A few weeks ago, I saw an advertisement in my area of a salon offering $50 weaves.
The first thought that came to my mind was, “I wonder what the quality would be like…probably not that great”. Maybe that wasn’t a fair thought and I could be wrong, but I believe when it comes to spending money on certain things – 9 times out of 10, you get what you pay for…
And weaves are one of them.
In this case, I’m referring to the cost or charge to actually sew in the hair.
I’ve had my fair share of (full) sew-in weaves ranging in cost from $50 to $200, and in my experience, with the exception of one high priced sew-in, the higher priced sew-ins were of much better quality than the less expensive ones (less than $100).
Like most people who want to get the most bang out of their hard earned buck, I’ve tried several salons in my quest to find the ultimate salon that could do a quality sew-in for cheap. After several years and many dollars later, I concluded that it’s nearly impossible to get a quality sew-in for cheap. And I realized that trying to be cheap was a bad and costly idea. Add poor instead of high quality hair to that equation and you have an even bigger waste of money. Maybe if I searched long enough I’d find one, but like most, I don’t have the time or money to waste – especially in this economy. In my opinion, higher priced sew-ins are just more cost effective and cheap sew-ins aren’t worth the money despite the lower cost.
Cheaper sew-ins usually left me with one or more of the following:
An unnatural look due to:
• Thick braids which resulted in a lumpy weave, or
• The wrong braid pattern for the weave style which also resulted in a lumpy weave
• Hair loss because the braids were too tight
• An unflattering look because the weave wasn’t cut into a style or wasn’t cut well
• A sparse weave due to tracks spaced too far apart
• A weave too full due to tracks spaced too close together
• A short lasting weave because tracks weren’t sewn in securely.
And cheaper sew-ins were more costly for one or more of the following reasons:
• Hair loss from too tight braids
• Short lasting weave = Waste of money
• Having to remove weave within days or very soon afterwards due to embarrassment = Waste of money
• Having to go to another salon to have the weave cut and styled = Waste of time & money
With that being said, I realize that over $100 is a lot of money to spend for a sew-in, especially in today’s economy. However, in most cases; a $50 sew-in will not look like a $100-$200 sew-in. Higher priced sew-ins usually last longer and coupled with high quality hair that doesn’t tangle or mat, would provide a more natural look as well as the most bang for your buck – especially if you’re going to spend that type of money! It wouldn’t make sense to use poor quality hair that will only last a couple of days or weeks. Using higher quality hair makes more sense!
In any case, whether you decide to use poor or high quality hair, if you’re getting a sew-in, I highly recommend the higher priced ones – overall it’ll cost you less and look much better than the cheaper ones.
The Hair Doc