by
Black Girl With Long Hair
Angel F of NaturalSunshine.com writes;
Hey guys!!! I big chopped in August and I was really starting to love my curls and coils….everything was so new to me…learning what my hair liked and didn’t like. I now had the daunting task of mastering the art of just what it takes for my hair to grow.
Suddenly a few weeks ago I started to regret my TWA and hate the fact that I hadn’t transitioned longer to get longer length.It irks me everytime I’m in the mirror trying to style my twa.I saw an old picture of me wearing a Bantu knot out a style which I loved during transitioning and soon regretted my decision to big chop.
Does anyone else feel like this or has ever felt like this before?
Ladies, what are your thoughts. Can you relate?
69 Responses
Yes I regret it, but at the same time I wish I had done it a lot sooner. I guess that’s why it is so hard for me. I tried to salvage my edges after a damaging weave, but to no avail. I am hoping the little depression I am going through now will help me become more responsible with my hair as to whom I allow to touch it and what products I use. I am going completely natural for life!!!!! <3
I gave birth to a wonderful daughter end of December 2013. First week of January 2014, I decided to cut my locs that I had stopped twisting since October. My hair was a few inches but very thick and shiny because of the pregnancy hormons. I was so happy. I cut it off myself!
Then, pressured by my mum, I went to the hairdresser to make it clean and she uses the blowdryer on my hair…one week later my hair started to fall…without even touching it every day I was loosing a fair amount of hair and it lasted for almost 2 months! My edges were gone, I had bald spots. I cannot lie. I cried. I took some complements but I was not able to take tough one or use too many products because of the breastfeeding…my hair recovered… a bit. In november 2014 I cut it all off again because my hair was not healthy at all. I wanted a fresh start. The first year especially when you are a 4C hair is quite tough, I am dreaming of the long 4C hair that BGLH features in style icons. I know I’ll have to be patient…My hair now looks healthy and that what matters the most to me 🙂
I don’t know if this really qualifies as a BC, but I stopped twisting my locs about 9 months ago, and I decided to cut my locs off for the new year, which left me with about 4 inches (stretched) of new growth. It’s only been a few days, but I am loving my new freedom so far. Right now, I am dealing with dryness and shrinkage (my 4 inches goes all the way down to 1.5 inches), but I like being able to try out new products. After hearing BC stories of people transitioning for months to a year and then having their new growth cut down to an inch, I opted to cut my own hair, just like I did when I first went natural 15 years ago before I locked. I am sure I have some split ends, but I will clip my ends weekly for the next month or two, and then clip bi-weekly to monthly after that. For those of you with regrets, keep you end goal in mind. Like Candee K. said, don’t rush the process and enjoy your texture. Finally and most importantly, block out the opinions of others. When I first went natural, there were not of people riding with me, but after about a year, I started getting compliments that I never even got when my hair was relaxed. That day will come for you too, because no one can ignore the health and fullness of well maintained natural hair.
I have big chopped 4 times in the last 3 years. My 4a hair grows very fast. I recently chopped on July 2nd. My last relaxer was on March 23. I had like 2 1/2 inches of new growth. I cut it off myself after having a bad dye experience and went to barber who cut it way too low so now I’m at less than an inch of growth I think. I don’t regret it though because it’s very healthy and I’m looking forward to growth.
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I got my last relaxer in March 2014. I’ve been wearing my hair ina short style for a number of years. I’ve been obsessing about going natural for almost as long.
In May, my hairstylist cut what was left of my relaxer off. I actually like more than I thought I would. I may have gone a little product crazy but other than that it’s been mostly a positive thing. It might be easier right now because it’s summertime. I hope to continue to feel the same once it turns cold.
Alot of your comments and advice are very encouraging! I’m going to try to stick with it
I regret going to a barber to take my straight ends off…i transition for one year and had about 4 inches of natural hair…told the barber to cut the remaining 3-4 inches of straight end off and now i’m left with about an inch of hair…tears. smh…he cut my hair too low..this happened on the Wednesday gone…i got a weave yesterday…never thought id be so grateful for weave. Now I regret going this natural thing all together i used to have hair just above my breast and thick.
So one year later, what did you do ? Do u still regret ? Did you relax again ?
