'man Weaves' Offer Cover For Balding Men, Cash For Black Hair Care Industry

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member




Barber Wade Menendez installs a man weave on client Cliff Holcomb, while his students observe.

Maquita Peters/NPR
Robert Jenkins was only 21 when he started balding. It was a condition he'd expected given that his dad had been bald for as long as he could remember. What Jenkins did not expect, however, is that he'd have to deal with hair loss at such a young age.

He wasn't prepared for it.

"I had a lot of low self-esteem, I started to get depressed," Jenkins, now 28, says. "I wouldn't go to events. I would stay in the house because I was just embarrassed."

About two years ago, Jenkins's wife, Jayniece came across the Instagram page Wade the Barber and saw the work Wade Menendez was doing to help balding men sport a full and gorgeous head of hair.
"She told me to reach out to him. So, I reached out to him," Jenkins says.

Luckily for Jenkins, Menendez's barber salon The W Hair Loft was located less than 20 minutes' drive from his Odenton, Md., home. He booked an appointment and Jenkins got himself a "man weave."



"The results were amazing," Jenkins says. "I think I was shocked because I hadn't seen myself with so much hair for so long. I really didn't know how to take it."

He was anxious about how his wife would react, but when she saw it she was blown away.

"She absolutely loved it," he says.

Jenkins has since had the man weave installed four times.

"This might seem a little bit much or dramatic, but I was honestly just grateful to God that we were able to find somebody that can bring that confidence back. Because I did not think that this would be possible at all." Jenkins says. "I thought that my hair was just gone forever, that I would never be attractive ... This was extremely life changing for me."


Robert Jenkins, 28, is balding at the top and crown of his head and has had the man weave installed four times. This is his before and after with barber Wade Menendez.

Maquita Peters/NPR
Multi-billion-dollar black hair care industry

Fashion trends are becoming more unisex and less gender specific — like, for example, the romphim. Weaves, which for decades have been associated with women, especially black women, are now being deemed by many hairstylists and barbers across the country as the "game changer" for balding men.

LW Salon in midtown Manhattan, says his non-weave clientele includes the likes of Calvin Klein, Maxwell, Tracy Morgan, Fox's Empire's Jussie Smollett and Saturday Night Live alum Jay Pharoah. Cotton has been creating a buzz around the Big Apple for transforming the lives of men in their 30s and 40s with his expert installation of man weaves. He says he does all hair types and about half a dozen a week.

"When they get their hair done, some of them have even cried," Cotton, 35, says. "It boosts their ego from two to 10. All of a sudden, they want to go socialize."

Robert Jenkins's wife, Jayniece can relate to this.

"I used to catch moments of Robert looking sad, just staring at himself in the mirror," she says. "Now his confidence is back. I see him now looking at himself in the mirror and he knows he looks good. Just to see how much it [man weave] has changed his life and how happy it made him, makes me happy, so I'd encourage others to do it."

The barbers say the one side effect of man weaves is an occasional itchy scalp. Menendez says he advises his clients, when possible, to first consult with a dermatologist or doctor and their insurance company before getting a man weave.

In addition to man weaves, Menendez is also installing complementary beards for men who may have a challenge growing and grooming their own. These beards will cost a client a cool $700.

But the real game changer at present is man weaves.



Menendez says when he first started trying to learn the technique, he was rebuffed by barbers who wanted to monopolize the market, so this inspires him to continue teaching and sharing "the man weave love." He says he's also reached out to cancer support groups and other community organizations whose members may require his service.

"When you try to hold on to something, you limit yourself to God blessing you, he says. "I live a blessed life and I'm going to continue to do so because I help to bless those [people]."

The Robert Jenkinses of this world — now with a full head of hair — may tip their hats to that.
 

Live.Laugh.Love

Well-Known Member
Lol!

Funny how some brothers hated weaves on us, but they out here crying with joy when they get they first install! The Cognitive dissonance is real!

I knew this dude who always would make horse sounds around women who had a weave in, come to find out he was trying to get them lebron james hair plugs but couldn't afford it...

This weave method is cheaper for men. But I think most men would look ok just shaving it all off, going bald and growing a beard, truthfully.
 

