It’s almost been a year since my big chop (O_O), and I can honestly say that all of the hair adventures, stories, trials and tribulations, all’at and et cetera have been supremely worth it. I don’t regret one bit of becoming natural and I know I sound like a dayum Dove ad, but ever since chopping off the creamy crack, I’ve never felt more like… me.
Because I told ya’ll I’d make sure to take you all along for the journey, I do have a few updates to share. Leggo!
1. Shrinkage Is SO Real In These Streets. I’d heard about shrinkage before and being aware of my hair in its natural state when I was younger, I knew my curl pattern was tightly coiled. But, since paying more attention to my hair this go-round (country!!), I’ve truly discovered the phenomenon that is shrinkage. When I tell ya’ll that there is a HUGE difference between my hair stretched-out and my hair coiled-up?! This ain’t a game. Lemme show you…
Jigga Whaaaaaaa?!
Ya’ll see this mess??? And this is my NAPE hair growing like weeds. Like, I could totally go back to my 8th grade self and have a draping wrap style right now. But, I ain’t finna talk about how I’m not quite ready to straighten my hair because I’m loving my curls too much and I’m paranoid that ONE straighten session will destroy said curls forever. -_-
2. Stylin’ On You. Of course, the most fun I’ve had since my hair has grown is the different styles I get to play around with. And I’ve been playin’ my cheeks off! Figuratively, my chile.
I’ve tried a bantu-knot (which was my staple during transitioning)…
I look excited as hell to take this pic, don’t I? *flings confetti* ( ._.)
Not bad, though I think my twist-outs yield bigger hair. I got some practice to do…
And I’ve tried the infamous braid-out…
Nawl, forreal. This looks like the movie poster for the new horror film, “BEASTLY BRAID-OUTS” or some ish.
Awwwwww. *pinches self*
So, yeah… I’m glad that I’m having fun with all this experimenting. And for someone who once called herself, “hair-retarded”, I don’t think I’m doing half bad on the self-instruction. Of course, YouTube is a FABULOUS teacher’s assistant. *wink*
3. I Can Feel The Love… Literally. One of the major components of the natural hair life is the fact that EVERYone has a desire to touch your hair. For the general sentiment surrounding this phenomenon, please click this right ‘chere –> ThisRightChere.
Hilarious!! I totally get the feeling that we’d rather our hair not be a sideshow (no Bob), but sometimes, I don’t eeeem mind. I mean, as long as you ask first (bonus points if you ask in a funny/cute way) and don’t just sample the goods without permission, I’m cool with it. That’s not to say that I’d let ANY ol’ mofo all up in my hair, but if you comin’ with genuine love… I #minuswell show you some, too.
This is me. Not caring. #bighairdontcare
One particular situation that I can now count as one of my best natural hair experiences went a little somethin’ like this. I was at my boy’s “Taco & Tequila Tuesdays” grand opening at a new spot and the following ensued…
*We all walk out to get some air because ya’ll know how it is when too many kneegrows are in one room*
*A group of dudes (some of which we had just taken shots with) come out and chat with us*
Drunk Birfday Ninja (DBN): Heyyyyy, girl its my birfday, you know.
Me: I didn’t know that. Happy Birfday, hun! That’s great! Live it up!
DBN: I plan to! Ya know, I love your hair. I love the natural sistas.
Me: *smiles* Thanks!
DBN: *leans in closer… like, drunk unstable closer* Mmmmm, it smells so good. Oooh, it’s so soft, too. Can I kiss it?
Me (in my mental mind): SCURRRRRRRRRRRR! LMFAO ROFL
Me (in my reality): *laughs* Um… sure!
*He actually leans in and KISSES my hair*
Yeah. Blame it on the couple of long islands and tequila shots or the fact I felt I needed to be nice to the birfday boy, but I totally let him do it. And it was fun and hilarious. Besides, I’m always one to do something so I’ll have a story to tell. The writer’s life…
So, Pinchers, as you can see I’m loving the naturalista life and I’m looking forward to further progress. But, tell me. How’d I do with the styles up there? Do you think I’m nuts for letting mofos feel up on my hair (and how do you feel about it on your own hair)? And did you SEE my shrinkage, tho????
