So it’s a Monday and of course I am having difficulty with accomplishing just about anything today. I have already started writing this and for some reason everything got deleted. Anyway, so now that I have finally made it past my one year anniversary, I feel stuck. Like “what now?’. Ever since I did the big chop last year and started my natural hair journey my ultimate goal was to make it to one year and see how much growth I would get. Now that I’m here I don’t know what to do with myself. I am not yet anticipating my two year nappiversary just yet. And since I have already made it to my first year of being natural, it’s not such as an accomplishment anymore. Even though I know that when I do make it to two years, my hair should look very good and be very long. One thing I am excited about though is that alot of other natural women I have seen mostly on youtube their hair seemed to grow like crazy after their first year. It seemed like they got the most growth with their hair once the first year was over. That’s good news to me because I am so excited to see those changes in my hair. My hair is a pretty good length right now. I just discovered it. It is very hard for me to tell alot of growing because I have so much shrinkage. If you don’t know what shrinkage is, its when the hair strand shrinks itself. My hair when wet shrinks up to 75% of its actual length. I have about 6-7 inches of hair but when its wet it looks like 1 or 2. Today, I did a style that really showed my length and I was very excited. I will attach a picture to this post.
photo source: me 🙂
So Saturday was a special day because it was my one year natural anniversary!! Yay!! It was such an amazing day for me and honestly I felt like it was my birthday. When I got off work that day I went home and washed my hair with conditioner. I let it air dry a little bit and then I put it in four sections, grabbbed my new hatchet blow dryer, applied some heat protectant to the sections and blow dried away. The result was a huge puffy afro, and it was absolutely beautiful. it looked exactly like how I had imagined it to look. It was really nice to see all of my length because when my hair is wet it looks like it is 2 inches long when it is really like 6 or 7. That is called “Shrinkage” and sometimes that really irritates me. Anyway, I took lots of pictures, got dressed up in a cute outfit and went to a party. Unfortunately my hair style only lasted about an hour before it shriveled up due to the heat and sweat. I was sad, but it was nice while it lasted. That was the first time I had actually put heat on my hair since last August. I never blow dried my own natural hair before and I was very careful to make sure that I used low heat and wasn’t too rough. I didn’t want to cause any breakage at all. I can’t wait until the next time I blow dry it. I didn’t measure it because one I forgot, and 2 i am trying not to focus on growth that much. I really want to focus on keeping it healthy. When I worry too much about growth it seems like it doesn’t grow at all. I really just can’t believe that I am a whole year natural. This year went by very quickly, and I have so much growth. I am so excited to see what the next year brings 🙂
photo source: me. My big chop and current hair!
So its getting closer and closer to that time. My one year nappiversary is coming up in two days! I am so excited! I can really really see the progress in my growth and in my journey. It’s really amazing. I am also trying out all sorts of new styles. I love my hair so much. I can’t believe I have grown up all these years thinking that something was wrong with my hair and I had “bad” hair. I thought that it had to be straightened to be presentable or be manageable. I always had to stick to the same hair styles or wear weave in my hair. I never felt pretty when I just had my regular hair. My hair also kept breaking and never really got long. I had always just accepted it. Now that my hair is natural I have been able to see so far what it can do. Yes, it is alot of work but it is worth it. My hair is beautiful and healthy and growing like crazy. It has about three different kinds of textures and curl patterns in it. it has some looser spirally curls, tight springy coils and areas where it has no curl or definition at all and just has no type of curl pattern. I accept it for all that it is. I feel lucky. I know so many black girls who are addicted to weave and are aware of the fact and acknowledge it. They can not stop buying expensive hair extensions down to their butts and wearing it until they have bald spots and bald edges. They don’t feel pretty without it. I’m glad that I can walk around with my kinky hair and feel beautiful and confident. I don’t need 2 foot long extensions to feel beautiful. I am proud of my hair and anyone who sees me knows that I am confident with it. I like that type of image that I am displaying. Going natural is one of the best decisions that I have ever made. And no, I did not do it just because it seems to be the thing that everyone is doing. I am doing it for me because I decided that I wanted healthier hair for me. I made the decision on my own time. That is all and I can’t wait for Saturday when it is actually my nappiversary!! 🙂
photo source: www.hautepinkheels.blogspot.com
hello there,
so I am very excited because in less than two weeks will make my one year “nappiversary” yay!!! *claps hands* once again this may just seem like its hair and not that important but to me this is major. Like I’ve mentioned previously, I have had relaxed hair since I was very a little girl, and always thought relaxers were a part of life. Going Natural was a huge huge change for me and its hard sometimes for alot of women to go natural and stay natural. It’s been rough for me as well. Sometimes I love it and sometimes its too much and I get frustrated with it. However I didn’t give up and even through the ups and the downs I made it and now I am about to be a year natural. I can see so much progress in the health and the length of my hair it is crazy. It’s been a great journey so far and I have learned and progressed so much. I also feel free, not relying having to rely on relaxers anymore. And I have learned to accept my naturally kinky hair that I was born with. Even though some people were negative about it I still made it through, and I am confident and rock my hair with pride. Not everybody can do that. I accept my hair for everything it is and it has really boosted my self esteem. I am about to be a year down and I am hoping for many more years to come to get to know my hair even better. Its a whole process but I am ready. Right now I am focusing on certain areas of my hair to grow. A couple weeks ago I was convinced that the front of my hair wasnt growing. I was so focused on growth and length that it lead to dissapointment. So for now on I am just focused on keeping it healthy and retaining my length. I take extra extra care of my hair now and I know it will reap good benefits. 
