UK Ladies: Are the Weaves really THAT bad in London?

[BlackMasterPiece]

Okay so here's the backstory: My most recent client came in and naturally we struck up a conversation. She just came back from doing part of med school abroad in a small town in England and I asked her about what it was like there, if she visited London, where she recommends etc. One thing I alluded to was please tell me how FAB the sista's were and she told me something that really blew my mind......

She said when she went to visit London all she saw were terrible unrealistic blatantly fake weaveserplexed she said it wasn't just here and there like it is here....she said it was the vast majority....the norm. Se told me nobody seemed to be rocking their own hair. She described synthetic, shiny plastic looking, no parts (like how invisible part weaves and quickweaves have blown up here), blonde butt length, or if not blonde super long weaves. She said this threw her for a loop because she assumed she was going from one fashion capitol to another....and naturally hair styling would be a part of that.

I was absolutely floored.

So my question is, what do you think of her description of London? Accurate? Inaccurate?

London ladies and UK ladies, how would you describe the hair scene where you live? Hope I haven't offended....just genuinely curious and would love a first hand perspective...thanks in advance!!

 

[Janet']

Wow! Interesting! I can't wait to see what the ladies have to say...

 

[ms.blue]

Based on some of the posts on bhm, that some UK women have trouble getting good quality hair for weaves. Some have used American, Indian and Chinese hair vendors to receive the type/quality hair they want.

 

[cutiebe2]

Um...I visit UK a lot and I will say that they are behind in the quality salons and so yeah, I see more "bad weaves". My cousins come to visit and say that they see an improvement

To play devil's advocate I would say that I think its more that some areas just don't have as many salons or salons of good quality. I went to a salon that everyone raved was great and the did the most horrible job...

 

[Aviah]

YES!!!!! I didn't really read the rest of the post, but where I am the average weave is a MESS! I've seen:
-Tracks glued on TOP of the hair (no hair over the track to hide it)
-Sew-ins put in a pineapple ponytail (just so you can see the dry matted messy braids underneath the matted, messy weave...)
- Natural hair (not flat ironed, or any attempt to make it straight) with a slick shiney ponytail added on
-Tracks a different color from the hair attempting to hide it
-Weaves and braids obviously left in for too long to the point where the regrowth is visibly matted underneath (sometimes full head weaves put in a low pony with dry natural hair poking out around the hairline
-Tracks hanging out
-Cheap, shiny, doll's hair-type weave
-Not combed weaves

I could go on. For every good weave I see, I see about 50+ bad ones. No exaggeration.
I really don't know WHAT it is, but its TERRIBLE! Sure you get your raggedy weaves in NY (where I'm originally from) but its nowhere NEAR as common.

ETA: Just read the rest of the post
I have 3 BSS's within walking distance of each other near my house, all have many types lengths and brands of hair. I have seen good weaves, and good stylists. However its just something else what I normally see walking around here. I just can't make excuses for it... The quality of hair available has nothing to do with some of the points mentioned above. It seems to just be poor installation and maintenance (and in many cases poor hair quality) used. I've been living in London for 9 years, and though BSS's have come a good way, I still don't understand it.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

This is amazing to me. For some reason I took it as a given that London would have a really fly cutting edge hair styling culture.

Do you guys have areas or pockets where you see alot of naturals?

This is fascinating.

 

[Okay]

I've been to London twice this year and all the ones that wore weaves looked really bad.. and obivously fake.. and messy..

on the other hand i saw three black women with their own hair that looked groomed and nice. one of them a young girl her hair looked similar to yours OP it was long but big if that makes sense?

and a woman with long and nice dreads


but its a million times worse in denmark..... lol

 

[Aviah]

My experience has been pretty mixed between relaxed and natural, I can't say I've seen pockets. I still think the majority is relaxed but there's a good amount of naturals. Being natural doesn't seem to get as much backlash that many women have experienced stateside. However, both natural and relaxed: many heads of hair are clearly not well cared for.


Girl.....

