Dreaming of Length

I think I need professional help. LOL

Without fail, at least a couple times a month since I did the big chop, I have recurring dreams of having long hair again! :( The dreams are pretty much the same. I wash my hair, comb out my curls. At that point it's almost shoulder length, about where I think it is now. Then I flat iron it and voila! I'm slangin' silky-smooth butt-length hair!

If I hadn't cut my hair into a bob last year and hadn't done the big chop this year, my hair could very well have been down my back. Shoot, it was already approaching bra strap length. I think my subconscious is calling me stupid for cutting it, especially since I did love having long hair. Don't get me wrong, my coils are gorgeous--and different! I get compliments on my hair all the time. I'm just ready for it to get some hang time, to be long as heck again. And this time it'll be all big and fluffy! Maybe by this time next year I'll be there.

But someone pleeeeaaaase tell me I am not alone in this!

Have you ever been haunted in your dreams by hair issues? A cut, color, damage, etc? C'mon, I know someone out there has something!

First Month 100% Natural, In Words & Pictures

Has it been a month already? Wow!!

So far, so good! I've been getting a lot of positive feedback about the new look, and the supposed "guts" that it took to go natural. (More on that later) My biggest critics have been my parents (big surprise there), but even they have had to admit that they like some of the styles. The chunky twist out is a hit with them. I guess with that they can see that I didn't cut that much of my hair. (Side note: When my dad noticed that I cut my hair--a full WEEK after the BC--he said I looked like a boy. Ironically, the day after I did it, he was talking about how cute my hair was. *insert major side-eye here* ) My aunt/former stylist saw it and said it looked pretty good. And I've gotten comments from friends, coworkers and strangers on how cute it is and they could never do that. Usually I'm good at restraining myself from commenting. Inside I want to go into a diatribe about "You can do it if you want to. This is the hair God gave you! It's not that hard, just requires patience... yadda yadda yadda" but usually I just act like I don't hear it.

Anyway, on to the pictures! Surprisingly, I haven't taken that many pictures since cutting it. That's mainly because most of my previous pictures were taken at work. Now that I'm in a new area with horrible lighting and a lot more work to do, I don't get to pose for the camera as often. But I do have a few I haven't shared! Y'all already saw the slightly rough picture from the cruise, when I still had a little bit of permed ends. I've trimmed those (still need a professional trim though) and have pretty much perfected my wash & go.

plain old wash & go

chunky braid out

after i picked out my fro. didn't realize it would be as big as it was!

 Today, 30 days in!

(I'll add more once I get to my digital camera)

So here are the things I'm dealing with now:

1. I still need a stylist. I know I've been doing this for a few months now, but it would be such a relief to have someone who has been taught about hair taking care of it.
2. Dryness. I'm searching for something that will help my hair retain moisture & a bit of shine without it being greasy. Because greasy is not cute at all.
3. more style options. I know I've talked about this previously, but now that my hair is even shorter, I'm at even more of a loss as to what to do with it.
4. Tangling & shedding (all the more reason for me to have a professional natural hair stylist)

There you have it! My first month au naturale!

The BC Story

Saturday, May 15 was my birthday and the day I'd planned on doing the big chop. I was a little hype (or trying to be), but mostly I was nervous. I still wasn't sure how I'd look with the super short hair and I wasn't excited and ready like I thought I should be. I read all these stories about people just being too frustrated to deal with two textures or feeling like it was just time. "You'll know" they say. Well I didn't know it that day so I didn't do it. "F it," I thought, "I'll stick with these twists & twist outs for a couple more months and decide what I'm gonna do once it's been a full year."

Well, I did not make it to July. I barely made it to June. On June 1 I woke up and my hair looked like absolute crap to me. Granted, it didn't look much different than it had the day before, but I was sick of it. The ends were just hanging there, all lifeless and boring. I decided that morning that I was not gonna deal with it another day. That kinda threw a little wrench in my plans, considering that I didn't want to cut my hair myself. Me + scissors + hair = bad business. (Or at least it seemed like it would. I've never before attempted to cut hair.) But I spent the day online looking at BC videos and searching forums to see how others had done it.