photo source: Myself taken on my iPhone 🙂 Almost one year natural
Ever since I decided to go natural I learned so much about hair and what potential my hair had. When I was relaxed I didn’t know barely anything about taking care of my hair. I knew to get a relaxer every couple of months, wash condition and deep condition every week, and then flat iron. that was my weekly routine. I didn’t know anything about products, or how black hair grew and what it needed, or anything. I always wanted long hair but it never grew past my shoulders and I always wondered why. All of my other black friends’ hair was short as well. We just all kept weave in our hair and that was a normality for us. Once I went natural I finally understood that Black hair grows just as fast as other races hair, but because it wasn’t socially accepted to wear our hair in it’s natural state most of us resorted to relaxers and that was what was keeping our hair from growing to its full potential. Now I see all of these girls with natural hair and its down their backs. Now my hair is growing faster than it ever has. Sometimes it scares me how fast it grows because it just seems so unreal. I finally learned that my hair needed alot of water and moisture because my hair is naturally dry due to all of the kinks and coils in my hair. I found out that when i ate healthy, exercised, and drank lots of fruits and vegetables that my hair was vibrant. I learned that not putting heat on my hair kept my hair happy. My hair has never been healthier in its life. I also started experimenting with it and been finding so many styles to do with it. I loved it. I honestly wish that I would have gone natural sooner, and never even gotten a relaxer. It also gives me something to be proud of. Some people may think that hair isn’t a big deal and its just hair, but I have never had long healthy hair and now that I finally can and I don’t have to chemically alter it, its a big deal to me. I am finally able to enjoy my natural hair texture that I was born with. And now that I am dealing with it I am finding that straight hair is very very boring. I don’t know what I would do if my hair was straight. The only thing you can really do is wear it down or in a ponytail if you’re lucky and its long enough. Going natural is honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made.
photo source: www.insaneasylumblog.com
So when I first did my big chop, it took me a while to get used to my new hair. It was sooo different from when I had a relaxer in my hair. I had to constantly spray water on it and other product or it would dry up really bad and get crunchy and hard. It was only a few inches long. Before I cut my hair I would say my hair was 9 or 10 inches. After I cut my hair it was about 4, and since it is so tightly coiled it looked much shorter. I had no clue how to style it either. I spent hours on YouTube as well as other natural hair sites to learn how to take care of it. Even though it was very new and different for me, I liked it. Most women describe their big chop as “liberating”. I totally agree. I had really short kinky hair but still had the confidence to rock it. It wasn’t what society says was “beautiful”, and I was okay with that. It was the first time I was actually able to experience my real hair texture. Before this I never knew what my actual texture was like because it had always been relaxed. I found that the front of my hair had looser spirals. and the back had tighter coils. I found out that most black people (and perhaps other races as well, but I’m not sure) have different hair textures on their head. I found that very interesting. I also received alot of positive feedback from my family and friends. I only had one friend and my mother who didn’t like it that much. I didn’t care though because I loved it so much. Going natural was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
photo source: Me 🙂
Hi there, today I will be talking about what happened after I did the Big Chop. So I already mentioned the feelings that were going through my head after I did this. To some, it may not seem like a big deal. It’s just hair, right? Well for me, it wasn’t. Most of society tells us that beauty equals long luxurious hair. I always personally thought that I was more beautiful with long hair. Now here I was staring at myself in the mirror with a very very short kinky afro. I had never seen myself with my true texture of hair since I was very little, like four years old. I didn’t even know how to begin to take care of it. I looked like a boy. There was nothing I could do to hide or cover it up and there was no turning back. I felt ugly, and I told myself I would give myself a month to like it and get used to it or I was going to get another relaxer. I took pictures of it and sent it to my friends and family. I got mostly good responses, except from my mother. All she said was “oh.” To make it worse, that same night I was driving up to see this guy that I really liked. Last time he seen me I had long pretty wavy extensions in my hair. Now he would have to see me with this short, cottony looking afro and I wasn’t sure how he would react to it. I was so unsure about everything. I was examining my hair in the mirror and was surprised that I actually had some curls. I noticed that I had two different textures from the front and back. And that when stretched out, my hair was only about 3 1/2 to 4 inches. Before I had cut off my hair my hair was about nine inches, so this was a big difference. I had to be at work in an hour, so all I did was spray my hair with a little bit of water put on a beanie hat and walked out the door. Once I got to work, everyone immediately noticed my hair because I had to wear a hair net. Surprisingly, no one was looking at me funny like I thought they might. After working for about an hour, I had totally forgot that I had cut off all of my hair, and I felt really good about it.