 

[shunemite]

I do have family in London and have visited. My analysis is that compared to America which has more major cities than the UK which has mainly London, there are more migrants of African descent to America. So that would cover the African descent consumers. But I don't wanna discount other races because I recently read that 60% of hair extensions worldwide are purchased by caucasians (just like rap music, oh... and welfare recipients despite what tv says). America is also bigger. Due to the larger volume of the American country, it makes sense that vendors can sell more weave to America. There's just a larger market. As far as the average black consumer for black weave, yes, Europe as a continent does have many black people, but due to the unfortunate history of slavery more black people came to America originally (like my great grand mother).

And, currently, there is such a large number of black people coming to America from the Caribbean, Middle and South America, and Africa (like myself).

More customers means more product to sell. And lets not forget HOLLYWOOD that thrives on weave. The number of celebs and wanna be celebs that spend so much on weave is one shipping cost for vendors to the same country, America.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I've been to London twice this year and all the ones that wore weaves looked really bad.. and obivously fake.. and messy..

Well dang, maybe I should relocate to London for a bit sounds like an excellent opportunity to me!

on the other hand i saw three black women with their own hair that looked groomed and nice. one of them a young girl her hair looked similar to yours OP it was long but big if that makes sense?

:blush3:

and a woman with long and nice dreads


but its a million times worse in denmark..... lol

daaang who knew! I wanna know what its like in Denmark! Do tell!

I'm learning so much in this thread. Thanks for educating me everyone. I look forward to more perspectives as well......

 

[Aviah]

I do have family in London and have visited. My analysis is that compared to America which has more major cities than the UK which has mainly London, there are more migrants of African descent to America. So that would cover the African descent consumers. But I don't wanna discount other races because I recently read that 60% of hair extensions worldwide are purchased by caucasians (just like rap music, oh... and welfare recipients despite what tv says). America is also bigger. Due to the larger volume of the American country, it makes sense that vendors can sell more weave to America. There's just a larger market. As far as the average black consumer for black weave, yes, Europe as a continent does have many black people, but due to the unfortunate history of slavery more black people came to America originally (like my great grand mother).

And, currently, there is such a large number of black people coming to America from the Caribbean, Middle and South America, and Africa (like myself).

More customers means more product to sell. And lets not forget HOLLYWOOD that thrives on weave. The number of celebs and wanna be celebs that spend so much on weave is one shipping cost for vendors to the same country, America.

I agree with this to an extent. However people can order hair online. I know of girls who bought Virgin Indian Hair (which is available from the BSS), and Brazilian hair (which are both obviously pricey). I glued in some tracks for my mother the other day and the hair was not expensive, and looks exactly like hers. I forget until she asks me to re-glue it. With many people here, something's just not there, or gets lost along the way with these weaves IMOffrant:.
I wish I took pics of the times I saw bad weaves, but I'd probably get beaten up for it

 

[shunemite]

I agree with this to an extent. However people can order hair online. I know of girls who bought Virgin Indian Hair (which is available from the BSS), and Brazilian hair (which are both obviously pricey). I glued in some tracks for my mother the other day and the hair was not expensive, and looks exactly like hers. I forget until she asks me to re-glue it. With many people here, something's just not there, or gets lost along the way with these weaves IMOffrant:.
I wish I took pics of the times I saw bad weaves, but I'd probably get beaten up for it

Good point there, online ordering. So maybe lack of exposure to good hair styles as well? And perhaps not many stylists who know how to do a good sew in. They The last time that I was there, in their regular cable tv package they don't get BET, and a lot of black movies that had come out months ago were never shown in theaters.

 

[Okay]

OP, Denmark is a MESS when it comes to hair care needs for a black women...

I have yet to see a black women with long healthy hair... i have seen some with somewhat long hair but it didnt look healthy at all...

