Have you ever had to embark on a war with your edges? It is one of the toughest wars to win. For the ladies it should have been an easy war but with the vast variety of mind bogging weave designs and smashing braid hairdos, victory becomes quite the feat.
(We mostly used to think that natural hair doesn't style to taste but happily, we are beginning to realize that, that isn't true at all. In fact the opposite is the case. We just need to have more creative sisters. Natural black girls hair is quite versatile for styling. It just requires learning how to style your own hair or looking for a natural hair care saloon close to you).
A sister may have decided to stay away from these extensions to give her edges some breather but then again, have you had to attend an event be it a wedding reception, red carpet award, launch and so on, you look around you and you see varieties of model-like slay ladies wearing weaves, braids, faux locks and dreads of all kinds of imaginable shades and styles?
Out comes the phone camera and snap! snap! snap! You are thinking, "I just have to have that weave added to my collection" or "I just have to recreate that look, it's so stunning! Out the window goes your initial resolve. Later on, when you look in the mirror, you sigh, Oh, my edges!
In summary, alopecia is the absence of hair on the body where it normally should be and alopecia is a real and growing problem especially around the edges of black girls' hair. Sadly many continue to make their case worse.
Unless your edges are in terrible condition, you don't have to stay away completely from hair extensions (though this would be the best thing to do), but the frequency of use should be greatly modulated. It also wouldn't do to just hide bad edges behind extensions too because it would only get worse.
I didn't really realize how much my hairline had receded over the years. However, I recall several occasions where my edges had been pulled right off my scalp while either putting in braids or taking them out. This is a common incident with thin hairlines like mine. Honestly, as my edges are slowly growing out and filling out my hairline, I am not too sure if they are thin now because although they still have a long way to go, I can see that they are coming out thicker than I remember them.
I have developed a habit of not immediately putting in another hair extension the moment the old one is taken out. I now let my hair breathe for as long as one to three months, depending and tell you what? I am seeing growth on my hairline than I have ever seen.
One other thing that is an enemy to our edges is the application of hair gels to achieve the sleek look.I personally do not think that this is at all necessary. If you have to do that at all then you must develop a strong habit of daily edges massage with oils that promote hair growth. Seriously, a daily laying on of gel on the edges for sleeking the edges is also a form of over manipulating the hair and causes tension on the edges.
If you still feel that you must lay your edges, then I suggest the use of natural gels that would add to your hair treatment rather than take from it. I am thinking natural gels like flax seed for instance. It isn't a bad idea because if flax seed works well to define curls, why not in laying edges, right?
Are you having any challenges or successes with your natural hair journey? Kindly share your experience so far.