Hello, I started with a TWA after transitioning 5 months. I wish like you to wait longer but the damage done to my relaxed ends was real bad. I was depressed till I went to Hair Rules in
NYC. Mr.Dickey , a celebrity hair stylist gave me a sassy cut amd color. So mu advice to you new naturalistahs is to get it shaped by a hair stylist that specializes in matural hair care and do a great color that compliments your TWA. Use curling cream like Miss Jessie or other curling cream out there on the market and please DON’T RUSH THE PROCESS WITH TWO STRAMD TWIST OR AFRO PUFFS THAT YOU’RE NOT READY FOR YET! It woll omly depress you. Enjoy the journey with curly creams to emhance the natueal texture of your hair and keep it always moisturized. Healthy hair grows and will keep on growing. Take care of the condition of the hair rather than worrying about a style you’re not ready for.
I got my hair cut into a pixie cut August of 2013 i was about to cry when i got it cut cause i thought it wouldnt look right i always had long hair and I still get relaxers cause my hair is really thick . (I’m 14 ) I got my hair cut cause it was really damaged and it was falling out my hair grew a lot by the time it was December so the cut didn’t look right in march 2013 the third week I got box braids and had it in till the end of April and took them out . My hair legnth was to the back of my neck. June 29 I got my hair braid to go to Texas I’m taking it before I go to school in August and I hoping depending on how long it grew I want to go natural but not get that big chop again. But my last relaxer would probably before I go to school. I really miss my big hair
I did my BC on May 21,2013 and I have to say that I love it best decision ever!!!My hair is growing really fast and I love the texture I will be 2 months in next week. Love yourself ladies it takes a lot of courage to go Natural. Keep it up!!!
I bc’d after almost 6 months of transitioning and i love it!!it’s so much more to it than just growing out long pretty hair for me..its about getting know who God created me to be it’s my hair!!:) it cannot be duplicated or bought in stores it’s one of a kind and i love it:)!!good luck everybody!!:)
Yeah, I felt that way too. I had no chioce BUT to big chop. All of my relaxed hair had fallen out.
I had so little left the hairdresser couldn’t do too much to it UNLESS I cut it.
I have been without a relaxer scince October or November of 2012.
I got the big chop at the beginning of February of 2013. I’m guessing I’ll be 1 year natural this Oct. or Nov.
I don’t regret it anymore. It’s over and done with now. It’s only up-hill from here.
I thank God.
NO MORE CHEMICALS!!! YAY…! = D
My BC was December 26th, 2012. I had transitioned for the previous 8months. My hair was really dry and tangled because I had just come from vacation up north and I didn’t have my staple products and tools with me. I was in the mirror trying to figure out how I was gonna detangle that mess and I just got fed up and started chopping. I kinda panicked after the first cut, but I kept going. I was so disappointed immediately following the BC that I couldn’t even look in the mirror. So I had to work the next week and I figured that I better figure out what I was gonna do with my fro. I researched some styles on YouTube, bought some cute clips and flowers for my hair, got some big earrings, and I rocked it out. I have grown about 2 inches in three months.
I’ve did the BC three months ago and it has been the best decision I have ever made. I am a natural red head which means my hair texture is very course so if anybody has some helpful tips for my texture of hair I would gladly appreciate it.
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I did my BC Aug 25th 2012. At first I was like OMG what did do but now I’m like whatever. It’s all about how you feel with your new do!! If your confident and loving yourself, that all that matters :)I took this pic Jan 13, 2013 and I have alot of shrinkage on here. My hair is almost 3 1/2 inches and I haven’t hit 5 months yet. I wash my hair everyday…Sometimes twice a day when I stay up late.
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Um…yes! I miss my long hair lol. I really wish that I would’ve transitioned longer.
Sooo I just did the BC 2 days ago….my boyfriend helped me cut it off to about an inch or so..it looks like I could be a 4b mixed with another hair type ….but I’m am utterly depressed if I must say. It was so dry at first. So I researched almost every natural hair blog, site, and youtube. Purchased some products…and I feel like for the past two days I have been baggying to moisturize my hair…I feel like its consuming me .not to mention I feel beyond unattractive and don’t wanna leave the house..ugghhh sorry to be such a debbie downer but I have to be realistic…
I was kinda depressed and didn’t wanna leave the house as well, so I know exactly how you feel..I’m about 5 months post BC & I like my hair now because I’m able to style it & I can get a ponytail lol it takes a lot of time and patience, I do not regret my decision to chop chop chop lol -HHJ
I was scrolling through this blog for piece of mind, advice and inspiration…and found someone I know!
