Losing Your Hair

When I first started my career in Trinidad and Tobago I remember seeing the occasional woman with a receding hairline, which always ended in permanent hair loss. This was a result of making poor decisions when it comes to hair care, such as doing relaxers too often, followed by tight braiding and using large amounts of hair grease.

Today, it's very normal to see a woman walking around with absolutely no hairline. When I say no hairline, I mean that she has lost the 2 to 3 inches of hair that's closest to her face, especially on the sides of her head.
And why is this happening? The answer is simple... long hair extensions.

Yes, the biggest cause of hair loss in beautiful black women is caused by extensions. But it affects not only women...hair loss is happening to young girls as well.  I am sure you may have seen the occasional gossip magazine making fun of celebrities. But rather than making fun of it, why not talk about the root of the problem and raise awareness.

So let's go deeper into the cause of this epidemic and pinpoint the root causes to blame. Here are 5 points that I hope will be helpful.


1) Let's talk about the old wives' tale that "long hair is beautiful." It's not always the case. We have seen it in the past over and over again, women sporting short hair and turning heads with their natural beauty. The best part about a woman who will wear short hair, is her obvious confidence and security, which is the epitamy of real beauty.

Check out these icons of the short do!

2) Did you know that the hairline generally holds the weakest hair on the head? So whether it's color relaxers or extensions, the hair line tends to be the most damaged part of the scalp. If you bleach the hairline and it breaks, at least you know it will grow back. But with excessive, braiding, stretching and relaxing, the hairline can't withstand the aggression and eventually stops growing. So...is having long hair really worth it?

3) Now with all these wannabes calling themselves celebrities, we are seeing an emergence of people, who are not trendsetters (they only wear expensive clothing). They exist in a very safe realm of what they think a woman should look like, which includes long tresses to hide behind. This group of women will probably never go short in fear of what others may think. Sadly these so call icons are influencing women of all races all over the world!!

Will the secure women step forward!!

4) Hairstylists are next on the list of being part of the problem. Clients count on us to guide them in the right direction, be it for the latest trend to beauty products to how they should style their hair. So when you have a woman whose extensions are making her bald...why not tell her the truth? Can't you say "I am sorry. I can no longer do your extensions because its hurting you." Hairstylists...don't get me wrong. I know if you don't do her hair someone else will. Well I'm sorry, but it's our duty to stand by what we know to be right and forget about the loss of money.

Remember honesty and quality brings quantity and in the long run, the truth is good for business…

5) Now ladies, I too have my insecurities, (we all do). So I know it's not easy to step away from long hair. It looks good, it can be sexy and men like it. Well short hair looks great. It's also sexy and if your man wants long hair tell him to grow his!!

It's up to you to break the cycle, for the sake of our girls… We cannot continue demonstrating it's acceptable to lose our hair permanently in the name of beauty.