Sunday 16 August 2009

My 2nd BiG ChOp

Why I went natural and big chop’d not once but twice.

1. Why did you decide to go natural?

Initially, I was wearing full sew-ins…and I was like what’s the point on putting a relaxer on hair that nobody could see. So, my 1^st thoughts were to just go a couple of months with out a relaxer but then I got to thinking…why not go all the way. I started researching and instantly became obsessed with all the information that was out there

2. How long did you transition? Did you big chop if so when (how far into the transition process)?

I transitioned for about 8 months

3. What was people's (family and friends) response to your new look?

My peers at school loved it...some people made jokes by calling me names like Jill Scott, Angie Stone and bunch of other beautiful naturals..Others started calling me afrocentric. It didn’t bother me…I just tried to get them to understand that all I was trying to do was be who God intended me to be! As for my family...They hated it (it was like a hidden read between the lines type of hate).

4. You mentioned you big chop a 2nd time. What were the circumstances centered around the 2nd big chop? What was the time frame between the 1st and 2 nd BC? Why did you decide to bc again and not revert to relaxers? What advice do you have for ladies in similar situations?

After a couple months of being natural, I was pressured by my mom to alter my hair for her wedding ( I still to this day don’t understand because she once had beautiful natural hair). I was over the weaves, so I deiced to get a press. During the course of my researching, I had read stories of people having heat damage but I had never heard of a one time press-n-curl leaving the hair permanently straight. When I went to wash my hair…it didn’t revert back. My 1^st thought was that maybe I didn’t wash it enough times. So, I washed it again in the shower, when that didn’t work, I began to panic. To make a long story short, my hair didn’t go back. I could no longer do my wash and go’s, or wear my puff. My hair looked like I was TRYING to achieve the natural look. My whole head was straight. The only thing I could do was wear my hair flat iron or in a straw set. That’s when I really realized my hair was damaged. When I was transitioning, flat ironing used to be a pain...but after my silky press it was so easy. I didn’t want to keep flat ironing and I was over the weaves, so my only option was to do the big chop again. It took me about a week to make the decision. At 1^st I was like I am back at square one. But I quickly realized that this is a journey and sometimes things happen…now Iam rocking a TWA…and I admit it is different because my styling is limited. I choose to Big Chop and not revert back to relaxers because it would have gone against everything I stood for and all of the time and effort I put in. My advice to anyone who is natural or transitioning…is to be knowledgeable about everything that concerns your hair and don’t be so hard on your self when you make a mistake. Heat damage is a serious thing, some people can use heat w/o any damage…but you don’t know if you’re that person that can’t withstand it until the damage is already done. So are you willing to take that risk?

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