It’s refreshing to know that I am not alone in this struggle with my hair lOl and even though there are plenty of other testimonials up here, it was still pretty cool seeing someone I know.
Help!! I too recently BC’d in haste and I’m having big regrets. I didn’t have a perm so I don’t really know why I did it, maybe turning 30 has something to do with it. Now I’m at wits end because I just do NOT look good w/ a TWA and I don’t have the time nor patience to be doing finger coils or twist outs every few days. I need any and all advice!!
I don’t regret it but I do wish it would grow faster lol I wish I knew better how to manage it and do cute styles….but overall I’m glad I did it. It takes guts for sure..
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I must say though, I’m pretty irritated that my hair has a mind of its own. The front won’t curl back if its been flatironed…lol
I BC in april I think it was of 2011, I was almost 6 months into it…which meant i was out of the REALLY short (i need to go to the barbar shop look) cause thats how short i intially cut it, and i had gotton to the point where i would wear cute scarfs and head bands to hold back my hair (help shape my fro as well)…Fast forward i visited my mother (who LOVES it short and curly like it was when i 1st cut it) and i listen to her! feeling like oh yeah it is really cute that way and MUCH easier to handle…and what do u know i cut it back off again!!!! BIG Mistake!!!! lol! when i cut it i wasn’t thinking of how far I’d come and how many MORE cute styles i ‘d be able to do had i just been patient for another 4-6 months (i average about 10 inches of growth in a year)…so i really regreted cutting it!! BUT on the positive side i’m just letting it do its thing again, I wear wigs and just let it grow…i went from 6 months of growth to now I’m about at 3-4 months worth,so not to bad but i did set myself back about 3 months when i was at 6 months of growth. I ran into 2 naturals in the beauty supply who took a look at my hair and said it was long enough to get braids and that i should do that just to give me another look and keep my hands out of it… so i loved the 1st BC but really regreted the 2nd one…but we live and learn lol!
yep. felt horrible without hair at the length i was used to (sl bob). but 8 months later (bc’ed april 2011), it’s ok. but short hair is NOT for me. and obvs my hair is healthier now because i did…
No ma’am!!! I do not regret my big chop, it made me feel amazing and liberated. There’s nothing I really regret about being natural, I genuinely love my hair. I am happy with where I am and everything that has led up to where I am now with my hair. Although, it’s hard for me to come up with protective styles I’d be comfortable wearing because my hair is short. I’d have more flexibility with longer hair and I could be more creative as well. But still, I don’t regret big chopping because I wanted to do it so badly at the time. 😉
I dont regret doing the big chop because I knew that I wouldn’t have the patience to transition. However, the toughest part of my journey was the “in between” stage. My hair was not too short to style but it wasnt long enough to achieve more styles than a twist out. During that stage I contemplated relaxing my hair so many times but I am glad that I stuck it out. I have now been natural for one year and two months and my hair is growing like crazy. In my opinion it’s much easier to care for and style as my hair gets longer. I dont have to force it into styles or twist my hair into a bunch of twists just to wash, now I can make 5 chunky twists because of my length.
Ladies, hold on during your TWA stage. It can be frustrating but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I had some days when I did regret it because I didn’t transition. I just cut it down very short. I missed the length sometimes because I was not comfortable in my own looks. I didn’t feel as though my face was attractive enough to pull it off. In a happy note it forced me to see the beauty in how I was made, to be more confident and comfortable with my looks. I didn’t need my hair as a crutch. It also taught me how to play up the features I like the most about my face.
Actually now that my hair is longer I sometimes miss my itty bitty twa. It was so much easier to care for. Detangling was easy breezy. Now that it’s longer it can be beastly to detangle. I can’t lie though, it is great to be able to put my hair in a ponytail when I want to.
I didn’t do a big chop in 2007 when I decided to stop texturizing, but the sudden dramatic breakage I experienced a few months after starting my transition was such that I might as well have chopped it, so much hair did I lose! And I intensely disliked having my hair that short: it was the shortest it had been since I was very small. I wore a short fro for three years, approximately, because I didn’t really know what else to do with it that didn’t involve either extensions, a wig, or straightening.