photo source: ontheroadtoqueendom.blogspot.com
Hi, so today of course I am going to blog again about my natural hair journey. So back in January 2012 I decided that I was going to transition until June and then do the Big Chop in June. I figured June because by then I would have 13 months of growth and my hair would be long enough for my liking. In the meantime I was wearing a weave. However, around March I got antsy and was really anxious to finally go natural. I couldn’t wait until June. So finally I asked my friends and family for a vote and they said cut it so that night I got some scissors and cut the weave out of my hair, washed and conditioned it and the next day went to great clips and got my hair cut. When she was finished with my hair it didn’t look anything like I had expected. It was a really short afro that looked dry. I had never seen my hair like that. I wasn’t sure if I liked it. When I got back to my apartment I carefully looked at my hair. it was only about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long when i pulled it out. I had a weird mixture of feelings about it. I wasn’t sure if I liked it but at the same time I was glad that I did it. A couple of hours later I went to work.
the picture is me on the day that I did the big chop.
Great blog that goes with my theme
I don’t find most black women attractive. No, I’m not some brainwashed , self-hating black woman hater like what you see on YouTube ranting about black women choosing “thugs”. Nor am I particularly colourstruck – I’m sure there’s some woman out there for me. My problem, well one of my problems is this. 
No, not the surgically attached battyjaws. Nothing wrong with that. The dead animal hanging off of the top of her head is another matter completely. And yes, if you’ve gone and put chemicals in your head to straighten your hair, we still have problems.
No Straight Answer on Hair Straightening
The practice by black women of altering their has to make it look , ahem, more presentable, has always been something that bothered me , as well as the young men in my peer group. I remember growing out my afro while sitting for my A-Level exams…
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So today I am going to talk about where I left off in my last blog. In my last blog entry I discussed the dangers of chemical relaxers and how that trend is shifting to Natural hair. Today I am going to discuss what lead me to finally stop getting relaxers. So when “going natural” first started getting popular I wasn’t a fan. I was seeing these black girls cutting off all of their hair and wearing short dry looking afros. Some of my friends and family started going natural, including my little sister. A few of them had suggested I stop getting relaxers and go natural. I was against it. I thought my hair was too “nappy” to not get relaxers. I felt like I didn’t have a nice texture of hair to do it. However, I kept seeing more and more girls go natural and my sister was sending me videos from YouTube of girls who were natural. Suddenly I was having a change of heart. I decided to do some more research on what it meant to truly be Natural. I heard that it was a lot more work than caring for relaxed hair and I wanted to know what it consisted of. So after hours of googling information about natural hair I decided that it was something I would definitely consider but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to make that step. At this time, I already had not had a relaxer in six months and my hair was in micro braids (you are supposed to get relaxers every 6-8 weeks). I felt like I was already on the path to becoming natural if I wanted too. Like two weeks later, I was at work at Chick-fil-a wondering what would I do to my hair next and when should I schedule my next relaxer. Then I thought about how boring it was to get a relaxer because the only thing I would be able to do with it is wear it down. I finally decided that I wanted to try something new and different and that was the day I made the decision to start the process of going natural. I was both excited and scared. I told all my friends and family. For the most part I got positive feedback. Now there are a couple ways that someone can “go natural”. Either by transitioning, which means keeping your relaxed hair but growing out your natural hair at the same time, and then when its long enough do the “Big Chop”/. Most people who transition wear braids, weaves or wigs. Or you can “Big Chop” all at once and not transition. I was so afraid of having a really short hair cut so I decided to transition while wearing a weave and then big chop my hair six months later and wear it natural over the summer. And that’s the story on how I made this big decison 🙂 below I attached
photo source: satanforce.wordpress.com
below I have attached a link to a YouTube video explaining more about chemical relaxers. Enjoy 🙂
tamoore92 