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

[MochaMooch]

Weaves are pretty bad in the UK. The weaves i've seen in london are better than the ones i've seen in the part of the UK where I live but they're still messed up. It's not just weaves either, I've seen some really bad braids. Some hairdressers do braids in a way that makes it look as if you don't have a hairline...even if you have a really good strong healthy hairline erplexed. Plus they do them in a way where you can see the point where the real hair and extensions meet

 

[Okay]

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.

+1

You dont have to worry about rent or living space if you ever were to visit denmark

 

[bb09]

Accurate

 

[Tiye]

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

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Chalk it up to difference in aesthetic preferences - for example if you look at bhm there are two types of weaves that get the clicks and thumbs up - the Kim K look or wet looking curl and everything has to be low luster. Some will critique Indian women when the hair is growing out of their own scalps. A digression from OP's question - haven't been to London in years so can't comment on that.

 

[temfash]

Weaves are pretty bad in the UK. The weaves i've seen in london are better than the ones i've seen in the part of the UK where I live but they're still messed up. It's not just weaves either, I've seen some really bad braids. Some hairdressers do braids in a way that makes it look as if you don't have a hairline...even if you have a really good strong healthy hairline erplexed. Plus they do them in a way where you can see the point where the real hair and extensions meet

Another take on this from my 16 year old son who attended an all boys secondary school, He just started a sixth form college in September and the first thing he told me was how all the black girls in his college wear fake hair and it looks busted and fake he also said its refreshing to come home and see his mom and sister's real hair.

 

[bb09]

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

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.

True. I never thought about that, but very true. Or aspiring video girls. I think some girls do it as well as a sort of rite of passage.. going into uni or college, but it doesn't look good. If you can get a hold of bbc iplayer, look up the girls on 'Snog, Marry, Avoid', you can get an idea of what we mean

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.

Lol exactly! And you can help me out with my hair probs & with styling

Weaves are pretty bad in the UK. The weaves i've seen in london are better than the ones i've seen in the part of the UK where I live but they're still messed up. It's not just weaves either, I've seen some really bad braids. Some hairdressers do braids in a way that makes it look as if you don't have a hairline...even if you have a really good strong healthy hairline erplexed. Plus they do them in a way where you can see the point where the real hair and extensions meet

Some hair dressers do, but I actually think the pick'n'drop and micro braids are some of the prettiest hairstyles. Weaves replaced them

In the last 2 years, I honestly remember seeing One good weave (outside of close friends of the family). It was curly, not straight -it actually looked soo nice from the back.. then the girl turned around and we saw the front.. My sister and I actually joked that when we come down to London during our breaks from uni, the weaves are the first thing you see. That's how you know you're in London

It's not all bad though. The standard or acceptable weaves here are just Very generic. When I went to see my other half's performance at an ACS type event, why did every single girl there have the same 1b weave between shoulder length and APL -no exaggeration (1# is Too black and shiny, so people either go for 1b or 2). It does make me super determined to somehow learn to style my hair though, and to not weave it up. 2 more inches till goal length

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

*looks for reasonable ticket to London*

 

[SheenaVee]

Agree!
Every time I'm out or on public transport I'm at someone's weave.
I even do this (when they aren't looking, of course) to some of my friends and cousins and aunts.

I have never had a weave because I've never liked the look of them. My mum is also natural and never wear weaves.

To be honest though, and this is what I see of my friends and female relatives, when they first get the weave done, it's not bad. If they go to a DECENT salon - not their friend's cousin's sister's house or some ghetto hair salon, it's actually nice - most of them are not natural looking - but hey, maybe some people aren't looking for the natural look.
But it's the UPKEEP of the weave. People don't take care of it, or their hair underneath or blended with it. I've even seen weaves with tracks half falling off where the glue has come off. I've seen a good inch or two of new growth underneath a full cap of weave. I've seen natural, maybe 4b textured hair not even attempted to blend with shiny, 1a textured weave.

Seriously, .

 

[LushLox]

Agree!
Every time I'm out or on public transport I'm at someone's weave.
I even do this (when they aren't looking, of course) to some of my friends and cousins and aunts.

I have never had a weave because I've never liked the look of them. My mum is also natural and never wear weaves.

To be honest though, and this is what I see of my friends and female relatives, when they first get the weave done, it's not bad. If they go to a DECENT salon - not their friend's cousin's sister's house or some ghetto hair salon, it's actually nice - most of them are not natural looking - but hey, maybe some people aren't looking for the natural look.
But it's the UPKEEP of the weave. People don't take care of it, or their hair underneath or blended with it. I've even seen weaves with tracks half falling off where the glue has come off. I've seen a good inch or two of new growth underneath a full cap of weave. I've seen natural, maybe 4b textured hair not even attempted to blend with shiny, 1a textured weave.