Right now, I’m supposed to be transitioning to get rid of some damage at the ends of my hair by clipping a little every month, but since making that decision I’ve only trimmed once. The rest of the time my hair has been up in flat twisted updos that keep the ends mostly tucked in. I dislike cutting that much :-/, and I dislike my hair to be short even more :-(. It is now almost the time to trim when I normally would if I hadn’t said I’d do it monthly, however—I typically do it at the changing of seasons—and so the scissors will soon come out, and I’ll trim a little off, then I’ll put it back in another flat twisted updo.
So yeah, I somewhat relate to how stressful it can sometimes be to deal with hair after it is suddenly shorter than you’re used to. The thing is, both transitioning and big chopping have their rant and rave points, and ultimately you’re the one best suited to know which of those will work better for you. I would never purposely choose to BC unless I had zero other options that were more to my liking. As long as I can get away with transitioning versus BC’ing, I will transition every time; it’s easier on my nerves :-).
I had almost no transition. I relaxed my hair in June 2009 and BC’d in July 2009. I regretted the heck out of BC’ing. I regret it even now with almost 12 inches of hair and 2.5 years being natural. It is hard, and it isn’t for everyone, and I am proud to say that I’m not one of them.
I loved my hair after the BC when I first did it and then I started to regret it a bit afterwards. I didn’t really know what to do with it. And as it grew, I grew even more frustrated, enough to consider cutting it again back to to the two inch length because man, that awkward growth stage is terrible when you don’t have a clue.
But I’d consider BC again after my hair gets to a certain length where it takes too much time for me to style it. I kind of miss having a TWA. I know what to do now so that awkward stage will be less difficult.
How ironic, as I just wrote one of my characters in my novel having a forced big chop after her hair was literally burned. It’s a small part of the narrative, but maybe her apprehension over her length will come into play later on.
I can relate! I do sometimes regret the BC. It has almost been a year since I cut off my hair, sometimes I wish I would have transitioned for a year or more. Maybe I would be able to hold on to my length. I’ve recently entered the “awkward stage.” But, you live and you learn. I’ve been wearing a lot of protective styles, and half wigs. It helped me a lot. I’m a little self conscious about the short length for personal reasons. But in the next year or two, I’m sure I won’t regret the BC.
I really do regret the bc! My hairdresser told me my hair would not grow unless i cut it and back then (2009)it was a hot mess-apl but really thin from a bad dye/relaxer combo. After that I transitioned for exactly 2 years then went back to relaxer in April of this year, now I’m transitioning again with no intentions of chopping. So far so good!
I did regret it during the 4-8 month period b/c my hair was at an awkward length, but then I started doing styles that made me feel pretty and I learned how to moisturize my hair and after that point I didn’t. My hair grew in before I knew it and I really learned how to take care of my hair during that period. Now it’s the opposite sometimes I want to big chop all over again because it’s so much easier than having long hair.
I don’t regret it because like of a lot of people said, my relaxed hair was a mess. However, there are days that I wish my hair was down my back again or I wish I could just put my hair into a ponytail some days. With natural hair it takes patience and you’ll eventually get used to it.
I can’t say that I regret cutting off my locs, and still keeping my hair natural. I cut mine off in 09 with 2inches of hair left, and now it’s between 11 to 12 inches on my head. So I have my up and down moments with it, but I still love it.
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Check out Charjay aka “160Days2Lose2” on youtube with this gorgeous big twistout with her new highlights… titled “Big hair…WITH COLOR…don’t care ”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPfc4EAwqk&feature=channel_video_title
I AM SO WITH YOU ON THIS..I love my hair but I just dont have the patience to sit and style my hair for hours, only for it to not turn out right the next day..i am in the between stage now and styles that I tried when my hair was shorter just dont turn out right anymore. I find myself wishing that i had transitioned longer but i realize that i transitioned for as long as i could. those two textures were MADNESS.
My remedy for this is to just take care of my hair the best that I can and to rock it in whatever state it’s in whether i like it or not.
Hell yes I regret doing the big chop. I wish I has transitioned for at least 2 years because over the past 2 years and 4 months since I big chopped I have had to cut so much hair bc my ends were splitting or they felt rougher than a mug and I didn’t like that feeling…I wish I had gotten to know my texture and gotten used to styling it prior to big chopping it. Of course I can get splits with 1 foot of hair but at least cutting 2 inches from 12 inches doesn’t hurt as much as cutting 2 inches from 7 inches..I would have retained much more length that way. So I feel you Angel
Nope! I regret not doing it sooner! I was too scared or people’s opinions and reactions.
