Oh Naomi...

(photo credit: Daily Mail.co.uk)

 

Oh Naomi ... sigh.

Why black women just won't leave weave alone, nuh?

It is bad enough that you have pleaded guilty yet again to pelting hand (and apparently foot and spit too for good measure) in someone. As an islandista-by-extraction you are making it bad for us and let us not even start to talk about how you live down to the 'violent yardies' stereotype. I swear you were a garrison don in another life.

But this here hair is truly a crime Ms. Campbell. It nuh mek it.

What have all the years of weave done to your hairline? It seems like it has picked up, packed up and abandoned you. It is truly painful to see.

Truth be told - I never got the appeal of weave, even before I went natural and grew dreads. I used to love me some braids, but weave on the other hand seemed a step too far - like you were trying to make out that this was your real hair.  Hence all the destructive extra effort at bonding and blending it into one's own hair - the glue, the stitching etc.  Before anyone asks ... I saw braids kind of like make-up - obviously not real and obviously there for adornment. I don't think someone could anymore mistake my old school 'Patra' braids for being my real hair than they could think my lips are fire-engine red.

Weave on the other hand ...hm! Not only did it seem phony but it seemed to damage hair so much more quickly.

My grouse with so many of us sisters (not just islandistas - black women the world over are guilty of this) is that so often the weave looks patently, painfully fake and 'weavy'. Even famous women who could and should be able to afford better seem to fall into this trap. Beyonce, raise yuh hand ... you too Serena!

Let's not even get into the chicks on the street who have a set of gel and black dye down their foreheads so as to help the big, thick weave track in the middle of their head 'blend' in better. Really ... why? It just doesn't look cute.

But back to the world's baddest (in so many ways) black supermodel and her dearly departed hairline - also known as traction alopecia. I find this is so common among islandistas and other sisters and not just older women who have had a lifetime of mashing up their hair. I see young women, girls in secondary school, whose hairlines are crying out to 'give us us free' from the abuse.

And truth be told, there are a lot of wild, untrained people running about the place calling themselves hairdressers. Women who will yank your hair so hard that the roots will be popping up around the edges (that actually happened to me once - not me and she again!) and who will fry and dye your hair into oblivion even as there are fewer and fewer scraps to torture. Even us naturalistas cannot escape. I see plenty people with locks whose hairlines are receding from locticians who put too much pressure on it when palm-rolling it or who interloc it too tight - and it happens to men and women. I talk about Naomi but has anyone noticed the horror that is Beenie Man's hairline? No? Take a look ...

(photo credit: Rastaslice.com)

But a true that patch could be male pattern baldness or maybe D'Angel pull out some locks in a fight or something ...

Anyhow, it is not  a cute look. Hopefully Naomi can still do something about it. She certainly has enough money to consult with a quality trichologist and save her scalp.

And if any of you islandistas out there are suffering ... check out one of the trained professionals from the Caribbean Association of Professional Trichologists (CAPT). Founded in Barbados in 2001 by Guyanese-born Carole Williams, there are members all over the region. No official website but here are some links to guide you in the way you should go.

Kyk-over-Al: Trichologist at Large

Trinidad Guardian - Making her Vision a Reality

Trinidad Guardian - Cosmetologist Patricia Neptune Promotes Healthy Haircare