Hair extensions are fun. They allow for us to experiment with extra length, different hairstyles, and brighter colors when we’re transitioning into different hues. However, we must remember to not rely on the add-in of someone else’s dead skin cells. Yep, you heard me right. Hair extensions should remain as a hairstyle and not the road to a lifestyle.
Why?
Well, I don’t really care too much about the whole “You should embrace yourself and your natural beauty” as a part of this argument. That only applies
to surgical procedures. Besides, hairstyles only help to enhance our features and natural beauty. Then, the whole: “You’re tricking the guy you’re dating into thinking you have long hair” blah blah blah. Yeah, that’s not a factor either. Who cares? Dating is like going through an intense interview process anyways. You never fully give your true self for the first three-to-six months anyways. And if he doesn’t know that it’s not your real hair after that point, he’s probably blind to many other things as well. But, I digress.
Weave/extensions/add-ins/pageant-girl-bump-its should maintain their role for only a hairstyle rather than taking a lifelong course. You have to consider how much it truly affects the health of your natural hair during this process if it stays in too long.
1. Leaving in weave longer than you should: Everyone’s hair needs to have moments 
to breathe, even for several days to a week. (This is when I do my natural girl phase of curly hair – free of the heat.) Not to mention that covering it up with another texture of hair will affect your own mane. The two textures can combat each other, making yours still more unmanageable. Resulting in more weaves, less care for your natural tresses, resulting in no growth, and you complain that your hair doesn’t grow already and then you keep putting in more weave as a solution. Doesn’t really work that way.
2. Weave that looks like you left it in too long: Then, there’s those times when 
some girls leave their extensions in ridiculously and obviously too long. It seems that everyone notices this issue except for the girl. So, not only do you have the issue of your hair underneath being jacked up, but the mop on top isn’t really in any better condition. I always say, “You can’t feel bad about the natural hair you were dealt. That’s who you are and you have to work the best with it.” However, IF YOU BUY YOUR HAIR TO LOOK A MESS, everyone has every reason to point at you and tell you that it’s a mess. There is no reason to PAY HARD-EARNED MONEY for extensions that are terrible or to leave them in to become terrible. Prevent that stage from happening. Just take the ish out. Or save a little extra cash.
3. Keep your weave done and your hair…slowly dies: Maybe you’re the 
opposite of the previous girl and you keep your hair LAID. You religiously get your hair done every two weeks and you look fly. That’s all well and good, but did you ever give your natural hair time to breathe? No, oh, well it may be dying. Dead hair is not attractive, y’all. You may be vain about it now, but what will you do when you’re 85 years old and will be too bald-headed to have any extensions to sew-in? You’ll rely on the glue of the visible tracks instead? No, you’ll be too vain for that. Instead, you’ll rely on the good ol’ wig that the church lady used to wear every Sunday that you made fun of. Yep, you turned into the Bad-Wig-Church Lady but not only at church. HOWEVER, if you’re fly enough, you’ll get to wear a hat with it.
Overall, ladies, I am not knocking weave whatsoever. I absolutely love what a great hair stylist can do to give different women a multitude of hairstyles. However, I am concerned when women are vulnerable to wearing weave. We shouldn’t give anything that much power. Especially something that was snatched off the heads of other women against their will making them bald-headed…to pretend that we’re not.
Brooke Leigh Howard 