The Beginning of My Big Chop Hair…
How did I become natural Did I big chop? Did I transition? These are only some of the questions that I have been asked over my course of being natural. Let me dissect each question to the best of my abilities starting with WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN? So, for as long as i can remember I have always had a relaxed, even to this day my mother tells me that she relaxed my hair because it was TOO THICK..and I was only 9 years old!!! You can only imagine the chemical burns BUT, my hair was always laid that is for sure. Let us skip ahead to my middle school year, its been so long I have a bit of foggy memory but I do remember continuing to get relaxers just because my mother and grandmother were accustomed to that tradition. Maybe, tradition is a harsh word but it fits!! Next, my high school year, not as many relaxers but, I opted for BRAIDS…and not just any braids the scalp braids were my THING y’all.. after knowing what I do today, I guess I didn’t want to deal with the 2 different textures of relax stringy ends and puffy (nappy) roots..(can’t even believe I am using the word nappy) but, at the time it’s all I knew!!! (NO KNOWLEDGE) I honestly began to get so sick of protective styles and I knew that I couldn’t wear them forever, I mean I could but my edges were starting to suffer from all of the stress from braids and i did start to wonder, “What about the hair that is growing from my scalp…what is my REAL hair even like”
Transition or Big Chop…
Fast forward, to the year 2011, I had given birth to my 2nd child. I still wore braids, but not scalp braids..Can you guess?? That’s right the 8 to 10 hour sitting in a chair, butt going numb INDIVIDUALS!!! (ha ha) Now, during this time YouTube became popular and I peeped out a lot of women talking about GOING Natural Or Being Natural, and I’m like huh? I’m looking like my hair is a mess, I can’t BE NATURAL, now, i wasn’t doing relaxers anymore but I was using heat, Blow Dryer, Flat Iron, and even dying my hair red, blonde etc.(sorry no pictures)..but braids were just my comfort, when I didn’t want to deal with the reality of how messed up my Natural hair was underneath. Two years pass and my fiance, the love of my life asked, how come you won’t just be NATURAL, I’m like?how does he?know what that is…aha. I told him that is crazy my hair is too far gone! I do a little more researching and Boom….there was my answer right in my face, TRANSITIONING. Long story short I started my No heat challenge, and my YouTube search bar consist of tags like natural hair, how to go natural, I started transitioning and it my dear?was the hardest 6 months of my life…now don’t get me wrong I did enjoy seeing my new growth and my curls were coming in but the two textures were simply UNBEARABLE, so I gave up on transitioning and just BIG CHOPPED…. yup I CUT IT ALL OFF!!!!. I am standing in the mirror-like, OH SHIT!!! DID I just CUT my HAIR!! I totally freaked, my honey was at work and it was wash day..perfect opportunity to just take away all the dead ends no matter how short!! RIGHT
THE REVEAL…..
Hours later my bae comes home and I’m just like TADA!! He’s like what the…you cut your hair OFF…all of it!! The hair is still sitting on the bathroom counter, and I was in as much disbelief as he was. I called up my Sister and luckily she was able to come through that night and my natural hair was long enough for her to grip my hair to wear more braids. I know you all are like what..I thought you wanted to get away from the braids..but after chopping my hair on an impulse like that, I can say that my CONFIDENCE lowered, so I went back to my comfort…. BRAIDS!!!!
The photo above I am learning to embrace my natural hair…kinks and all. I’m actually 3 months natural and my hairstyles consisted of the infamous PUFF!!. Anyway, here I am newly natural, didn’t give myself enough time to embrace the TWA stages, but I did know that I couldn’t continue to take care of my hair the way I once was, I needed HELP. Luckily, YouTube was my bestie during my beginning stages. I plan on creating a blog on my natural hair regimen so be looking out for that.
Fast Forward to a few years down the road, I get pregnant 2 more times since becoming natural, and i knew NOTHING about Postpartum shedding that my dear is also another blog. My hair was falling out so much and it felt like I was not Retaining Length and not knowing anything about the shedding i began to feel DEFEATED and LOST. I ended up doing a second big chop and a third…and finally, the year 2016 rolls around and I finally feel like I have the hang of it.I have a consistent natural hair regimen, I’m starting to see improvement in the overall HEALTH of my hair. So, if you can leave with one thing please don’t get discouraged if your hair isn’t growing or you feel as if it’s at a certain length forever trust me it’s GROWING you just have to be PATIENT. or maybe it’s internally like with my shedding,, weigh all of your OPTIONS and DON’T GIVE UP…especially when it comes to maintaining growth. From the years 2012 -2018 I have been natural for a total of 6 years!!!!!
I honestly have worked so hard to finally get my hair to TRUST ME, and to begin growing and remaining HEALTHY. I do not have any regrets, chopping my hair HAS and will always be the BEST thing I could have ever done for MYSELF. A few things I would want a newly transition-er or even someone THINKING about becoming natural are as followed…
- RESEARCH
- LEARN YOUR HAIR (porosity and density)
- DO NOT BUY EVERY PRODUCT IN STORE
- EMBRACE YOUR SHRINKAGE
- LET YOUR JOURNEY BE JUST THAT a JOURNEY
- HAVE FUN!!!!
That pretty much sums up my natural hair journey, i have committed to being Natural for 6 years of my life, I’m enjoying it thus far. Honestly, it couldn’t have happened at a better time because for those of you who don’t know I am a mommy of 4 and I have been blessed to raise 3 beautiful daughters and 1 son whom all have natural hair…so i make sure to use all of my skills and make sure that my babies will embrace what is naturally grown on their tiny little heads.
My daughters have hair down their back as well, so it does become a bit overwhelming but I enjoy it and soon they will be old enough to know how to upkeep their own natural hair. Thank you guys for reading about my journey and if you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to leave me feedback, make sure to PLEASE GO and add me on Instagram and my other social media…where i post product reviews, tutorials, pictures etc..of my HAIR not every day but every other day…until my next blog… <3 LINKS BELOW
https://www.instagram.com/ms.kinkyrootz/https://twitter.com/irock_curlyfros
Naturallyjae3 snapchat signing off::: KROOTZ
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