When I finally got home that night, I was a little buzzed but I was determined to go ahead as planned. (BTW, I would not recommend anyone try that!) After I washed my hair, I took the scissors & went to work! I'm mad cuz I ended up chopping off some of the new growth in the back :( Shoot, I couldn't see it! And there ended up being more permed ends left up front than I realized. I was in shock for a little while, and a few tears did drop. My hair had never been that short!

fresh off the chopping block. in shock & still a bit tipsy...

But anyway, I twisted it & then took it down the next morning....

AND I LOVED IT!!

I didn't have any idea that those kinda curls were hiding under there! I could not keep my hands out of my hair (and still have problems w/ that now). I didn't care for the pix I took from the front that day, as something about them seemed a little off... But here's a pic from a few days later and another from today!

I'll try to do a length check soon. I want to look into different heat protectants before I flat iron my hair to do it. But just from doing a little pulling, I think it's just a little above my shoulders. Not bad huh?

So now I'm trying to find another style I can do besides my little fro (woohoo that it's no longer a "faux-fro!"). Or at least some accessories!

Anyway, whaddaya think?

Pre BC Length Check

So we are a little less than a month away from my BC. I figured I kinda needed to know where I was as far as length, so the other night after I washed it I took some pix. I'm sooo far from where I wanted to be at this point. :( See for yourself. But I'm gonna up my biotin game & hope & pray for the best.

Perm free by May 15th!

Close-up of the new growth while wet

This is what the front is looking like

A bit longer than it looks, huh?

But still not all that long...

Had to do pix of the "lazy twistout" that I did

BC Coming Soon!

Possibly....

I think.


I have three dates in mind that I'm looking at, but I have a length goal in mind too, so it may depend on whichever happens first. Since I'll be hitting 25 this year & that's a number of major importance to me, I was thinking of doing it on my birthday (May 15 in case you wanna start shopping for a present LOL). Then there is the cruise that I'll be going on in June. I really don't want to be dealing with hair considering the drunken debauchery fun I plan on getting into. Or I could put it off until July when I hit the one-year mark...

But then there's the length issue. Right now I'm looking at about two inches of newgrowth, with my hair at about 7" long. I'd really like to have 5" left once I cut the perm-- simply cuz I really think my face is too fat for anything shorter & I want to be able to play around with it some. I'm not sure if I'll be able to reach that goal by any of the dates I mentioned.

At any rate, I'll be doing the BC this year. I'm excited... and very very nervous! I'll try not to chicken out!


For those of you who transitioned from relaxed to natural hair, how long did you go before the BC? Or did you BC at all? For those that are still transitioning, do you have a set time or length in mind?

I'm Back!

It's been a little while since I've posted here, but I am slowly making my return! As I stated before, I will be posting some interviews with some stylists, as well as some friends in regards to their hair care regime (permed and natural), attitudes concerning black hair, their transition, etc. That will be coming very soon and I am excited about it!

In the meantime, here's what's been up with me:

I've found my style inspiration. I would love it if my hair turned out like this, but I have a feeling it won't... Fortunately I was told that I could get a sew-in to get this look! (In my ignorance of weaves and whatnot, I did not know they made weave that wasn't straight *shrug*)


I have been thinking about doing the big chop, but I dunno if I'm gonna go through with it. I don't think I'm quite that brave just yet... But if/when I do, I will more than likely get baby curl twists. I don't see myself rocking the TWA. Not that confident!

Speaking of my hair, guess I'll share some pix. It's been just a little over four months. I can see some growth!

If you look closely at the last pic, you can see the little curls starting to form! Here is my second attempt at flat ironing my hair. The first one resulted in stick-straight pieces of hair that had to be deep conditioned :-/


I saw this video and thought it was soooo cool! I wouldn't mind this if I did the BC, but I wouldn't want locs permanently so I dunno if this would actually be for me. But just watch!




I found a product that I absolutely LOVE! i dunno how to do a product review (LOL) but I'll try. The product is Optimum 3-in-1 creme oil moisturizer. It has coconut, olive, avocado and jojoba oil. I massage it into my scalp and on my newgrowth to provide moisture. It wasn't too heavy for my hair, which was a concern since it is a cream and appeared to be rather rich/heavy in my hand. I was surprised to find that it also made detangling my hair a lot easier! A win all the way around for me.

Okay, so that's all the catching up I have in me! I still want suggestions for new posts, questions to ask in my interviews, etc! You can leave them in the comments or email me at ToriDBlogs@gmail.com

Later folks!