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The day I big chopped, I pretty much decided that morning. I told my mom about it and she scoffed at me but I had already decided to do it and just wear wigs till it grew out. I bought a wig on the way home from work and cut it all off. It was such a relief because my relaxed hair was damaged and destroyed by a horrible stylist after I moved back home. Even though I thought I looked horrible, I was relieved!
I wore weaves, wigs, braids for about a year after and yes during that time I wish I would have waited longer because I was more ready to get rid of my relaxed hair but not ready to wear out my natural hair just because of it’s length. Also, I had sooo many problems because of hard water, health issues that my hair had a hard time growing. It’s doing better now, looks lush and I don’t regret it anymore. I’ve never had such hands on drama with my hair though…I usually don’t put a whole lot of thought into it so it has been an intense period for me!
I never regretted my BC. I only regret that I didn’t think to do it sooner.
I did the BC after transitioning for 3 months. My hair was not even a half inch after I shaped it up. Did I regret chopping at 3 months? Absolutely not! I loved my hair that length. It got a little frustrating and redundant once for me when I wanted it to grow for more styling options, but it does grow and it will grow fast. Sometimes I look back over my journey in photos, and I’m still amazed at how far my hair has come along. Even as your hair gets longer, you’ll still experience some frustration, bc more hair = more work. So enjoy the ride and all the successes, failures, triumphs and tribulations of being natural. It’s an awesome experience when you forget about what your hair can’t do, and focus on what you hair can do! 🙂
Another thing you ladies can do is buy a matching natural wig and attach it to the back of your head or cut strands out of the wig and attach where you like. You can also buy a matching Afro puff and attach it to your TWA in a very creative way.
Girl just put your hair in braids (extensions) and forget about it.When you take them down a month later you’ll be excited to see your hair again. Then a couple of weeks later, braid it again etc….a few months later your hair will be longer and you’ll have had your length + an easy, low maintenance style. That’s what I’m doing since my BC made me look like a boy.:-)
I BC’d two months after my last relaxer. I was very happy and felt so liberated but there were times I just wanted it to grow. Well, there were more than “times” 🙂 I think I would say it every, single day. However, I would NEVER change what I did. I just made two years post relaxer November 25, 2011 and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t think I could’ve appreciated my hair as much as I do if I hadn’t done the BC. I just LOVE my hair and am amazed every day at how much it’s changed. I still can’t believe that it’s MY hair since it was so different at first. I’m glad I now know my hair at all stages and lengths. I can help so many people as a result. I tell them not to give up because it just gets better and better. I’m also so proud of myself for not caring what other people had to say. I had enough faith for all of us 🙂 Now I have tons of people going natural as a result and knowing from my experience that it just gets better and better. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s like they say, “patience is a virtue”. Great post!
This is exactly how I feel, and I know it won’t change anytime soon. I was trying to grow out some bad heat damage, but randomly decided one day that I was just gonna cut it all off. Big mistake! I miss the length I had (even though my hair is healthier now). But deep down I know it’s for the best I guess.
My only regret is that I wished I could have done it sooner.
I started going natural from a short hair style 10 yrs ago so I dont know what it feels like to experience the big chop. But I will know soon because I’m gonna have to make a decision soon to cut my hair short and start over again. I have or had pretty long natural hair and a bad press back in Feb’11 left my hair BADLY singed and since then it has been snapping and breaking everywhere my hair was singed. Then I moved to Pebble beach, CA where the water here is extremely hard which contributed to my hair being so dry that it started to break from dryness and my two strand twist out always looked horrible and dry not matter how much I moisturized my hair. But one thing that has helped my hair to begin to grow back and get more thicker has bee Hairfinity vitamins. I’m just waiting to get back to DC for Christmas so I can see my old hairdresser and she can cut it off.
I use hairfinity vitamins too….and am waiting on some to come in the mail. I am very excited tho about leaving this twa stage once my hair gets longer. But I’m still learning to embrace my twa while its here.
Yes, definitely….
