So You Want To Be Natural Pt. 2 – Big Chop or Not

You now understand that you will have to dedicate some QT time with your tresses and that it ain’t gonna be free. The next thing you have to decide is if you want to Big Chop – affectionately called BC – or if you want to transition, or a combination of the two.   Doing a BC is the act of cutting off all of your relaxed hair leaving you with a TWA (Tinny  Winny  Afro). This is the method that I chose.  But at first I was attempting to transition and i did a couple of styles. Then one day I just got so excited about going natural that’s I Big Chopped. Transitioning is to allow your relaxed ends to grow out without doing a BC. You will have mixed hair: relaxed ends and natural roots. Many who choose this option trim the relaxed ends each month  until ultimately being left with natural hair only. Naturals who transition have been known to do is for up yo two years. By then they have a good amount of natural hair and doing a BC is not necessary that big at all. Another choice for transitioning is letting the natural hair grow until you have a length that you are comfortable with then do a BC. Those choosing this option sometimes will have around 4 inches of natural hair.

Previous: Pt. 1 Cost & Time

Next: Pt. 3 Bedtime Protection

Disclaimer: Everything listed here is basic and is meant to be a starting point. The links I’ve including will take you to some of the products I use for the various steps of maintaining my natural hair. I am no expert on hair care, I do not have my cosmetology license, nor am I a chemist, biologist, or scientist. I am a natural women who’s been researching natural hair care since 2012. I am however an expert in my own hair story and that’s what being natural is all about…developing a relationship with the hairs on your own head. I share what has worked for me in hopes that it may work for you as well. 

Advertisement

Length Check

I think I’m doing something right on this natural journey of mine!  Not going to do a whole lot of talking (okay maybe a bit…lol) because this is just to capture where I am lengthwise: BSL  baby!!! Aiming for mid back length by the end of the year then tail bone length.

If there is anyone reading this who feels some kind of way about those of us naturals who want long hair remember it’s a personal journey and as sisters while we may not agree with our sisters choices we should respect them. Cause at the end of the day what makes you happy make not make me happy and vise versa. What makes this natural girl happy is healthy LONG hair. If I decide to cute it off next week that too will be my decision and thus making ME happy. I respect your decision to be whatever kind of natural that makes you happy …I only want that same respect in return.

Okay okay enough so here are a couple of pics of my bra strap length hair. And yes it’s bra strap from the nape and not the top  but it’s just the way all people measure hair.  I noticed someone commented on someone hair not being  BSL because if this person measured from the hairline it would not be BSL.  ***side eye***

Back of my hair presently.

The picture on the left is the lenghth of my hair for the majority of my adult life prior to going natural. It would get a little longer than this but only by an inch or so. The picture on the right is me now (couple days ago at work) 2.5 years after my big chop. Comparing the two: 30+years of growth vs 2.5 years. Wow!

This is a comparison on my naturally kinky hair (in a flat twist out) vs my natural straight hair. Shrinkage is too real lol. I just love the versatility of natural hair. I love both looks but I do know if I want to continue to grow healthy I have to be cautious of my heat usage.

Men on Natural Hair

Almost three years ago I married my long time associate whom I met in 6th grade. We were pretty close throughout junior high school but lost touch thru high school. Then after many years rekindled in 2009. 🙂   Okay enough history, lol. Fast forward to Jan 2012 I had stopped getting my hair relaxed in December 2011 and started going to the Dominicans  for blow outs. My then fiance had no problem with this because he never saw what the Dominican stylist saw (a head full of kinky hair)..lol. when I told him I was going natural at first he didn’t even know what it meant. Then I showed him a few images and videos from Youtube. He was like Naw! Flat out, NO. I like my relationship to be harmonious so I didn’t want to argue plus at the end of day I knew he wouldn’t be really upset if I followed through with these plans. We continued to discus me going natural over the weeks. Then I did it and he called me his lil almond head..lol.

He was very supportive of my hair every month and encouraging when I had moments that were disastrous. But what I noticed  in my earlier days was  that he was very opinionated and judgmental when it came to other naturals.  He’d make little smug remarks about some styles. So my thoughts are that he’s just going through it for me but really doesn’t like it; he like it on me and no one else; he likes some of things I do with my hair and some he doesn’t. Since I took my locs out I’ve worn my hair straight, bantu knot out curls, and flat twist out and my husband preferred the flat twist out. He said he loves my curly hair like that.  BIG SMILE 🙂 Overall I think he tolerates me being natural because he loves me. I think for the most part I’m okay with that. Oh another indication that he preferred my relaxed hair or  straight styles, which he denies, is that he post more pictures of me on his social media sites with straight hair. He say’s I’m full of it! lol

My son was like, “why did you cute your hair ma?” That was the last conversation he and I has about the subject. I don’t think he cares for it much either as he often comments on kinky hair textures in a negative manner.  He’s never made me feel bad and he always treats me the same no matter who we are with. So hes’ not embarrassed but just would prefer me to have been the “norm”.

My older cousin was not a fan when he first saw that I had cut my hair and had gone natural.  He joked on me constantly about being ball headed (not knowing that a sister had severe shrinkage). It was a friendly joke nothing serious but his wife is relaxed and I’m sure if she decided to go natural he may divorce her.

These are the most important men in my life so those are the ones that opinions mean something to me. How were the men in your life effected when you told them you were going natural?  How did/does it make you feel.

My Buttercup’s Regimen

After much thought and analysis I have decided on a refreshing regimen for my 4 year old. It’s very simple but I feel it will be the most effective thus far.  As I tried something similar in the past and I did see growth when I used this method for her. The Burts Bees, Nature’s Baby, and Goin Natural Rare Moisture Butter are all new products.

Week 1
Apply 4 sections using butterfly clips
Shampoo twice  using Burts Bees Baby Shampoo

Deep  condition using  my DC mix minus all the essential oils and vitamins

Rinse

Apply leave in conditioner, kinky curly not today

Apply Goin Natural Rare Moisture Butter ( started using this for her because of its all natural ingredients on Sunday January 11, 2015); prior to that I was using my homemade moisturizer.
Seal with coconut oil
Style

Weeks 2,3 and 4
Cowash using nature’s baby organics

Deep condition with coconut oil

Apply leave in conditioner, Kinky Curly Knot Today
Apply moisturizer
Seal with coconut oil
Style

I plan to give this routin some time to see if it works if it does not I am going to try what I did with my oldest daughter: not wash her hair as much. I washed my oldest daughters hair maybe once every 2-3 months and it was very healthy and long. I’m not sure if this is because “dirty hair grows” or because you are not removing the naturals oils that is produced on our scalp. I’m even struggling with the idea of greasing her scalp with some good old fashion hair greese… either Blue Magic or Burgamont.  Time will tell. I will give it two months to see if I notice any progress.

Styles for School Age Toddlers

I am in no way a professional styler nor do I actually LIKE braiding BUT its a great protective style for school aged kids.  Braid styles allow my daughter to go a week without my handling her hair again in the same week.  Because I am not a “braider” and lack the natural talent they have to come up with new styles, I try to do other things with her hair as well. So below are some of the styles my daughter has worn so far this school year, some of them more than once.