The Experience of Wearing Hair Extensions
In past generations, the word "wig" had such a negative connotation, when people would think of the word "wig", they would immediately think of old ladies or drag queens. Nowadays, many people have come to the realization of the different benefits of wearing wigs, causing the wig industry to sky rocket into one of the top hair styles, especially in the African American Community. Personally, my experience with wigs has changed me tremendously, financially, physically, and most importantly, emotionally.
People think wigs are unhealthy or bad for your natural hair, but it’s actually the opposite and there are many benefits to wearing wigs. The first, and main benefit is; it is a protective style for your natural hair. Having your hair moisturized, braided underneath, unexposed to the everyday damage, such as heating and other harmful styling products, protects and helps with growth. In addition to protection and growth, can also help gain confidence.
I’ve never been a fan of my natural hair. I have 4c-type natural hair, for those unaware, 4c-type hair is "Hair of the very curly or kinky type [, it is] very tight, sometimes well-defined curls. It tends to be fairly coarse in texture, but is also sensitive and prone to damage by heat and product." In other words, it takes a lot of care and maintenance for 4c hair, to keep it growing healthy, strong and long, which is something I did not do. For example, I would always flat iron it, wouldn’t grease my scalp or even keep my hair moisturized, which eventually caused heat damage and great amounts of unhealthiness in my hair.
As I grew older, I wanted to start over, and fix my damage. Around June 2018, I cut 2 to 3 inches off of my ends and all my damaged hair, bought over $100 worth of natural hair products and started my new hair journey. At the beginning I was very insecure, I didn’t want to go places, I didn’t want to hang out with friends, take pictures, or even be seen on social media because my hair was just so short. It was very difficult for me. With the type of person I am, I knew I had to overcome this. I couldn’t stay in the dark for so long. I began to do my research, "How to deal with natural hair?", "Do’s and Don’t’s for 4c Natural Hair", even YouTube videos, " Natural Hair growth routines" or "best products for natural hair reviews". With all my research I came up with 3 solutions to help my hair journey: (1) Moisturize, (2) be consistent and (3) wear protective styles.
The protective styles idea was very broad, I needed to find one that I’d be consistent with and would actually benefit from and help to make my hair healthy again. I started to look in the wig industry, specifically on social media. Lots of people, including popular figures such as Beyoncé, Naomi Campbell and Nicki Minaj, wore wigs and rocked them. The natural look of the lace front wigs made my eyes light up, I was highly inspired. I knew this was the route for me to take, then I saw the prices. "The natural look of the lace front wigs made my eyes light up" it was expensive, too expensive, making my eyes water instead.
However, I was dedicated to my desire of wearing these wigs. Either I found a job that paid me $50 an hour, or figured out another way. So, I found another way, if I made the wigs myself, the price went from $300/per wig plus installation to less than $200 with a free install. I used some old hair that I previously had from my old sew-ins, brought a wig cap, needle and thread and made my first wig. I was surprised at myself, it looked amazing, having that same natural look of my desires. I absolutely loved it.
After making my first wig, I came up with my very own natural hair journey routine. Every 2 weeks I washed, dried, moisturized, and braided my hair into small cornrows to wear underneath my wig. The same wig could last me at least, 2 months before I switched it up or purchased new hair to make a new wig. Realistically, I saved over four times the amount of money, I would spend getting my hair done every 2 weeks by someone else, just by going the extra mile and doing it myself. Still to this day, the same routine helps me keep my natural hair moisturized, healthy, and effectively saving money.
In addition to saving money, creating these wigs has brought money in as well. It started off just by me wearing my own wigs. The amount of compliments I received on my hair and the disbelief of it being a wig, so many people became interested in them. The frequent questions of, "Where can I get one?", "How much would it cost for you to make me one?", or "Can you make one for me, please? I’ll pay you." Selling wigs became more enticing. I started my own small business to provide tape in hair extensions. I understood the expense of hair businesses and celebrity wig makers selling their wigs, from my own research and how costly it was, therefore I started by only charging $50 per wig (with customer providing the hair). My business went from just local clients to selling across the nation. It has encouraged me a lot, at this point I wasn’t only helping myself, but others too.
In this case, taking something like wigs, from helping and benefiting myself in many ways to helping and benefiting others in even more ways is inspiring to me. For a lot of people, their hair holds a big place in their beauty. From my journey and experience, wearing these wigs only helped my cause, and never hurt. If that means getting a higher education in business