Seriously, .

I've never quite understood this. Where are you going with that ÜBER silky straight hair when it's plain to see that your natural hair is like a 4Z?

It's some mess out there...

 

[ceecy29]

OT, did your client just return from Newcastle?

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

OT, did your client just return from Newcastle?

Awww man I'm drawing a blank.....I think she said something with a "shire" totally forgot

 

[lalla]

Weaves are often pretty bad in Paris too.
Younger girls usually sport horrible weaves - matted, unblended etc- they did themselves ( obviously) and tons of make up. Even a male friend of mine ( Italian and German ) has noticed it. He asked me once how come there were so many pretty black girls in Paris with horrible hair...
I even saw a (black) guy in the metro telling his gf not to get the ugly hair.
I blame the bad hair on their age, lack of money and peer pressure.

My cousin used to do that too and worse. Glue whatever pieces of hair were dangling from the weave to her scalp, until she had to spend hours to get rid of the glue.
She did not have the money to buy quality hair, nor could she pay a stylist. She used whatever she could get her hands on.

Older women from Africa can keep weaves on for over a year ( or so it looks). The hair is greasy matted, neither the colour nor the texture match their natural hair. I have no explanation for this.

An increasing number of weaves look good though.

 

[itsjusthair88]

To whoever brought up the WAG phenomenon, yes I forgot about that. And it's black and white women who will get these massive fake weaves trying to be a footballers wife...it's a little ridiculous.

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[Mizz Diamonds]

I see bad lace fronts these days more than bad weaves, oh and I don't like the pick and drops. The lace fronts I see on a daily basis on the tubes and buses are not really good at all, My sister rocks lace wigs and she does them really well and orders some online. She get's paid hooking people up with a good one and fixing it for them.

My mum, my sis and me has always done my hair for me, I never sat down in a salon chair before to get my hair done. So I wouldn't really know too much.

 

[ntm103]

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.

Weaves are often pretty bad in Paris too.
Younger girls usually sport horrible weaves - matted, unblended etc- they did themselves ( obviously) and tons of make up. Even a male friend of mine ( Italian and German ) has noticed it. He asked me once how come there were so many pretty black girls in Paris with horrible hair...
I even saw a (black) guy in the metro telling his gf not to get the ugly hair.
I blame the bad hair on their age, lack of money and peer pressure.

My cousin used to do that too and worse. Glue whatever pieces of hair were dangling from the weave to her scalp, until she had to spend hours to get rid of the glue.
She did not have the money to buy quality hair, nor could she pay a stylist. She used whatever she could get her hands on.

Older women from Africa can keep weaves on for over a year ( or so it looks). The hair is greasy matted, neither the colour nor the texture match their natural hair. I have no explanation for this.

An increasing number of weaves look good though.

I have lived in various cities/towns in the UK and I disagree with the distinctions made between African/Caribbean women and I suppose the British-born in terms of haircare.

I have only had a weave once in my life (3 years ago) and the experience was so bad that I never will again. I went to a reputable salon with several branches in London, paid £300 (including hair). It was extremely tight and not enough hair was left at the parting to cover the tracks. My hair fell out around my hairline and I had to take it out after 2 weeks as it was still painful. I had a bald spot for a while where the parting had been. There is definitely a shortage of good hairdressers in the UK and education about good haircare is also lacking.

 

[Superfly Sister]

I been round Brixton (a borough in London) and they all be lookin' at ME like I got bad hair! LMAO. By BF who happens to be white and Irish noticed it too! Geez...

Yeah, it's that bad. They give me plenty of LOL!

 

[otegwu]

I've got to defend us a lil.... yes the weaves are not as good as they could be but they are getting better...so many girls are getting more educated on hair. most of the black people you see here are first generation, i.e parents not born here...so often, they have skewed ideas on what good hair should look like...braids being the number one option for us. Also we have only just learnt to get the 'feathered look' that u guys have had for years....its a process, but we are getting there

 

[carib_n_curly]

i grew up in London and the weaves are horrible
especially the younger girls. most of the horrible weaves will be on teenagers.
in the last few years i see things are improving. the UK is usually behind with certain stuff and if its anything related with products and technique for black people its will be hella behind and we will be very misinformed.

LFs are becoming more popular. baby jesus save my eyes. glue everywhere and the nastiest, plastic looking LF you can think of but if i've managed to see nice weave (which i never thought i would say about a weave in london) there is hope for LF
Most have NO CLUE what to do with their hair. which is the main problem. Its not hard finding a BSS. There are 3 that are 2 minutes away from my house, it use to be 4 but that one closed and if i took the bus for 10 minutes i can find another.