I think in my 20 years of living i have seen 2 women with afros

There is a black girl in my neighboorhodd and her hair line in the front almost starts in the middle of her head... and she has tight small braids all over.. :/


its frustrating.. especially since i know have knowledge from this site and all the black hair care salons swear we cant get long healthy hair... lol... they dont even know what a protein treatment is and i doubt they would know what moisture/protein balance means.. and i live in copenhagen lol! i dont even want to think about how it is when you get far out..


so it costs money cause you need to order online and the best thing is prob to become a DIY'er... i mean they know how to braid but they dont know much about hair health...

they can also give you a weave but it rarely looks natural

 

[naturalmanenyc]

I'm not sure about London but when DH and I visited Paris we saw a ton of horrible weaves. It was so bad that DH asked me what was wrong with their hair (before he was able to spot a weave).

Okay so here's the backstory: My most recent client came in and naturally we struck up a conversation. She just came back from doing part of med school abroad in a small town in England and I asked her about what it was like there, if she visited London, where she recommends etc. One thing I alluded to was please tell me how FAB the sista's were and she told me something that really blew my mind......

She said when she went to visit London all she saw were terrible unrealistic blatantly fake weaveserplexed she said it wasn't just here and there like it is here....she said it was the vast majority....the norm. Se told me nobody seemed to be rocking their own hair. She described synthetic, shiny plastic looking, no parts (like how invisible part weaves and quickweaves have blown up here), blonde butt length, or if not blonde super long weaves. She said this threw her for a loop because she assumed she was going from one fashion capitol to another....and naturally hair styling would be a part of that.

I was absolutely floored.

So my question is, what do you think of her description of London? Accurate? Inaccurate?

London ladies and UK ladies, how would you describe the hair scene where you live? Hope I haven't offended....just genuinely curious and would love a first hand perspective...thanks in advance!!

 

[itsjusthair88]

Yea...I lived in London for about 8 years and honey the weaves are...bad. I think it's a combination of things but it's NOT for lack of quality hair or stylists; because both my mom and my sister stayed weaved up and they didn't look bad. Many of my African mates had horrible weaves and I would offer to have my sister do it (she is really good and she did both Black and White heads while we lived there...under the table, and they could see the quality) but it was like they wanted to have bad weaves. To add insult to injury, they were charges way too much for those messy weaves; like £80-£120 for that crap

Sent from my Eris using Long Hair Care Forum App

 

[wednesday]

Awwww man, i feel like i have to stand up to defend my people. Yes, the weaves back home are pretty bad but i will honestly say i come across more natural heads with healthy hair in London than i ever have in LA. I'm born and raised in the UK and i've lived in Cali for 6 years. I will say the the US is definitely far ahead in terms of weave. I didn't get a weave until i came here. You have to be fair though, America is a HUGE country. The UK is probably about the size of Florida and out of a huge population of 62,000,000+ only 2% is black. It's not like the US where you can walk into most drug stores/beauty supplys and find black hair care products or even makeup. Also, from what i've experienced, black americans/ americans are WAAAAY more into outward appearance than black europeans/ europeans (although i think fashion in europe is the best). I've definitely be schooled living here lol (in a good way!) It's funny but now when i go home i'm always very aware that so many people leave the house looking "busted". But it's hard to hear other people talk about the UK (even though i know it's true). I must say, MY circle of friends in the UK have beautiful hair !!!!!! i wish i could post pics!!!!!!lol

 

[motherpopcorn562]

This is amazing to me. For some reason I took it as a given that London would have a really fly cutting edge hair styling culture.

Do you guys have areas or pockets where you see alot of naturals?

This is fascinating.

Maybe you should travel there and open a salon. I love your work. You are such an inspiration. Thank you and God Bless!

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

/\ Thank you very much motherpopcorn!

Wow thanks for all the info Wednesday....I had no idea the UK is the size of Florida! I've suspected that the black population had to be pretty low.

I can't wait to go visit one day

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

my little cousin (though she's now grown i still call her little lol) was born and raised in london....

every time she comes state side i'm in shock and awe at how mad her hair looks. I just always assumed it was because she's biracial and her mom didnt know how to take care of her hair. now that she's an adult her hair is still a hot mess...

i've never left the country so i cant say much, and i've seen my share of bad hair around me so i dunno lol

 

[Vintageglam]

Saving my spot - I am work right now and I got too much to say on this subject.

