Natural! The Mini-Big Chop

It was in the Bahamas when I decided to cut the rest of my heat damaged ends off. It was so strange, and I'm not sure what overcame me but I didn't like looking at the scraggly heat damaged ends any longer. It didn't look like much had to be cut off anyway, so I just went into the bathroom of our stateroom and chopped it all off.

Before my Mini-Big Chop

Luckily, I only had to cut about two inches off all of my hair, which is funny because that means I had been transitioning for about two years without even realizing it. It's been about a week since I have returned and I absolutely love my natural hair. De-tangling has becoming much easier since I no longer get as many knots as I had previously, also I've noticed that the volume of my hair has somehow increased dramatically. It's so big and beautiful!

After the mini-big chop - with Instagram!

I didn't realize how heavy my ends made my hair, so I was surprised by how much it popped up into this big chia-pet hair, but I love it and I was completely ready for the change. Now my journey can continue as I learn how to take care of my hair, and to love it even more than I do now (although every day that passes is a day that I love my hair even more).

Have you made the big chop yet? Or will you transition for a while? Also, any recommended styles will be greatly appreciated. Drop a comment, I'm interested to hear what you have to say!

- Bunny

FANCY FRIDAY: Headband Hideaway

I've been having so much fun experimenting with quick and easy styles for my hair lately. Since my hair is still transitioning from relaxed to natural hair, I have the added challenge of working with two different textures. Luckily I've found some styles that mask the two different textures and blend them pretty well. This one I kind of made up and kind of got inspired from other tutorials I've seen around. I'm calling it the headband hideaway. Watch the video to find out how I do it :) (I apologize for the quality ahead of time, working on getting a better camera asap!)

~Turtle

THURSDOM?: Going all natural

*note*Normally this feature is done on Wednesdays, but I was super busy with cleaning and packing to go back to my parent's house that I couldn't manage time. These posts take more time than the others to write so I like to do them when I have enough time to really think through.

A topic that Phaedra and I will be covering throughout the blog is the topic of natural hair and natural hair care. The choice to revert back to natural hair is really big now within the black community. I know, I know don't be a follower...but this is a trend I fully support. I've decided to take this Wensdom (ahem Thursdom) to talk about my natural hair story. I was really reluctant to go natural like I had been noticing lots of girls doing. I was still rocking my sew in, and a relaxer if I didn't have a weave. I started  noticing that my hair was falling out in patches around the edges of my hairline, and maintaining a weave is more work than I bargained for, relaxers were taking too much freedom out of my life and in all honesty preventing my hair from growing.

So I decided, enough was enough. I couldn't continue to damage my hair any longer. I wanted to learn not only how to take of my hair, but what my real natural un tampered with hair was like. I've had a relaxer since I was 8 so I was really working with a wildcard here. No better time than the summer to try it out. Upon going natural I've started to really embrace not only how my hair is, but who I am as a person. It feels amazing to touch my unruly kinky hair and know that it's all 100% mine. Part of the major reason as to why I'm sold on being natural is that, I agree with a lot of young women when they say it's time we demand that black is beautiful. I couldn't support that movement whole heartily if I wasn't prepared to completely undo all of the harsh mindsets that I'd adopted, like the idea that I needed to relax my hair, or wear a weave to be attractive. Natural hair is another thing Phaedra and I have bonded over. I love being able to trade tips, tricks, and style ideas with her. We'll be posting lots of posts dedicated to natural hair because we know how confusing and frustrating it can be in the beginning.

If you're still on the fence, I say jump over and join the party, but I understand why it's not that simple. I think what really did it for me, was when I watched the documentary Good Hair. Overall I wouldn't call it my favorite film, but it did resonate with me. I felt guilty after seeing how the weave industry get hair from Indina, I can't believe I contributed to such abuse against women. I also really liked the woman who said "Why is it political or radical to wear my hair how it grows out of me?" I don't remember who said that, but she was right. It really shouldn't be a radical movement, it should just be well natural. Feel free to comment leaving your natural hair stories!

~Turtle