Bunnyhaslonghair

Ebonics Queen
Bruh one of my old co-workers showed up with one of these a few months ago and I died a million deaths. This man only has hair in the back of his head and the top part is shiny bald. He used to just paint the bald part with Beijing (sp?) which was just as tragic. Then he let the bejing go and went fully bald. He looked so much better! Then one day out the blue he comes back from Atlanta with one of these. We were cracking up in tears. I couldn't look at him at all that day. We randomly found his before and after pic on insta after searching “man weave”. He keeps it up himself now. He's been trying to do a messy, wet and wavy, 3b look to it lately so now it looks ultra fake at the top but it fades in at the bottom nicely. He's doing what makes him happy and I admire that but I laughed that day.
 
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Lady_NakoPenda

Length goals!
I love it just from the aspect of meeting a need that people haven't met yet. I feel like the men in the pictures (esp. the first one) are so excited to have hair that they keep a little bit too much on top. I also wonder about how they maintain it with all of that glue on the scalp.
 

FearlessNik

Well-Known Member
Bruh one of my old co-workers showed up with one of these a few months ago and I died a million deaths. This man only has hair in the back of his head and the top is shiny bald. He used to just paint the bald part with Beijing (sp?) which was just as tragic. Then he let the bejing go and went fully bald. He looked so much better! Then one day out the blue he comes back from Atlanta with one of these. We were cracking up in tears. I couldn't look at him at all that day. We randomly found his before and after pic on insta after searching “man weave”. He keeps it up himself now. He's been trying to do a messy, wet and wavy, 3b look to it lately so now it looks ultra fake at the top but it fades in at the bottom nicely. He's doing what makes him happy and I admire that but I laughed that day.


Several guys at my job use it. Every last one of them call it Beijing. SMH. I guess they trying to be fancy.
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Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
Is he creating the weaves? Does he make them himself? That is far more lucrative for men because you are using less hair and basically making a frontal kind of. Then you charge $700. EVEN BETTER, the average male client is not going to go buy his own hair and make his own wig.

That means you have a [DEPENDENT] :angeldevil: client for life. And since most men are coming in at 30 and 40, that's like indoctrinating folks into Ronald McDonald loyalty for life!

I like how he said he's been blessed and shares the technique. I need to take a class!
 
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Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
I saw a man on the tram here about 4 months ago. I noticed him because I thought his hair was so thick, and beautiful. Then, I realized that he was wearing what I called a lace front. I guess it was a man weave. He was caucasian and looked to be about 25 to 30. I wanted to ask him all about it but that what have been inappropriate.

Hmmm...maybe I should get my barber's license and do men's hair! They are recommending that you find someone who can cut hair AND style a unit. "You want to find someone who can do both who is equally talented in both areas!"

A customer showing how it puts it on.

Q Shanone makes the 'man units'. He's in Atlanta.

Q Shanone explaining his process...Each unit is same price but enhancements are extra.
 
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Misseyl

Well-Known Member
Well, why not, most women are walking around with someone else's hair on their heads, everyday, so why not men,. So to all those men who feel they'll look better with some hair, welcome to the club. Now they'll understand why women don't like swimming/rain, or having someone run their fingers through their weaves. Now that I'm natural, I don't have those fears. My cottony strands loves water and being black means my hair doesn't have to be straight.:afro:
 

Glamorous_chic

Well-Known Member
i hate being a skeptic, but i got to thinking i wonder if this will increase infidelity. like you are a great husband or bf now b/c you're balding and no one is paying you any attention, but then you get that ego boost and starting feeling yourself...... kind of like the psychological changes viagra had on the elderly community. very interesting......
 

Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
Now I understand. The wig looks good but the cut and blending on this person does not look like the ones I posted up thread. What I am trying to see is what base they use to build the 'man units' on and if the hair is glued, sewed on what onto the units.

Well honed barbering skills, on afro-textuted hair, are what add the realism to the units.

 

adf23

Well-Known Member
I like the concept, and I understand that there is a demand for such a product/service......but if I am being honest, it's a turnoff.

If DH came to me one day saying he was looking into getting a man weave I'd look at him sideways and wonder what is really going on :look:. Something about it is very feminine, to me.

Just shave ya head and call it a day. Most black men look just fine with no hair.
 
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