HUGE update on Alicia - second BIG Chop after 6 year old locks!

UPDATE on my girl Alicia!  She did a second big chop after growing her locks out for 6 years!
She has been natural since 2002, we started this hair journey together and it never ends! Picts and slide show below!

When I started toying with the idea of a natural hair site it was 2005 and I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do.  I had this idea for a site that would share products, many different women's experiences and types of hair (like the tons that exist now, but few existed then).  I even did several photo shoots with friends of mine to kick it off lol.  Then, as real life would have it, I just could not find the time to build it properly, or promote it, or... just give it life.  I had bits and pieces of the original idea that were pretty good though, one of which was this series of interviews that still lives on the side bar. One of my closest friends is Alicia- who had locks when I interviewed her last.

You will see this picture again in the slide show below, but ya'll, look at how long her locks had grown over 6 years! (you see the scissors on the sink O_O )

And OK, maybe I didn't build enough suspense with all my explaining but this is her now! you ready?

*

*

*

*

Boom:

The reasons why she decided to big chop again are several and super important.
She has a beautiful baby girl now and has been inspired by her hair journey.  She wanted to share the experience with her :-) 

Doting Daddy and daughter:

Alicia also wanted to revitalize her own hair. 

"Stress of locs, constant re-twisiting and product build up from styling."

She said she is in "Big chop Bliss" now lol.  I think she looks beautiful and fresh, and with the little one she can definitely build on her existing skills with her and her daughter. I'm a proud friend!

Check out the slide show below to catch her entire journey!


What do you all think? :-D

Deva Hair Cut Review June 2010 - Oops! It's Late!

Ya'll... I am so sorry I never posted this!! I just found it in my drafts and realized it never went up.

The good news is it's almost Spring again- time to start contemplating warm weather hair. If you are looking for a change, I still highly recommend getting a cut from an expert.  Here is my review from June last year.

* * * * *

So here I was at Fiddleheads, ready to loose some of the hair on my head at the hands of Beth, my favorite curly cutter. I had styled my hair in my signature wash and go, ecostyler raked through, so that she could see the pattern my hair was most likely to assume on a regular basis. It was dry and curls and shrinkage were popping.
 
Waiting anxiously.
 
I made it to the chair, got robbed up and was ready to go.  There was about a 15 min wait time.  Not bad.  Plus they have a little dog that wanders about the salon so that made me happy.

My instructions were to give me a cut that I could style easily over the summer.  I wanted a nice edgy shape, less fuss, and I was not concerned with length.  I said mid range length was fine.  Other than that I was through with the mass of hair on my head and ready for something different.
 
I didn't take pictures of the process, alas I had no arms, but this is what was on the floor at the end of the cut. 
 
 It took her about 30-40 minutes and she had gone over my whole head pulling and snipping. she made sure it was all even by pulling pieces from both sides. and she did a lot of circling and looking.  Here I am, freshly done. (You can see one of my zigzaggy curly shapes popping out clearly here BTW.  lol. This is the pattern in most of my hair. Only the ends coil sometimes, and now they are gone!)
 
She applied my highlights after that.  I already had some grown out highlights in my hair and I kinda wanted to touch them up, but with a little punch.  They use Aveda color there and she told me which one she would be using. I told her I wanted some of the curls to be highlighted, but not chunks of hair.  She did very thin foils all around my head.  Here I am after they had been applied and I was getting a condition and rinse.  The shampoo girl was chatty and we talked about her natural haired black friend who was getting married, and the merits of twists verse an out style.  Pleasent convo.  And she was very patient, using her fingers to detangle my hair while drenched in conditioner. 
 
This is where I have to note one complaint.  I thought that the highlights were too light.  And the finger detangling did not get all the snarls in my hair.   Particularly not in the back part where it is tighter and denser.  I found lots of matted spots later and worked them through myself in Beth's chair.  That is one good thing- you are encouraged to play with and look at it while they are working- it's an interactive process.

I don't remember why- but I went under a dryer for a moment to shrink it back. Maybe she did a once over at this point? I dunno- I'm drawing a blank here lol.

While my hair was damp I got my product applied, which was just Paul Mitchel The Conditioner (which I discovered at this salon).  I don't like their an-gel so I skipped it.  At this point she went around looking for stragglers as well and this was when I had my hands all in it too.  I found a few pieces I thought were too long on my left side and had her snip them out.  Together we cleaned it up a little, and I didn't find any crazies later.  I paid a whopping $160 for the cut and highlights, but I agree that it was professional and specialized service so I didn't have a problem with it.  It's still about half as much as a Deva cut from NY.
Here I am about to leave.

