Weaves for White Girls

I found the best salon in my area and called to ask if they did extensions for white girls. They told me yes and I made an appointment for the next day for a consultation. I was so excited but also nervous. I was so scared they would tell me that my hair was way too short to do it. I would soon find out and all the questions in my head would be answered.

I went in for my consultation appointment and saw Marcia. She was a beautiful African American woman that smiled from ear to ear when she saw me. She said she was excited to discuss extensions with me and wanted to do more extensions on white girls. That made both of us that were excited. So we sat down and started to discuss it.

The first thing she said was my hair was way too short to do long extensions. She could however do a long asymmetrical type bob or some other shorter hairstyle on me. She pulled out her mannequin and showed me the different types of extensions. She made it very clear that she only did the track type or sewn in type extensions. It did not matter so much to me as long as my hair would not be terribly damaged by the process. She assured me this was the best way to go for my hair and I would be able to wash it and style it as normal when she was done. We made an appointment for the next day and I was out of there with a smile on my face.

Photo by Angel - Before the Weave

I need to add that she directed me to the local beauty supply store with the name of a certain type of hair that I needed to get and bring back to her on the day of. So I went there after leaving her and picked up my hair wefts. The color was very similar to my own hair but very long. She would be cutting it quite a bit since my hair was very short and we were going for a natural look. One pack of hair wefts cost $79.00.   

I came in and sat down with Marcia at 9AM and she explained everything she was going to do. She matched up the color of the hair wefts to a color that she was going to dye my hair to make sure it matched up perfectly. She colored my hair a deep dark brown/black color first. Then she put a couple of red streaks in the top. I like a little craziness in my hair. It was bright red so it would show up in my dark hair. She also had a few pieces of red that she would sew into my hair to continue to color down the side.

She started parting my hair and clipping it off. She then began to braid my hair into corn rows horizontally across my head. Whewww this hurt. They were so tight but necessary. She made 3 horizontal rows across my head. The wefts of hair would be sewn onto these corn rows. She started sewing them in and it was all finished by 11:30PM. She then started cutting my hair into a long asymmetrical bob. I was done and out of there by Noon. It cost me $300 to have this done. Plus the cost of the hair which was $79.   

I got home and played around with my hair. I could not get my hair to look like I wanted it to. I just did not look right with the long hair laying against my face. I felt like the weave and my natural hair did not blend well. My natural hair will not lay down straight while the weave was very straight and I could tell the difference. So I called Marcia to go back in and have a look at it.

I visited her again a few days later and she solved all my problems. I took a few pictures of hair cuts that I liked. We picked one and she chopped up the hair around my face giving me a funky asymmetrical hair style (shorter on one side) then blended it perfectly with my own hair. She laughed and told me that we could do anything with a weave!   

           Photo by Angel

There are many different types of weaves or extensions that you can get. Some of them are very expensive due to the time it takes to put them in. Take a look at a few of the more common types.

• Bonded – These are tracks that are glued to your hair with a special glue. They will stay in your hair 1-6 weeks depending on the quality of the glue and how well you take care of your hair.
• Tracking – This is the type that I had done. Corn rows are created horizontally across your head and tracks or wefts of hair are sewn onto the corn rows. It took approximately 2 hours to have mine done. I am sure it would have taken longer if I had longer hair and could have had more put into my hair.
• Fusion – This type uses a hand glue gun of sorts to glue individual strands of hair in. This is very time consuming and can cost $800- $1000.
• Clip on – These are the easiest to use. You can purchase these at any beauty supply store. It is the least expensive method and the best for your hair health. Just clip them in and go. Take them out when you get home.

If you have been wanting extensions then go for it. I would be careful of the glue in type only because I have heard that it can damage your hair more so than the sewn in type. I can not say for sure since I have not had it done. I really like what Marcia did to my hair. It added a little flare that I needed. It cost a lot of money but it was worth it. It did hurt a little bit getting my hair braided that tight but they loosen up within a day and feel fine. Nothing feels weird or crazy about it. I can feel them when I put my hands in my head but other than that, they are great. So go for it and get it done!