 

[wednesday]

/\ Thank you very much motherpopcorn!

Wow thanks for all the info Wednesday....I had no idea the UK is the size of Florida! I've suspected that the black population had to be pretty low.

I can't wait to go visit one day

Actually it's probably the size of California

 

[labellenoire]

Hi BMP . London lady checking in....
I didn't find your post offensive as I believe it is a genuine inquiry. IMO, the weaves a few years ago were HORRENDOUS. They still are these days but I've been seeing more women with better weaves but not a single day passes without me seeing at least 3 weaves that make me go .

This isn't just black women though. A lot of caucasian women in the UK wear weaves too and they also look bad! LOL....

However, I'm not sure that it is any worse in the UK (or London specifically) than it is in most places in the US (FYI I have lived and travelled around the US). However, IMHO, because there is more contact in the UK i.e. people walk around more, use public transport, and generally we have a higher density of people than in most places in the US, you find that you have more contacts with such people. I'm curious to see what my other UK ladies have to say about the subject.

But to give a shout-out to my London (and UK in general) ladies, I think our fashion sense is banging, so that's something we can smile about

 

[pureebony]

well all i can say is this, that is the prime reason i do my installs myself, everywhere i go hair shop or not women stop to ask me who does my hair, i say i do, because it doesn't look greasy matted and old, i have had this weave hair for 1 year but i was it weekly and treat it before installing it again, the thing is they are faaar behind over here and they do not know that much re:hair.

they dont treat weaves like real hair so they often keep it looking old and rank. but i do believe its down to the way they look after their hair.

example i walk into PAKS a major hair retailer and they have not heard of any weave brands that are like old news on the web.... prime reason why i research and do my hair myself. its really bad, but you get the same thing from natural hair, they are baffled!?!!

most people get good installs but they do not up keep it that's why they look like a hot mess, they apply grease etc to is and it looks like a grease hill!?!?!

 

[LushLox]

I am not a weave wearer but I do know that the very best weaves go to America as of course that is the biggest black hair market. That's not to say that the UK doesn't have access to high quality weaves but they will have to pay a lot more than what Americans will pay for their weaves, I guess not everyone is willing to pay premium rates for good hair or they refuse to!

Saying that though the weaves here do look very poor on the whole, either badly installed or maintained or both. Fortunately I am seeing so much more ladies rocking their own healthy looking hair, be it natural or relaxed, so I suppose that's small comfort.

 

[Aviah]

Hi BMP . London lady checking in....
I didn't find your post offensive as I believe it is a genuine inquiry. IMO, the weaves a few years ago were HORRENDOUS. They still are these days but I've been seeing more women with better weaves but not a single day passes without me seeing at least 3 weaves that make me go .

This isn't just black women though. A lot of caucasian women in the UK wear weaves too and they also look bad! LOL....

However, I'm not sure that it is any worse in the UK (or London specifically) than it is in most places in the US (FYI I have lived and travelled around the US). However, IMHO, because there is more contact in the UK i.e. people walk around more, use public transport, and generally we have a higher density of people than in most places in the US, you find that you have more contacts with such people. I'm curious to see what my other UK ladies have to say about the subject.

But to give a shout-out to my London (and UK in general) ladies, I think our fashion sense is banging, so that's something we can smile about

I do agree that people in the UK use public transportation (from what I've seen) however, in the case of London vs New York (the only two I can talk about from personal experience) this should still work the opposite way (New York having more bad weaves):
London has a population density of 12,773/square mile whereas New York City has 27,532/sq mi. You would probably bump into more bad weaves in New York City than London, being that the Black population is greater. I'd also say the two use public transportation equally, Its pretty useless driving in busy areas of major cities!

 

[Aviah]

Good point there, online ordering. So maybe lack of exposure to good hair styles as well? And perhaps not many stylists who know how to do a good sew in. They The last time that I was there, in their regular cable tv package they don't get BET, and a lot of black movies that had come out months ago were never shown in theaters.