And out on the streets. Wet hair.  At this point I was like, oh a nice bob.  Cute.  and wow it's short in back.  and the highlights didn't looks so bright anymore as it started to dry. I got compliments on it as I walked back to work.

And then it dried (almost).  And I was like WOW.  I see what she did.  It's angled.  It was much longer in front and I had a super funky shape. And this was with minimal styling and product.  I was impressed.
 
 I'm on my home from work on this same day here. I was very happy but I still had yet to see the shape styled with products and fully shrunken. I would be in for a great surprise.  I loved this whole experience and I would def do it again.
 

Advisory:

Beth is the first white stylist I let near my natural hair and Beth does not work with our "invisible length." She works with your apparent length. In that regard it doesn't bother me. But if you have BSL hair when you stretch it and have stretched length goals and aspirations- you would definitely have to explain it. If you don't wear it straight, and it doesn't look that long any other time- she will not intuitively understand your length goals. If you walk in with 18" hair that looks 8" and ask for a shape she might cut off a good 6" but when you leave you still look like you have 8".  She cut my hair by sight and wear. Not twist out goals, nor blowout goals. Those come secondary to shape for me because I do those myself and can work them into any cut that is long enough.

Just remember that length could be camouflaging a face flattering shape.  I achieved exactly what I wanted- which was easy wash and go hair that I could wear out and about with less concern and more style :-) 

Big Chop! Congrats to my younger Cousin!

It's a great new day! My younger cousin ( I can't call her little anymore- She's 17!) finally did the BC yesterday evening. Check out the before and after pictures below. And please comment below!

What hair "type" do you think she has?
Product recommendations?
Accessories?

Here is her FB status - LOL>

"woke up. went to touch my hair. realized it was gone. almost screamed. and laughed so hard i cried. :)" - this morning

"Im loving my new hair!!! :)" - last night

I've given her my 100 cents, but the more support the merrier! She sent these pictures to me.

Her (right) a few months before with her sister.

During the cut- stage one- cutting of the bulk of the relaxed ends!

AFTER!!! The short length looks great I think.Blurry coils.
and THIS is the part I love about going short... Look how pretty her eyes are! (now that you can see them!) You never know what the BC will reveal about your natural beauty.
I'll try to get more pictures :-)

Introducing the highlighted twist-out

So here was the result of the hasty twists! I loved it, and I'm convinced that the faster, wet twists would be more defined and supremely dope. I like how the color further defines the curls, and my eye color :-)

I used black vanilla leave in spray, castor oil and natures gate pomade on the twists and the twist out. Yesterday was day two and it looks the same. I could likely get two more days out of it. BUT I am so excited about the next style, which will be a denman shingled gel set. Me thinks I'll be co- washing tomorrow!

Double strands on the shorter cut

I got impatient and curious and randomly twisted my dry hair while watching tv. The only product I had in it was the gel and pomade from my dry, 2 day old wash n go. It took me under 2 hrs, with no parts and no detangling for smooth twists. I ended up with these med somewhat messy twists. I wore them for one day in preperation for a twist out. Coming next! That was a sucess.

Update on the new length and color

I have been overjoyed with my hair and can hardly contain my excitement to try styles at this new length. Right now I can't seem to let go of the wash n go, however, because it's just sooo easy! With different amounts of gel and leave in I get different effects and detangling is a breeze so I can refresh it more often than before. Even with just some more water and leave in I can work back through my hair and detangle.
There are a few spots of bright highlights that I like to be under some darker hair, so I do a little finicking in the front and top. Otherwise, I feel like it's growing out already! I think I'd like to keep it this length at least for this summer. I know it will grow fast.
Hmm what else? I can still catch a good low ponytail, or wear a pony n bangs, which I've been doing on the weekends while working on the house. Hence the lack of updates. I'm finding my weekend play time greatly diminished lately!
So far the products I'm trying to stick to are suave professionals and naturals for cowashing, Zuresh foaming cleanser as shampoo, Paul Mitchel The Conditioner as leave in, IC or Eco styler for my gel, and castor oil or natures gate pomade as my oil/sealant. I am debating working Shea butter and Aloe back in, and planning to do a flax seed gel batch soon. And a set of twists. And a roller set... Sigh... Lol.

Here's MY New Hair Cut ! Loving it.

ok ok! Here is the hair cut! I made a video- I hope it's worth 100 pictures. I will have a full review of the experience written this week. But in Short- I LOVE it. It is not what I was expecting, and I'm glad it's not. Fiddleheads is not for the faint of heart of you have a length hang up. They don't DO shape sacrifice for length lol. I got a funky precision style that is versatile and very clever.

Long hair. Do I care?

