One of the challenges of being a known natural hair advocate is that people have a certain image that they expect to see. Frankly speaking, I also have a certain image in my head. Which is why many people have been shocked to find me sporting a weave. Yes, you read correctly.

Why?

I am a known hater of weaves and I have only ever weaved my hair in the last two years. The first time was about a year before I cut off my dreads. I had informed my loctician that I was getting rid of the dreads due to boredom and frustration. She encouraged me to consider weaving my hair, just for something new. Up to that point, I had never weaved my hair ever, and so I was pretty apprehensive. I kept my dreads relatively short, so it was not too difficult to do.

Fast forward a year and I was rocking my baby fro and getting a  little frustrated at my slow growth rate, so I decided to weave it just for change. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out very well. I only kept it for a week. This re-emphasised in my mind why I don’t weave my hair. They don’t look nice.

Next was starting the blog and many of the questions I have been getting form people wanting to transition from relaxed to natural hair is how to do it if you are not going for the BC (Big Chop).

So, I wanted to be able to say something about that. I also became aware that weaving is one of the more common protective hairstyles that women opt for, especially in those countries with extremely cold weather that does such damage to the hair. Believe it or not, our cold season in Southern Africa is pretty harsh and it would be a good idea to practice protective styling and hair care during the May to July season.

Note to self: Revisit this issue in May.

I started off with a long weave and then opted to have it cut after a week. This was to try and ensure I could keep it for at least three weeks. It doesn’t look bad at all. In fact, I think it looks nice. However, looking in the mirror at the hair salon, I did not recognise myself. It felt weird. Because it has been almost seven years since I had hair this straight (the last time it was my own). My conclusion is that this experience has reaffirmed why I don’t weave my hair. I like to feel my scalp. This is probably why I am so in love with cornrows and why I prefer to braid my hair. In Zambia, we call it picking – this basically means a braiding style with individual braids.

I think I have to take them out this coming weekend, which will be about three weeks. I will give it one more shot, this time with a really short or curly weave. Right now, I have my weave sewn onto a weave net, next time I will try it straight onto my hair. Wish me luck.