6 Signs You Have a Weave-Dependency Problem

If you have been living in Nigeria for a while, you probably would have noticed a number of people (not just women) ditching their weaves for the natural hair look. The natural hair movement is huge, and a number people tend to look down on people who still wear weaves – referring to them as “insecure” or “too vain”. The truth, however, remains that hair “weaves”, “attachments”, “extensions”, or whatever you call them, are one of the best inventions out there. Their power to give an overwhelming sense of happiness should not be underestimated.
The only downer is that weave wearers enjoy a plethora of benefits that make it hard to walk away from hair extensions. Thus, they find themselves addicted to its power and completely dependent on it.

Like any other addiction, the weave-dependency battle is mostly psychological. Compared to the time and effort it takes to maintain actual hair, weaves offer the convenience of requiring only minimal upkeep.

Many Nigerian women have since been exposed to the European standards of beauty, and are now conditioned to believe there is no value in the way that they look like as Africans. They battle a form of racial identity crisis.
These weave users become addicted to the fantasy and convenience of it all –
something their real hair will never live up to. The weaves and wigs now function as a sort of security blanket for them; they become absolutely dependent on them.

Truth be told, we all have someone (perhaps a sister, cousin, friend…or even you?) addicted to hair weaves. And since there is no known rehab center for the detection and treatment of this particular kind of addiction, here are 6 signs that indicate the weave-dependency problem.

No one knows what your real hair looks like
Is your hair permed? Or do you still have your natural curls? Are you blonde? Is your hair thick and long? Or perhaps, you just have 27 strands of hair left on your skull and you could pass for Gollum from Lord of the Rings? When nobody can tell what your real hair looks like, except you, your hairdresser and God…then you definitely have a weave-dependency problem.
You are willing to miss an exam or visa interview if, for some reason, you are unable to fix your weave in time for the appointment. Even your boyfriend is in the dark, and so your soul dies slightly when he pays you a surprise visit on the day you’ve taken your weave out. You even consider breaking up with him or getting a divorce (if you are married), just to avoid them seeing you without a weave.

You have a monthly budget for your weaves
Just as you make a budget for food, water, transport and other utilities per month, you put aside a stash for your weaves. In fact, weave money comes before anything else. It fuels your purpose in life and as far as you know, you cannot achieve your destiny in life if your weave game is not on point.
You can easily justify spending up to N150,000 on a mane when you only earn N80,000 a month and then complain that you are broke in a matter of days.
You even consider extending your overdraft, so that you can get them weaves redone. Unfortunately, the day that you actually sit down and calculate how much you’ve spent on weaves in your lifetime, you have a mini-heart attack and wonder if your villagers are after you. Can you relate? then you certainly have a case of weave-dependency.

You genuinely feel ugly without weaves
Thanks to the media and socializations, the western standard of beauty is continuously pushed into our faces. We find ourselves struggling with a form of psychological warfare that gets us believing that white is better; that straight, long weave is prettier than your afro tight curls. You only feel confident and sexy when wearing your weave. And the few times you have to leave your house without a weave, you feel super ugly. Even when people, who you’ve never met, stand around you laugh or point fingers, you actually believe they are ridiculing you or talking about how ugly you look.

Your internet history is crowded with links to weave tutorials and hair stores
You spend most of your time online watching YouTube videos on weave tutorials and checking out shops with weaves on sales. You go on Instagram and stalk other people wearing gorgeous weaves to know if their weave is authentic or fake. And if you think they are real, you quickly DM them just to ask “What kind of hair is that?”… Is this you?

You ignore your hairdressers ‘no-more-weave’ advice
When you visit the salon and your hairdresser asks you to take a break from weaves for a while, because your hair is damaged and needs to bounce back. You become so depressed and so emotionally unstable for a while, then you hear a voice in your head ask “Who needs a hairline anyway, when you can buy a silk base, three-part, Peruvian closure?” You realize that you actually do not have to take the advice. You would rather go bald than not wear a weave.

You can’t be bothered about “Black pride” and you’re sick of people who are anti-weave
You have a weave dependency problem when you cannot stand all the talk about natural hair. You are actually offended when someone tries to explain how wearing a weave is not a way to exhibit “black pride”. You consider them hypocrites and you do not hesitate to call out any man who has the testicular fortitude to condemn or hate on a woman for wearing weaves. You know they are also the same ones that contribute to why women use them in the first place.
They ask their women to wear their hair natural, yet they go out and still chase or lust after the ones wearing them weaves.

Having considered these signs, do you think you have this weave dependency problem? Do you know anyone who does or did? How did they get over it?

Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Felix Mizioznikov