Back in December I decided to cut my hair a tad and I also cut a shorter bang area in the front. I loved the result for the ease of styling it gave me. However, things continued to change quite a bit over the months that followed, as my house hunt came to a pinnacle. I didn't do much new with my hair, wasn't very kind to it, and in packing to move I discovered hard proof that I'm a product junkie to the 5th degree.

In the back of my mind I knew something had to give, and now that I have a bit of breathing room I can reflect. It seems that after all this time being natural, I still have a persevering unhealthy attitude about my hair. It's not based in the texture or my acceptance of what God blessed me with however.

Going natural is perceived by many as an act of rebellion. It's thought of as a decision to ignore that which is considered culturally normal and acceptable (and even pretty) and become a potentially different type of woman. For many of us it's not like that at all, and for many of us it means so much more. Add into the equation the BC that many of us decide to employ to transition and you have us ladies also shirking the long-hair-on-women ideal. It's liberating to be free of so much general societal pressure, but then we enter a new world. A world filled with acronyms, protective styling, twist-outs, hunting for appropriate products and lots of proving people wrong. Most of the time that person is our own selves.

"I don't need a perm to have long hair"
"I'm beautiful as the creator made me"
"I too have good hair"

We prove to ourselves that our hair is healthier and can grow longer than ever before. But now the length is mostly hidden in the coils. 75% to 90% shrinkage is common and hides most of any length gained. It's only when we press or stretch it significantly that the TRUE length is exposed. I realized some time ago that my natural hair texture makes my hair look the same now as it did almost 2 yrs ago. It's a bit denser now because of all the compressed curls, but really-it looks the same. When I first decided to cut it significantly in December, I was having a "why bother" type of reflection. But I still hung on to most of my length. I talked about my length with my girls. Took pictures, did length checks, continued to imagine having super long hair.

What I realize now, when I have truly more important things going on, is that my long hair is invisible, needs more regular trimming, and does not suit my lifestyle. I don't twist it or braid it any more because it takes so long. I don't like using as much product as I now do, particularly the expensive products that tend to work better. I end up on a perpetual hunt for inexpensive replacements for them, which don't seem to exist yet. I don't have time to make my own.

I hope to have more free time again in the future, when maybe it will be a better time to have long, very curly hair. But I never intended for my hair to have more of a claim on my free time than it did when I wore it straight all the time. I keep asking myself "why is the length so important?" why do I fancy having hair down my back?

It's the prove everyone wrong factor. It's the shock reaction I'm addicted to when people find out how long my hair really is. It's imagining how long it will be the next time I straighten it. But this is all indeed another social pressure that has nothing to do with who I am. Long hair is another one of those social constructs assigned to women, and typically reserved for straight hair. I think this is one of the myths we just love to rebuff. But I already know the truth, I see the truth on other women and in my own 6'/year new growth. The act of proving is not for my own benefit. Retaining the length is more like a challenge, fueled by hair boards/blogs riddled with length goals and bsl, apl, mbl accomplishments. I feel validated, and honored even, when I flaunt my length to high praise. It's addictive, but it's also challenging to a point of obsession when the outcome does not fit the best ordering of my priorities.

I think I had a healthier view of my hair and what it meant to my identity when I did my first big chop almost 10 years ago. I had no expectations of length or texture and instead just wanted hair that I could take care of myself. I wanted to care for my own hair, inexpensively, and with full acceptance of it.

Now I have the luxury of thinking about the shape of my face and head, and I have knowledge of my texture to guide me. I cut my hair very short again in 2006, and I surprisingly did not mourn the length much then. I'd lost my texture due to pressing damage, and found regaining my kinky texture to be far more important than having long hair. I did spend a lot of time thinking about that lost length last year though, (when I caught back up to that old length) wondering how long my hair would have been. I think those thoughts contributed to this unspoken defiance I'm getting over now. I wanted to get all that lost length back to show it to some one, some day. All the while juggling my time and money to maintain it "invisibly" on a regular basis.

Alas hand in hair syndrome, fairy knots, splits, and neglect are now the true result of this mis-match of my mind and my life.

I know his was a long post but I hope it's helpful to some of my fellow naturals chasing down BSL markers on their backs!

I plan to cut 2-3 inches or more off this Thursday at Fiddleheads in DC. I can't wait! I want to just start hacking at it myself now that I made peace with letting some of it go.

Here are some departing picts of my length checks etc at various times over the past few years.

Insult? Or ignorance?

SO... who still watches ANTM? *raises hand sheepishly*. I should have outgrown it by now, but it's just so darn entertaining. There are a few black and mixed girls but what brought me into my own space this week was the teasing of Brenda.

