome, too shiny and has mad fly-aways. Another minus is that it tends to make the wearing look like a human Barbie doll.
Also watch those tabs. To be honest there is really no need for them. In the long run you'd pay the price of hairline loss if you keep using them.(see pic)
Last but not least, ladies please don't go to sleep with your lace front. You may think your man wouldn't notice but honeys hair extensions have a different smell to real hair no matter what product you use in them. And trust me when I say a man has a nose that sniffs that smell out.

Senegalese twists - the elusive technique

So I got my hair done in the Senegalese twist last weekend and I am pleased with the results. The hairdresser, upon leaving my home (after a 5 hour housecall) gave me her fees for when I want to freshen up the hairline when my hair starts to grow out. But the thing is, poor woman, as sweet, pleasant and professional as she is, she doesn't know that I may not be calling her back for the hairline job. That's because I plan to master this elusive technique once and for all.
Ever since I first had my hair done in Senegalese twists four years ago I have been quizzing my hairdresser friends and braidists about the technique. All of them are mum on the subject. It's as though it is a members only secret club where only a few can be privy to the technique of the Senegalese twist (insert eye roll here).
Then I found out the reason behind the secrecy. Hairdressers are now charging 500 TT (approx 83 US) to part with their knowledge of the technique. Can you imagine that?
One hairdresser friend said she was taught only part one of the technique (there's also the seneaglese corn rows) and had to practice on her own before mastering it.
I pointed the dear lady to youtube where I found this helpful video.
Honestly though it is a tricky process, even with the video in front of you. But I am determined to get it right. Infact, I am really challenging myself to master this technique. I will, of course, keep you posted on my progress.
If you're the kind of person who can follow written instructions, you'd find this Step by Step guide I found at www.black-women-beauty-central.com quite useful.

Step By Step Senegalese Twist Braid Instructions


What You Need

Tail Comb
2 Small Hair Clips
Flake Free Hair Gel or Light Hair Wax (optional)
Synthetic Extension Hair (optional)

Here are step-by-step instructions to make your Senegalese twist braids.

Step 1

Wash, detangle and blow dry your hair properly. (Don’t use oils on the hair before you apply the braids)


Step 2

Part a small section of hair and comb it out properly. Use small clips to keep the rest of the hair out of the way for braiding.


Step 3

Separate the piece of hair into two equal sections. Start twisting each section to the right until it starts to coil on itself (do this for about an inch in length).

If you’re adding extension hair, take a piece long enough to twist all the way past the ends of your hair (to however long you want to braid) and bend it across the two sections of your own hair.





Step 4

Take the two coiled sections of hair and take the piece in your right hand over the piece in your left hand once. Coil the sections to the right again, then take the piece in your right hand over and under the piece in your left hand again.


Step 5

Continue coiling and twisting the section of hair until you get all the way to the ends (the ends will stay in place).


Step 6

Continue to section off pieces of hair and coil and twist them until your entire head is done.


Step 7

Finish styling by (carefully) dipping the ends of your braids into a bowl of boiling hot water to seal the ends.

You can either braid the base of the hair as you would with regular box braids (for about an inch or so) or start twisting it right from the root.