How To Grow Out a Shaved Side with Natural Hair

I had been debating getting the side of my hair shaved for a while so I walked into a barbershop on a whim and ended up with this...

I absolutely hated it!  At that point there was nothing I could do but wait for it to grow out.

When it started to grow out I felt a lot better about it, thank goodness!

Here are my tips for growing it out...

1. Find a good barber

I should have done this before wandering into a random barbershop.  Thankfully I found someone who understood what I wanted.  Shout out to Raamiz at Nachi's Barbershop in Clarkston, GA.  He began tapering my hair by cutting closer at the hair line.  He also lined it up neatly without making it look masculine.

2. Marley Twists

 This was my first install and I've been pretty much addicted ever since. 

I continued to get the side tapered and used a tiny curling iron to curl the new growth

.  An added bonus of the Marley Twists is that they could be swept to the other side to completely cover the shaved side.

3. Color

After I became more comfortable with styling my hair, I decided to get a little more funky and add color.  My girl Kia over at

K. Logan Hair

bleached the shaved side and made me a partial red head!

4. Wash and Go

As the weather got warmer, the wash and go became my go to style. The shorter side and the color gave it added interest.

5. Cornrows

I was super excited that it had grown out enough to get cornrows for NYFW!  This was about a year after my initial cut.

6. Asymmetrical Bangs

This was the last time I had it flat ironed a couple of months ago.  I'm still debating on cutting it all to the length of the shaved side.  What say you???