I have 4b/4c hair and it’s hard to shape my fro. I cut all my hair in august and haa…I’m really having a hard time with this twa…. I’m 16 and in my high school, everyone has beautiful, long hair and when I look at myself in the mirror I really do no like what I see. I wish my hair could grow faster…I have to comb my hair everyday, I can’t do otherwise. Twists look AWKWARD on my hair too. Extensions give me split ends….I’m really stuck you see. Well, I guess I have to deal with it.
Dude. Dude. Duuuuude!. I gave up the relaxer in 2007 and never looked back. (My hair had fallen out for, like, the first time ever.) I cut my hair off a year later. (I was not aware that I was “transitioning.” I knew nothing about this natural-hair lingo back then lol.) I loved it! Unfortunately my mother hated it and did terrible things to let me know. Fast-forward to the spring of ’11, and I had grown my hair out healthy and longer than it had ever been. But I never got to enjoy my short-ish hair due to the major disapproval. So I decided to cut it again. Short. Really short. Pretty much bald. And I loved it!!! This was in April of this year. All the people who hated on my ish before were like, AYYYYYE! Yes. And then…. It started to grow. An inch two inches. And then I was like, Eeew. I hated how it looked. I felt like a boy. Earrings helped a little. But, still. So you know what I did?
As soon as I felt it was long enough I put that shit in braids. Micros. Did ’em myself for a hot 40 bucks. Felt fabulous, wore ’em for a month-ish. Took ’em out. Problem solved. I just needed a break to get thru that “eew” stage. I have a couple wigs for that too. Because my hair is shorter, if I have two-strands it fits right under a wig, no problem. Yay.
No regrets tho. I looked fab then and I look fab now 🙂
I don’t regret BC-ing 2 months after my last relaxer. I think it was easier for me to go through the process of learning how to care for my natural hair as it grew out from a very short length. A few of my friends who transitioned for much longer are still trying to figure out a go-to style or how their hair works now that it’s all natural; while for me, I’ve figured out my regimen and what works for my hair (I’ve been natural for a year now). Though at times it was very frustrating, I think I would have been just as or more frustrated with the 2 textures and wasting products on hair I ultimately didn’t want to keep (the relaxed portion)
I loved the itty bitty fro stage. I say you’re in the midst of a great lesson in patience. At this point there is not much you can do to “style” a TWA and there are pros and cons to that. Soon however you will enter a new stage of trying to figure out what do to with all the hair you have. I long for the time when I could jump in the shower, wash my hair add some product and go. Not so anymore!
Each stage offers a new stage of growth and I don’t mean the kind that grows on your head.
Enjoy the journey.
This right here…
My relaxed hair was so limp and overprocessed I had to curl it — either with rollers at night or the curling iron in the morning — EVERY day if I wanted a style. Any kind of humidity caused those curls to fall unless I used a super-strong hold hairspray and then I’d walk around reeking of aerosol propellant. If I didn’t curl it my only hairstyle option was a ponytail and it wasn’t much of one because, in addition to being super-fine, my relaxed hair never got past SL.
I cut my relaxed hair short in the hope that I wouldn’t have to curl it so much…only to find I had to curl it MORE. I think the Halle Berry (the OLD, 1990s version) was the only haircut where I could get away with not curling it BUT again my hair was so flat and limp it clung to my head. Not a cute look!
This was what my relaxed hair life was like for the better part of 18 years. And this was before store-bought hair (weaves, wigs, add-ons, etc.) became easily available and relatively common.
Needless to say, my first TWA was a REVELATION. 🙂
I understand if people who are used to having versatility with their hair feel hobbled by the TWA. But like NewNaturalista said, this is an opportunity for growth. I always told new naturals to do something involving water that they were scared to do when they were relaxed: walk in the rain, go swimming, etc. The TWA doesn’t need much to look good…let it be great on its own. Enjoy it!
I actually felt the opposite regret about my BC. I transitioned for 9 months, but I heat damaged some of my new growth and ended up having to cut a few extra inches of natural hair!
I was so mad, I wish I would have cut my hair sooner so I did have to lose those precious inches.
Yes & No…I have been wearing my hair short and relaxed for over 5yrs now and I attempted before to grow it out natural; with no avail. I lasted about 6 months. I knew if I attempted again I would have to do the big chop because what I had before was relaxed/relaxed with new growth/all natural in different sections. This time around I went to the barber and he cut off too much on top (i always shave down my sides). Well, needless to say it was so short and with it growing out, going to the gym and seeing my curls develop again…i began the process once again. I have worn weaves since I was 15 and plan to do so again while I transition and even delve into trying lace fronts. I go on websites for motivation and tell myself that I need at least 2 years of being natural to really decide to continue. Keep yourself motivated with websites, download pictures of your goal, if you have friends that are natural seek their advice. Stay strong!!!!
