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Yoliswa Dube, Pattern and Style

WELL, some do but I wouldn’t be lying if I said a significant number of men don’t like weaves.

They have their reasons and I quite frankly have my own.

For a start, I just feel weaves are too extra — in the unnatural type of way. I feel like they’ll give me a rash of some sort.

I won’t even start on the itchy scalp that will almost drive a woman crazy! I don’t mind braids; they seem less fake. But weaves; when they come in blonde, hot red, burgundy and all sorts of colours — I mean, what black woman has blonde hair, honestly!

My bathroom floor suffered the most the last I had a weave. All those hairs on the floor, it’s such a farce cleaning that up every morning.

Maybe my weave was cheap quality but I’m pretty sure it was Brazilian hair which cost me a cool $300. And then it started to smell, I couldn’t stand it — what more the next person if it got to me that much! I just decided I wasn’t putting myself through that again.

But women have different reasons for wearing weaves. For some, weaves simply enhance their overall look otherwise they could really do without them. Others use them as protective hairstyles — just to protect their hair from the elements and everyday combing and styling.

Some women have deep-rooted opinions on weaves it will shock you. They believe weaves are a status symbol of some sort, that if you don’t have a weave on it’s because you just can’t afford one.

That’s absurd — I can’t honestly be deemed poor simply because I prefer to wear my hair in its natural state. With some, you’ll never see their natural hair — they’ll be in a weave from January to December, it’s unbelievable!

For others, weaves are a genuine necessity. It could be because their natural hair doesn’t grow much at all or when it does, it thins out. They just crave the volume a weave offers. All they want are the extra hair strands.

While for some women, weaves provide some form of comfort — they hide facial features they don’t like and mask what they view as imperfections.

But men say weaves smell, they’re unnatural and they don’t like how women use the hair strands to mark territories. They say she’ll walk into the house and come across some random hair strand that’s not hers and ask, “Whose hair is this – are you cheating on me?”

It causes all manner of unnecessary problems.

Because men are highly likely the number one reason why a significant number of women even bother with weaves, their view on the matter counts.

But if you really can’t do without a weave, the least you can do is take good care of yours. For starters, don’t make the time in-between washes too long. Six weeks is decent enough — make an appointment with your hairdresser and get yourself sorted.

It’s really not entirely the sparse shampoos that make the weave smell. It’s your choice of moisturiser and how you use it. Because weaves are “fake” — the hair isn’t growing from your scalp, they don’t need to be moisturised.

What you need to be moisturising is your scalp. The oil you apply on the weave doesn’t get absorbed, it stays on the weave. And as you keep applying more onto the weave, it continues to accumulate and with time starts to smell because it becomes dirt.

You’ll know you’re in too deep when the weave starts to look like a mop. The ends would’ve gone hard and bristle and the weave would’ve lost its form — it’s literally just sitting on your head.

No one can tell you what weave colour to wear or whether to have an invisible parting line or not, but at least have the decency to clean up after combing your weave. Check the bathroom floor and other surfaces for any hair strands and be sure to remove all hair from the comb you’ve used.

Real or fake — hair on bathroom surfaces is just disgusting.

Until next week, flaunt your pattern and style and don’t forget to catch up with me on Twitter handle @Yolisswa, visit my blog, www.stayera247.blogspot.com or like my Facebook page Pattern & Style.