| Big girl weaves for little girls may be too much |
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| Healthy Hair | |||
| Wednesday, 12 May 2010 00:00 | |||
Adding volumes of hair below the shoulders ages young girls. (Photo credit: iStockphoto)
Stylists urge parents to consider physical, emotional dangersBy Lana Perry, My Salon Scoop writerWearing a weave has become a common solution for many adult women who dream of longer or fuller hair. But how young is too young to begin the scalp-intensive process? Stylists across the country warn parents to carefully consider the overall consequences of such a decision for their little princesses.
"Elementary age is too young because their hair is still developing and the density is still growing in," says Kim Connell, who co-owns Salon Obsession and The Weave Institute in Silver Springs, M.D. with her husband. Connell believes that parents should wait until the child is at least 12 years old.
Carefully choose the stylist
"The risks of weaving are the same no matter the age," she says. "Many people experience traction alopecia when there is too much tension in the area where the track is braided in, or if the hair itself is too long and heavy. This causes trauma to the hair follicles, which often results in balding, loss of hairline and a severely irritated scalp."
Because of this, stylists urge parents to carefully choose who works on their daughters' heads. Celebrity stylist Kimberly Kimble is among them. She has styled the heads of Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Taraji P. Henson, Gabrielle Union, Kerry Washington and others who often wear weaves and wigs as part of their professions. This experience has helped Kimble know first hand how important it is to stay abreast of the latest weaving techniques. "For the most part, hair weaving isn't taught in beauty school," says Kimble, the owner of Kim Kimble Studios in West Hollywood, Calif. "You need a license to color or relax hair, but you don't need a license to weave. And most stylists learn to weave by trial and error.
Continued education is the best way to nip "trial and error" in the bud, and Connell and her husband realized the need for weave education right away.
"Stylists are learning from other stylists, but there really is no standard," Connell says. "Even the textbooks at cosmetology schools are vague about this meticulous process. We run classes at The Weave Institute to educate stylists and the general public about healthy, efficient weave techniques in hopes that we can one day have a standard of education and practice to adhere to."
Pick age-appropriate styles With little girls, stylists warn parents to carefully consider the styles they allow their daughters to wear be it for everyday or special occasions. In fact, James, who is also a parent, says to keep the style age appropriate.
"When a child is elementary age, she can still wear her hair in braids or another kiddie style and beautify their look with beads and barrettes," she says. "Adding extensions, especially with hair below the shoulders, is a problem psychologically because a child shouldn't feel they need to have long luxurious hair at that age. You don't want them growing up too fast." 
Using hair extensions with cornrows allows girls to still look youthful. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
The best way to ensure your stylist knows what he/she is doing is to schedule a consultation before the actual style visit. Connell says she always discusses the psychology behind why her young clients are sitting in her chair.
"Then I can judge how serious they are about a specific technique, and sometimes offer a different direction," she says. "That could mean a blow out or gentle relaxer to stretch out the texture and resolve the problem another way. If they really want more hair, we'll often go with a clip-in ponytail or something similar instead because it's more age-appropriate."
Having to make firm style decisions isn't easy. But, as Connell says, it's necessary.
"It can be hard as a parent," Connell shares. "When my own daughter was younger, she had scalp psoriasis issues. Her scalp was so flakey, and we had to shampoo often, so it was hard to find quick and age-appropriate styles that worked with the condition. She wanted a weave, but I decided to loc her hair instead. She begged me to take the locs out while they were in the early stages of growth, but we kept them in because my only priority was caring for her scalp."
Connell feels that any weave artist who really takes their craft seriously will always come from a healthy hair point of view.
"But at the end of the day it's business," she says. "And we are in the business of weaving hair, so if a client wants to move forward with extensions after a consultation, we will service the client."
We all want our little princesses to be happy, confident and picture perfect. But your daughter will have decades to try different hairstyles, textures, lengths and colors. While she's young, let her be young by keeping her look age-appropriate and putting the health of her hair and scalp first.
Lana Perry in Atlanta, Ga. writes about hair, music and empowering teen girls.
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Copyright 2010 © My Salon Scoop, LLC
Comments (1)
  written by Anarnia Hunt, August 12, 2010  Excellent! I was surfing the net for an appropriate hairstyle for me one year old. And this article is extremely helpful! Thanks
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