She was turned into a crop topped red head and is struggling with looking a little aged in the face. She is really having trouble adjusting to her short hair, having worn it long all of her life. Brenda reminds me of a girl after the BC, trying to adjust to life as a short haired (and nappy haired in our case) woman. Due to a personality conflict, the other ladies in the house found themselves picking on her, somewhat lightheartedly. One said she looked like Miranda from Sex in the City. I agree! And there is nothing wrong with looking like Miranda, except that she is older than Brenda would like to be considered. But another girl said she looked like Chucky :-(

Both comments spawned from her new hair cut and color. Short or curly red hair is stigmatized in the commercial-straight-hair community. Both comments really hurt Brenda's feelings but were obvious digs based on something only moderately similar. So why did the comments come into my living room and sit on my lap? Who do I get "compared" to in that same way... over and over, since 2001?

Sideshow Bob.

He has red hair too, but what makes him comparable to me? His CrAzy hAiR. His big, all over the place hair, forming a free form fro of sorts. I have had associates, co-workers, strangers, and even so-called suitors tell me "Oh, you know who you look like!? that character from the Simpson's! Side..." show Bob. Thanks.

I mean, it's an insult, sure. But is it based in malice? Ignorance? or just novelty and unfamiliarity? The last time I heard it however, was less than a year ago on the streets of DC- where natural heads run free. Especially on the streets downtown. I'm leaning towards malice in most cases, similar to Brenda's teasing. I think many people, MANY people, do not like big, kinky hair. I think MANY people think it is unattractive, unkempt, and inappropriate for wearing out. I think those people find humor in its appearance, and the most bold of those people will make their opinion known via "subtleties" such as likening it to crazy cartoon hair, or pointing, whispering, flat out ignoring my presence...
OR:

"Do you ever think about straightening your hair?"

"Is that ALL your hair?"

"You looked really nice in these old pictures. Straight hair looked good on you!"

"OH, I love you hair this way (pressed). It looks so ELEGANT!"

"Ha. You look like a BUSH woman." (my uncle-in-law said this, and has 6(SIX!) daughters)

"You look like Eryka Badu/Jill Scott" (performers. NO. I DON'T.)

"Ghasp- a ball/wedding/black tie event! But what are you going to do with your hair?"

"How long does it take you to... um, do... your hair like that."

"I always think you are in a bad mood when you pull it back. What does it mean when you wear it different?"

When I was young it would bother me. Never enough to make me change it, but enough to make conscious of my "bad behavior". It made me more cognizant of the rift between the ideal beauty and my beauty. Our beauty is complex and naturally feminine and unique. I would not give my coils and kinks back for the world.

To this all I say:


"You ever think about wearing your hair in a huge fro? I think it would look good on you." :-D

Have a nice day.

I've Been Featured!

Check me out on Afro Glitz Magazine! >>

Rocking the shrinkage

Just conditioner as leave in this week. Nice shrunken shape with a headband. I don't mind :-) sometimes you can sculpt it into a nice shape, and mimic the relaxed bob shapes of days past.



The real deal- lol (pic from July blow out)

Pressing damage- A reminder from a dark day in 2006

I was once a victim of extreme pressing damage. I never shared these awful images because I was embarrassed and angry, but now it's time. I have friends and associates who, due to the changing season, are considering pressing as a new look and/or a nice length check. I did this as well about 2 years ago, and escaped with my hair unscathed. But in early 2006 that was not the case. After one press, after about 2 years of not pressing, the MAJORITY of my hair did not revert back. I must note, that I had my hair pressed in the distant past at a salon in Boston, and I had stopped going because a few sections suffered similar damage. I cut them out, and it was not a huge loss- but I took note. So this time I decided to do it myself. I used a maxiglide, following the directions, but used too much heat for my hair. I think the steam and heat combination made it particularly bad because I would not have predicted such extensive damage from the "medium" heat alone. It was a Christmas gift and I rushed home to try it out. I was actually amazed by the results. It made my hair silky straight in just one or two passes, without blow drying first. I wore it straight for about a week before I washed my hair (picture above left). And then- the horror. I conditioned it for days on end, with the most rich and expensive conditioners I could find. I tried styles to combat the multiple textures. I eventually started cutting. and cutting... and cutting. I obsessed for about 3 months before cutting my hair all off. One day I decided I had enough new growth to just start all over. It was a sad day.

SO the moral is- be very, very careful when pressing. The damage is not worth it. The hair doesn't have to even smell burned or look dry to be damaged irrevocably. Check out the images and don't say I didn't warn you!


In the final days before the cut. I'd already cut about half my length off in sporadic patterns and attempts to look normal.

The evening of the cut, back at home. I was happy again. But had short hair... again.

And this was my lioness mane before I killed it. Can you even believe I did this to myself? It's not worth it.