There is a fair amount of naturals. i LOVE going to central London. The naturals there usually look amazing;braid outs, wash n go, bad bad puffs. one day i was walking home and i saw the most beautiful wash n go ever, my jaw dropped and i was staring at her HARD.
In general most black people hair is messed up.Its mostly down to horrible knowledge about black hair care but things seems to be slowly changing.

i've seen a few hairdressers have up signs advertising that they offer Brazillian texture weaves so i hope to see more believable weave in the future. The products variety has become alot better in the last 2 years, it wasn't bad when i was younger but its not as good as the US. i found a pot of cantu leave in shea butter and taliah wajid leave in mist.i did i little dance in the BSS. i usually do when i find stuff i hear people rave about on hair forums.

 

[wednesday]

i grew up in London and the weaves are horrible
especially the younger girls. most of the horrible weaves will be on teenagers.
in the last few years i see things are improving. the UK is usually behind with certain stuff and if its anything related with products and technique for black people its will be hella behind and we will be very misinformed.

LFs are becoming more popular. baby jesus save my eyes. glue everywhere and the nastiest, plastic looking LF you can think of but if i've managed to see nice weave (which i never thought i would say about a weave in london) there is hope for LF
Most have NO CLUE what to do with their hair. which is the main problem. Its not hard finding a BSS. There are 3 that are 2 minutes away from my house, it use to be 4 but that one closed and if i took the bus for 10 minutes i can find another.

There is a fair amount of naturals. i LOVE going to central London. The naturals there usually look amazing;braid outs, wash n go, bad bad puffs. one day i was walking home and i saw the most beautiful wash n go ever, my jaw dropped and i was staring at her HARD.
In general most black people hair is messed up.Its mostly down to horrible knowledge about black hair care but things seems to be slowly changing.

i've seen a few hairdressers have up signs advertising that they offer Brazillian texture weaves so i hope to see more believable weave in the future. The products variety has become alot better in the last 2 years, it wasn't bad when i was younger but its not as good as the US. i found a pot of cantu leave in shea butter and taliah wajid leave in mist.i did i little dance in the BSS. i usually do when i find stuff i hear people rave about on hair forums.

'

i agree with the underlined

 

[Jetblackhair]

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).

My friend lives in France and talks about the bad weaves, mostly using hair that does not match their texture at all. Kinky hair in the front, shiny doll hair in the back or a full head of shiny doll hair weaved down their back. I always thought it was an exaggeration, but I guess not.

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

ok... i seem to be kind of confused about something, so bare with me for a moment and see if we can wrap my brain around this


now, in the u.s. we've blamed bad hair practices on 2 main things it seems

1) generations and decades of being made to feel our hair is inferior and the need to make our hair more acceptable

2) lack of proper knowledge on OUR hair due to us being ripped from our native land and not having proper education on what our hair requires and needs

so, here's where i'm lost

i would assume (assuming probably being the reason why i am confused as you should not assume lol) that because the u.k. has so many immigrants from africa, to the point that a lot of people there are 1st born generations and what not, that there would be BETTER knowledge on how to care for our hair since we have people straight from the mother land there

i mean... is hair bad in africa too? that would be the only way i could understand this happening is if even in africa we didnt know what to do with our hair. maybe i smell a spin off coming.

i just dont understand

 

[Thiends]

Having lived and worked in both London and NYC, I would say that NYC actually has weaves that are just as bad as those in London when I see them in NYC. However, the reason London weaves might be more noticeable is because weaves are no longer as in vogue in NYC as they are in London. What I see a lot of in NYC are terribly damaged relaxed hair with very thin ends; ridiculous lacefronts with hairlines that look as if they were drawn with a ruler and magic marker; bad reddish-orange highlights; or combinations of the aforementioned three (like bad reddish-orange highlights on ratty relaxed hair). Those looks are just as much of an eyesore as bad weaves are.

So, my conclusion is that weaves are equally bad in London and NYC, but NYC has moved away from the weave look to equally bad non-weave looks, while weaves are still very popular in London.

Edit: I see a lot of natural hair in NYC too and those are pretty much the only heads of hair that consistently look nice to me.