Yes. And no. I had planned to transition for a full year. After ten months, my stylist, who was prolly tired of detangling my hair every two weeks, hit me with the “you should cut it now. You’re gonna do it in two months anyway. Why wait?” I fell for it and immediately regretted it. Something about it happening TWO MONTHS before I had planned really messed with my head. That’s two less months of researching and planning and purchasing of products. Ultimately, I don’t regret big chopping, but at that moment, I regretted being so hasty.
I don’t regret my first one in ’09 but I do regret my most recent one. I know it was the best for the health of my hair but I miss my length. I’ll get back with the help of protective styles though. Just have to be patient!
I agree with Destinee, my first bc I dont regret at all, shaved my head bald and loved every single last minute of it, but my second bc in April of this year I definitely regret because had I not cut it I would have a massive head of hair right now but at the time it was all just too much!
Fortunately for me, my hair grows very fast and I am already back up to a good, but awkward length and since I am now wearings wigs as my ps, it doesnt bother me much at all anymore :o)
Just try and be patient and give it some time. I never regretted BCing but I did wear wigs and then kinky twists (when my hair was long enough) for the first 9 months after I BC’d because I couldn’t do a TWA. I felt my head was too big. But now I LOVE my hair and I know that if I would have transitioned longer it wouldn’t be as healthy as it is (i couldnt deal with having two textures) And keep in mind the longer you transition the longer having two different textures would have driven you NUTS and the first year being natural takes alot to get used to!
Hey im 16 yrs old and i definitely can relate to this i transitioned for 5months and then big chopped i love my hair and all and then i look at pictures when i had longer hair and i kind of get discouraged that my hair will never reach that length. i can tell you one thing that will work to help you to not feel so sad about the length of your hair, you could try box braids,or weaves longer than your actual hair. im currently wearin 16inch box braids i love them but not more than i love my own hair lol. im ready to take these out and its only been 3weeks,and im excited because i have new growth
Yes, I used to regret the “big chop” everytime I washed my hair. Until I mastered how to “detangle” it correctly … I was not a happy camper. Also, I needed a “crash course” in what to use and WHAT NOT to use. Unlike most, I let my natural hair grow out more and I just clipped the ends over a two-year period. When I couldn’t get it “quite right”, I wore plenty of scarves and even a “small hairpiece” for more formal occasions. Don’t give up. Read up on some of the other posts, regarding proper moisturizing and ways to make your hair grow. Good luck.
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If you dont mind me asking how did you detangle. I am having a little trouble with my hair every time i wash it. It just curls back up no matter how much i moisturize it.
I too recently big-chopped and all I can say is sista I relate!! I used to have such long thick hair when it was permed..then decided that I wanted it to be funky so I cut it..still beautiful. I thought since it was short anywau,why not cut it all off and go natural.
The first couple of weeks I lived on youtube..was informed and delighted by every curl..every coil..know im upset about how long it seems to be taking..I cant do ANYTHING TO THIS HAIR!! I would never go back and it’s growing fast..just didnt have realistic aspirations I guess..but it will get better!
Hey, I do get like this every now and then, because it is not too many ways to rock a TWA without the occational flower clip or cute hair accessory. So I made an appointment with my braid girl so I can get some extentions put in my hair for a lil bit of extra flair for the upcoming holiday season!!!
I regretted that I did not chop my hair sooner..I wrestled with the processed and natural hair for many months….
I feel the exact same way. If I could go back, I would have big-chopped instead of trying to transition. Trying to take care of two textures was a…..well you know.
Oh wow!!! My blog post from natsun!!! Well this was how I was feeling a few days ago. But thanks to the ladies of natsun and YouTube I’m feeling much better. Tonight I will be heading home to wash, condition and deep condition my hair, blow dry and do a twisted up faux hawk on this twa!!! I’m So pumped about it. I also realized that it may not be the big chop That I’m regretting its the fact that I’m tired of the twa and just want my hair longer so I can try more styles.
I did but then I thought about how brittle my hair was and I’am glad I did it.. I cant wait till it grows out!