Semi Big Chop

On Friday it will be 2 weeks since I got my semi big chop.  I was in mourning about my hair, but I'm finally ready to talk about it... My hair had been shedding by the handful for quite some time and had become noticeably thinner.  I longed for the days when my hair looked like this.  I mistakenly thought that getting a haircut would get me back there, but I failed to realize that my hair was pretty much the same length pre-haircut that it was when it was full almost 2 years ago.  This means that I wasn't retaining length which was no surprise based on the amount of hair I was losing daily.  Now, the question that arose was why.  Why was I losing so much hair???  I don't use much heat.  I use products made specifically for natural hair.  After I got my hair cut, I had an epiphany.  MANIPULATION. 

When I discovered the natural hair community on YouTube a few years ago, I became instantly obsessed with the styling techniques.  I, however, did not give much attention to the tips on caring for my hair.  I didn't think I needed to since I've always had a lot of it.  Although I like big hair, I like big defined hair.  Every night I was combing it out dry (and not very cautiously), re-twisting, and losing copious amounts of hair. Hence the term manipulation...

I'm still getting used to this new length.  I'm a serial big chopper so I don't know why it's been so hard this time.  I honestly think I would've taken it better if I cut it all the way down to where the side was shaved.  That way it would have been an entirely different look rather than my new fro being my old fro's little sister.  Cutting it off completely is still an option, but I'm gonna give this a little time.  In the meantime, no more daily manipulation on dry hair.  The bantu knot-outs are a no go for now.  I plan  to try a couple of twist styles after I wash on the weekends I don't have much going on in case they're an epic fail.  Until then I'll be sticking to my good ol' wash & go's.

XoXo,

Tia Lou