 

[ceecy29]

ok... i seem to be kind of confused about something, so bare with me for a moment and see if we can wrap my brain around this


now, in the u.s. we've blamed bad hair practices on 2 main things it seems

1) generations and decades of being made to feel our hair is inferior and the need to make our hair more acceptable

2) lack of proper knowledge on OUR hair due to us being ripped from our native land and not having proper education on what our hair requires and needs

so, here's where i'm lost

i would assume (assuming probably being the reason why i am confused as you should not assume lol) that because the u.k. has so many immigrants from africa, to the point that a lot of people there are 1st born generations and what not, that there would be BETTER knowledge on how to care for our hair since we have people straight from the mother land there

i mean... is hair bad in africa too? that would be the only way i could understand this happening is if even in africa we didnt know what to do with our hair. maybe i smell a spin off coming.

i just dont understand

I guess we often forget that the effects of slavery were far reaching. The slave masters and their women were on ground in parts of Africa too, you know. So your number 1 point, "generations and decades of being made to feel our hair is inferior and the need to make our hair more acceptable" also applies to parts of Africa (I'll speak for the part of Africa that I'm from)

Bad black hair practices are not an American thing or an outside the continent thing. It's present in parts of Africa. Where I'm from we just know how to cover up the damage, as hair braiders and weavers are highly skilled in styling.

 

[Austro-Afrikana]

Just wanted to say that I barely see Africans with weave, they normally have micros or normal box braids...or Ghana braids. Its the very British black people that tend to have messed up hair. All the black girls in my year in high school except one girl were British Caribbean and all had bad weaves. The one African was relaxed but had pretty long hair. I knew a girl straight out of Jamaica who had relaxed but long hair.
Black (and mixed) girls who are very British tend to have terrible hair. My two friends at uni are African and one is natural and always in braids and the other has dreadlocks.

 

[Austro-Afrikana]

Most black immigrants first came to England from the Caribbean actually, and now Africans are still outnumbered 60:40, and adding mixed race too, like 75% of mixed people in Britain are mixed white and Caribbean. Most black people I meet are Jamaican and when I find an African they are usually Nigerian. Can I just say that West Africa is very influenced by French culture so a lot of women there bleach and relax. My mum is from Zaire and says it is unheard of to get a relaxer there.

 

[libertysince05]

Most black immigrants first came to England from the Caribbean actually, and now Africans are still outnumbered 60:40, and adding mixed race too, like 75% of mixed people in Britain are mixed white and Caribbean. Most black people I meet are Jamaican and when I find an African they are usually Nigerian. Can I just say that West Africa is very influenced by French culture so a lot of women there bleach and relax. My mum is from Zaire and says it is unheard of to get a relaxer there.

i'm not sure how long it has been since your mother has gone to Zaire but the straightening bug has infected them now.
But back to the original post, yes there are horrible weaves in London.
I also think they are more noticeable depending on which part of the city you are.
There are also many amazing naturals.

 

[temfash]

[/B]

But back to the original post, yes there are horrible weaves in London.
I also think they are more noticeable depending on which part of the city you are.
There are also many amazing naturals.

South london the bad weave capital LOL

 

[SheenaVee]

Also, I agree on the being natural thing. It's not really a big deal over here, like, a few people might be like, "you should relax your hair, it will look better," or they might ask why you don't relax your hair, or, like one of my friends, ask, "so, when you go natural what are you gonna do with it? Straighten it all the time instead?" but in general, people don't really care. In fact, I get compliments on my hair more than anything, so I still get surprised when I read some of the things people say to naturals over in the US. I'm like, c'mon, is it THAT serious? People so upset or annoyed over SOMEONE ELSE's hair and hairstyle choices?

Oh, and I also agree on London having some bad arse naturals. In general, the natural hair I see looks healthy, unlike the many relaxed heads I see.

 

[lolascurls]

lol! I've been away for a day, ladies! And you bring up London in my absence....
Seriously though, weaves are pretty terrible here!
They charge alot for such poor quality! To prove my point, my brother's girlfriend went to Nigeria for a short holiday and came back with this amazing weave (looked like her hair...although her own hair is long!) and I realised I hadn't seen that kind of quality anywhere!
The natural scene is getting better I guess! More people are natural and people don't give you the side-eye if you are...they actually tend to ask, "how long have you been natural" and admire your hair (black ladies AND men).

A sorry state of affairs, but if OP does want to visit....... Come see about me!

 

[Sunrise]

Lawd! East London has bad weaves for days. Why? Numerous reasons:

1. Hairdressers straight from their native country with no hairdressing qualifications doing hair focussing on money rather than proper hair care.

2. Will fork out money for hair ala £50 BUT determine to save money by getting Tasha/Cousin Jackie/Aunty Michelle/Mum to install. It may look good and properly done or, they may botch it-pot luck.

3. Care of weave. Keeping the ratty thing for months on end, not washing/not regularly washing hair, build up of product. Just because it isn't their hair, it doesn't mean they should look after it.

The worst offenders are the young girls who are now going bald as we speak and the ones straight from Yard and Naija.

Don't shoot me, it's just my observation and by talking to a few people.

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