Our expert, Dafina Nya Smith of Sunny’s Hair & Wigs, answers your crucial hair concerns. Remember, if you have questions for our experts, you can submit them on our submissions page.
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Question:
How can I blend my natural hair with straight weave?
Answer:
Blending 3a-3c Hair with Weave
I’m going to make a few assumptions that when you reference natural curly hair you are referring to a 3a-3c curl pattern. I think the hardest part of blending two different textures of hair is that you have to use heat to match your hair texture to the extensions’ straight texture. Using heat frequently can damage the cuticle of the hair and leave it look less shiny and moisturized. So my suggestion is to focus on imparting as much shine and moisture to your hair as you can. I love using penetrating thick masques on your hair while sitting under a steamer. I love steamers. They allow conditioners to truly penetrate the thicker coarser strands and cuticle layers. I also recommend using a clear glaze on your hair to help impart additional shine. Only use the thick masques and glaze on your hair, not your extensions. (Find out the difference between a hair glaze and a hair gloss here). Your extensions will already be shiny enough.
Now you didn’t ask me to give my two cents on what type of hair you should use but I rarely suggest anyone buy silky straight or naturally straight hair unless they have straight hair themselves. Straight hair is unforgiving it reveals choppy layers, colors that don’t blend, etc. So I usually suggest if you have 3c hair, buy curly hair extensions and straighten them with your hair. (Read how to safely straighten natural hair here). This way both your hair and the weave will, over time, take the same heat and will blend more naturally together. If you don’t want to deal with more high maintenance curly hair (I totally get it) consider getting a natural wave over straight hair. But that is my two cents. Take it or leave it.
Blending 4c Hair With a Weave
I know all about this. I have tightly coiled 4c hair but have worn straight hair extensions for the last 20 years. I love straight hair even though I’m “natural.” If you are looking to successfully blend your hair with straight hair extensions, I first of all highly recommend using hair that has a little texture to it. I would steer way clear of Asian hair and instead, opt for Indian hair which tends to be finer. I’ve been wearing Natural Wave Virgin Indian Hair from Sunny’s since 2002, so I’m clearly biased. I find that straight hair is too perfect and too shiny and not fine enough to blend in with my hair once it’s straightened.
I recommend leaving out as little hair as possible so that you don’t have to worry about damage
So as for blending the hair, first, I recommend leaving out as little hair as possible so that you don’t have to worry about damage from heat from blending your texture in with the hair extensions. If you don’t want any heat damage at all, consider using a closure. But a quick word on closures: in the right hands a closure is a life giving savior for your natural hair to take a break. In the hands of most, it’s a dead giveaway that you have a closure. Most stylists don’t know how to thin out the density, dye the lace with coffee grounds, and align the parts to make it seem natural. So if you know of good hairstylist, consider giving it a try.
Ok, so back to blending your hair. You should try to leave out a tiny amount. You should baby, moisturize, love, condition, steam and pamper that small leave out area. I would recommend alternating protein treatments with a moisture treatment every other week. I would only use heat two times a month and get regular trims on your leave out. When straightening your leave out use the tension method with a Denman Brush to achieve straight and smooth hair with the blowout and impart deep shine with the flat iron. If you also want to reduce the heat, consider doing a flexirod set or curlformers to get your hair straight and then use a flat iron after.
I would also highly recommend a clear glaze bi-weekly on your hair. The glaze helps tame the cuticle and add a gorgeous shine but it is a chemical and some people don’t like it. I have to use color to cover my gray hair so I always add a clear glaze afterward.
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About Our Expert: Sunny’s Hair & Wigs has provided hair extensions and wigs for feature film productions such as Flight, The Hunger Games, Drop Dead Diva and a whole bevy of television and reality TV projects.To learn more about Dafina and Sunny’s Hair & Wigs, visit SunnysHair.com.
