Ballerific Beauty – All You Need To Know About Weave Closures

What is a closure? 

A closure is a hair piece, only a few inches long and wide and is usually made of a lace that is attached to a cornrow base and secured around the perimeter. There are two types of closures, lace and silk (lace being the more common choice)

Why should you wear a closure?

Some women chemically relax and/or add tons of heat to their “leave out” to help it better blend with their weave. I did this for a few years and my leave out is significantly more brittle, thinner, and shorter than the rest of my hair because of this. Wearing a closure helps ensure that ALL of your hair is being protected. Closures also solve the issue of blending textures and colors. As I mentioned earlier, I applied a lot of heat to my hair so that my texture would match my weave. But, when I wear a closure I don’t have to worry about that issue. Also, it can be a grueling task trying to find a weave or dyeing a weave to match your dyed hair color. I am not a fan of dyeing your hair, it usually breaks your hair off pretty bad unless you are dealing with a professional and getting your hair treated frequently. When wearing closures and weave, the colors you can do are ENDLESS, and you will be dyeing the closure with the weave so you will have no hair color blending problems ever again!

Picking a closure: Lace vs Silk

There are two types of closures: lace and silk. Lace is the most common choice because it is more popular. Another advantage of lace closures is that they are thinner so they lie flatter on the head, in other words you won’t have to worry about that “line of demarcation” (aka, that area where it is obvious where your real scalp ends and the lace closure begins) Silk, on the other hand, is actually my favorite. Most lace closure bases have to be bleached or material must be added so that the base color blends with your scalp color. I say most because some companies do this for you, but most don’t. With silk closures, you don’t have to worry about that. Also, silk closures look very natural. To the naked eye, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference. My black friends who wear weave who couldn’t even tell I was wearing a closure. The only problem is they aren’t as thin as a lace closure, so they will not lie flat on your head so you will have the “line of demarcation” if you do not seal the front of the closure down properly.

Wearing a closure correctly

It’s not as hard as it seems to install a closure properly, but you must know how to sew on weave. Also, remember to never place the closure directly at the start of your part, you want maybe an inch of natural scalp before the closure starts. I highly recommend you watching a lot of Youtube tutorials on how to install one. Although most of the ladies making these videos are not professionals, they know what they’re doing and they know how to make it look good. If you’re still a little iffy, consult with a licensed beautician or have them install it for you.

Glue, tape, or add a band to your closure?

There are three ways you can seal down your closure, glueing the front of it down, taping the front of it down, or sewing a hair band to the closure and strapping it down. Glueing it down is of course the most destructive. It can rip off your edges and even cause a bald spot if you’re not careful. Some women glue the closure a little on the forehead that way the edges are not affected, but I find that this makes the closure look very unnatural sometimes. You can try using a protective solution that women use who wear quickweaves. You apply the solution (the best two are Morning Glory Growth protection and Salon Pro 30 Sec Weave Wrap Wonder, both can usually be found at your local beauty supply store or bought online) to the area you will be glueing the closure down on and allow the product to dry. After the product has dried apply your glue to either your closure or your head and glue it down. That way, the glue is drying on the protective solution and not your hair. Taping your closure down is safer than glueing it down, but not as secure. If neither of those options sound good Youtube “closure no glue” and dozens will videos will pop up on different methods. The most popular no glue method is the hair band method. You take a head band and measure the circumference of your entire head, you then cut the head band to match your circumference and sew each end of the band to opposite sides of the closure, you then lie the closure flat and tie the band in the back of your head. The only downside to this method is that if it’s too tight it can give you headaches.

Other things to make sure you do 

There will be a small portion of your edges that will show while you are wearing a closure. Because of this, you need a edge control product. This is a product that will help smooth and hold your edges in place. Popular brands are Olive Oil Edge Control, Carols Daughter Macadamia Hold & Control Smoother, Creme of Nature Perfect Edges Control, and Hicks Edges Hair Edge Control. Other things you want to do is add your foundation, or a foundation that matches your skin tone to the closure and your natural scalp, this will help prevent the line of demarcation.

I hope this blog helped and I hope you all will consider wearing one. If you wear one now and you have anything to add or any comments feel free to! Please, no negativity.