BET's out here now. I never really had cable here, and know of few people that do, so i can't really speak on that. But the thing that gets me is that I've seen some really good weaves, and if its possible for some why not others? I know of people who go from weave to weave and you never see their real hair, but before they get it redone, they leave the other one in! (sometimes for long periods). Being that I go to college outside London, there is little in the line of black hair stylists where I go to school, so many people wait until they are going to their parent's houses (in London) to get their hair done.
However I still know people that stay in London and still.... not much difference.

I've had friends that were 18+ and don't wash their own hair, don't take care of their own hair, leaving it to some stylist that may do a good job initially, but its left in too long, and the stylist doesn't really take care of their hair. Still, you only see them so often, haircare is a day-to-day responsibility (but I digress). I just think its a mentality for many.

Yeah some many movies come out late, as well as TV shows and music sometimes. Though I'm not sure why that happens...

 

[cornaline]

I'm not sure about London but when DH and I visited Paris we saw a ton of horrible weaves. It was so bad that DH asked me what was wrong with their hair (before he was able to spot a weave).

Subscribing for Paris and France in general. I am from there and yes it is very bad. I think that although it is changing now French people are just behind with everything related to black hair: we dont have access to most of the products and supplies that one can find in the US or even in London ( I know many people who travel to London to stock up on some products) and the quality of the hair you can find in BSS is very low. Even finding a good hair salon according to US standards can be problematic. On can find but the bill will be high ( i.e; 180 euros for a relaxer at Phytospecific institute).

 

[lizzyb168]

IMHO...... its like 60% bad weaves, 40% good weaves.

The bad weaves are solely down to the cheap hair salons in the ghetto areas, who do weaves for £20, by stylists who have little to no hair qualifications. And afterwards they have the nerve to tell u, u look good!

Also there is alot of carribean and african people in england, and alot of their hair practices are not good. For example, gluing tracks to ur HEAD!

At the same time, there are plenty of girls out there who wear weaves and everyone thinks its their actual hair. So 'those people' are not seen to count!

ALSO, contributing to this is the whole glamour model/WAG culture in Britain! Its out of control. All these young black girls, and even some old ones too, think that they have to have long straight relaxed hair, tiny dresses, 5-6 inch heels and aspire to marry a footballer or someone with money. Therefore girls who dont have alot of money or who are just cheap, try and get a quick weave done in order to fit in, thinking they look good. But instead they look like a mess! And when its time to take the weave out...... their hair underneath just suffers.

 

[yods]

Well dang, maybe I should relocate to London for a bit sounds like an excellent opportunity to me!


Lady if you came over here you would make a killing! Seriously! You can stay at my house and pay your rent with doing my hair

Whilst there are some good stylists here they tend to be really really expensive and in my experience the vast majority of stylists are really really bad.

Plus we really don't have the variety of products that you guys have. I think there is one place in London that sells Qhemet but thats really it unless you pay ridiculous shipping costs.

 

[Aviah]

IMHO...... its like 60% bad weaves, 40% good weaves.

The bad weaves are solely down to the cheap hair salons in the ghetto areas, who do weaves for £20, by stylists who have little to no hair qualifications. And afterwards they have the nerve to tell u, u look good!

Also there is alot of carribean and african people in england, and alot of their hair practices are not good. For example, gluing tracks to ur HEAD!

At the same time, there are plenty of girls out there who wear weaves and everyone thinks its their actual hair. So 'those people' are not seen to count!

ALSO, contributing to this is the whole glamour model/WAG culture in Britain! Its out of control. All these young black girls, and even some old ones too, think that they have to have long straight relaxed hair, tiny dresses, 5-6 inch heels and aspire to marry a footballer or someone with money. Therefore girls who dont have alot of money or who are just cheap, try and get a quick weave done in order to fit in, thinking they look good. But instead they look like a mess! And when its time to take the weave out...... their hair underneath just suffers.

Gotta agree. Ghetto areas are worse, but its not just the salons, but the people who get their baby's daddy's sister's friend's whoever, who does not know what they are doing. Or they can try to do it themselves and that doesn't work sometimes either...