Love ya like certain protesters love to go WAY left during certain summits,
Cheekie
Can’t front on your braid out pic – I wear my hair for 2 weeks between washes. Week one – twists, week 2 – twist outs. But the fine texture struggle is real out here in these streets. I need some thickening tips like a mug
IAYP, you ever tried the Shea Moisture Organic Yucca & Baobab line? I see that one allatime and though I can’t do anything with it myself because my hair doesn’t need ANY thickening help, I think it’ll be a good product for fine hair curlies. Also, biotin vitamins seems to do GREAT with thickening hair. Some folks take ‘em for growth, but I think it thickens more than anything.
You know, I hear a lot of people say they don’t press their hair for fear of changing the curl pattern, but if you’re always doing twistouts, what’s it matter? I alternate between pressing & natural styles, and aside from my ‘frony-tail’ (see what I did there!), my styles are usually braid or twist-outs, which is technically not my natural curl pattern either. Then again, I have been natural for almost a decade, and I have heard that your real curl pattern doesn’t show up for almost 2 years after your chop, so I maybe that might have more to do with it? I went thru 2 years of retraining my hair, which included daily affirmations (I decided to treat my hair like my grandma treats her plants, lol) before I settled on some go-to styles.
I think it’s the heat damage that scares off folks more. Styles that don’t use heat wouldn’t really affect anyone’s curl pattern. I was being kinda tongue-in-cheek with my paranoia, tho… straightening is perfectly fine for your curl pattern as long as you don’t overdo it. I’ve heard horror stories about folks straightening their hair and then when they wash it, the curl pattern isn’t as tight and their hair is more stringy… but maybe that’s because they did too much of it.
And I LOVE the term, “frony-tail.” Stolen! LOL
That’s interesting. My hair has never been stronger, so I don’t have a fear of heat. Plus since a press lasts me 2 wks and then I do natural for 2 wks, I am only technically straightening it 1x a month. But I do blowdry 1st for braid-outs, so I guess there’s some heat there as well. I do think the amount of time since your last relaxer does make a difference. I had a year when I went back to relaxed, and for a year after I could not get my hair in one consistent curl! And I always bigchop it, so it was all virgin hair…it was just…DIFFERENT. I think you need two chops to really find your hair, spaced a year apart..
@Amaris Acosta,
Interesting. Great info!
shrinkage is the number one reason why i do my dominican blow outs… i love long hair and what’s the use of growing all this if no matter how long it is it never passes my shoulders in its natural state!?!?! riddle me that miss sweet cheeks… i think your styles look great, you are a better stylist than me… i big chop (i just found out that term when i started reading black blogs) approximately every 10 years or so & when i do, there is no styling to be seen, its just whatever pops up, i seriously need to get like you…
i have questions about this curl pattern being so slow to show up or being destroyed by a flat iron but we’ll deal with that another time…
LOL, yeah I regularly had my hurr pressed and curled as a kid and it didn’t seem to affect mine much if at all. I’m just still in a curly craze. I haven’t gotten bored with it yet because I’m still new. Plus, I want more length before I have any interest in straightening it. My hair has already been this long before… just not as fast! LAWD!
looking lovely cheekie! What’s very real in these hurr streets is shea butter. I need like 10 bottles of them. Ma hurr is so damn thick and drier than those Libyan meats that are preserved out in the sun. Keep enjoying your “journey”!!
Thanks! And yeah, shea butter is a beautiful thing. Shout-out to the mofos selling clumps of it in the hood allatime. You are loved.
Hey hair twin!! I literally LOL’d at the guy wanting to kiss your hair. That’s a new one for me. Anyway, shrinkage is indeed a product of satan himself. I have to do some serious stretching (sans heat) to get my dynamic Thelma Evans puff. I have flat ironed it once in 5 years and occasionally use the blow dryer with a diffuser when I don’t have time or patience to wait for it to air dry. Anywho, your styles are gorgeous. My braid outs never ever (ever ever) turn out right, I end up pinning half my head up just to get it to look decent. Also since my hair grows up and out and not hang down no matter the style I’m trying to achieve I always end up with a twist out fro..womp. Keep stylin and profilin and enjoy the journey!!
*waves at the hair twinny*
shrinkage is rude and real
now i know how the mens feel.
RIGHT! It’s the same thing!