Monday, December 9, 2013

November '13 Length Check

One Year Post Big Chop

Wow! The November length check has rolled around so quickly! Seems like just yesterday I was doing the October check. Let's jump in!

October 2 = 87 weeks natural (~1 year 9 months),
46 weeks since the BC (~11.5 months)

Comparing my natural hair to see how much growth I've had since my last length checkDoing a length check on my natural hair after two years

December 6 = 96 weeks natural (~1 year, 11 months)
55 weeks since the BC (~1 YEAR!!)

As I was typing the 'now' date and calculating how much time has passed, I realized I missed the one year anniversary of my big chop!! That just goes to show you how busy things have been. I cut the relaxed ends off of my natural hair on November 13, 2012. I got a twist out that day, so here's a comparison picture between my 2012 twist out (picture on the left)...

A picture of my natural hair after the big chop.A picture of my natural hair a year of the big chop.


...and my 2013 twist out (picture on the right)! You can see the difference between those two pictures alone but when you compare that to the pictures at the top, it's plain to see I've grown a lot of hair between then and now!

Since I talk a lot about my hair on my blog, there's nothing you don't already know. I'll share three pointers to commemorate my anniversary.

1. This process can be a very slow one!
Going into this I knew it would take a while for my hair to get where I wanted it to be, but I didn't expect it to be this slow! When I was relaxed, it seemed like my hair grew at a much quicker pace. I'd get my hair cut short one day and it'd be long again before I knew it! What I had to come to terms with is that growing hair is a process. I've learned a lot about my curl pattern and the pace at which it's growing. I've slowly come to terms with the fact that it'll probably take about 3 to 3.5 years (natural) before my hair is at the length I want it to be so I've also learned to be comfortable with my hair where it is.

2. Everybody's hair is different!
Before going natural, I would see more and more ladies who had made the decision to go natural. There were ladies with lovely curl patterns and there were ladies with not so lovely curl patterns (meaning...they weren't taking care of their hair). I had convinced myself that if I went natural, I would have a great curl pattern that wouldn't require a lot of work. (See my post Hair Inspiration for a little elaboration.) Needless to say, I don't have the type of curl pattern I wanted, but I love my hair regardless!! I'm still learning more and more about it each and every day.

3. Be sure going natural is truly something you want to do!
Before making the decision to go natural, it was something I said I would NEVER do! I think that decision was caused by all the bad examples of natural hair I'd seen. After seeing the health of my hair decline, again, I knew going natural was the thing to do. (See my post Do You Know What Today Is? to read more about my hair story.) Before I made this decision, my boyfriend tried to convince me to go natural for months! One of my friends had been talking to me about the benefits of being natural. She wasn't trying to convert me, but we would discuss this while catching up with each other. In each case, I would think that there were definitely some positives connected with being natural but it just wasn't something I was interested in doing! Coming to the decision on my own allowed me to have ownership. It allowed me to come to terms with the initial reasons I didn't want to do it and weigh those against the many positives leading me to convince myself it was the best thing to do. There have been bad hair days...many of them...but I embrace everything as a learning opportunity.

Those are good pointers, right?! I think society is now over the hump of thinking natural hair is just a fad. I also think I picked the right time to take the leap. There's so much information out there now, so many YouTube channels, Facebook pages, and IG accounts dedicated to natural hair. That's a part of the reason why I'm trying to become less dependent on a cosmetologist. People do their hair on their own each and every day and I want to be on that list of people capable of doing that. So, the next celebration will be my 2 Year Naturalversary next month but for now...Happy Big Chopiversary to me!!!

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5 comments

  1. Happy Big Chopiversary!!! Your hair seemed to have grown fast over the course of 1 year to me! When you break it down month by month it may not seem like its growing fast but it is! Beautiful hair & I'm glad to be on #teamnatural! Great points too!
    -Natasha @ Lovely You

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    1. Thanks Tasha! I guess it looks like it's growing faster when you don't have to look at it everyday! LOL. thanks for the encouragement, it's definitely needed!

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  2. your hair looks much more healthier and thicker in the 2nd pic. Happy Chop Day! lol it has been 4 years for me.

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    1. I can't wait to get some good, solid years in like you and others I know!! I'm happier being natural, I just definitely need to get this styling thing under my belt!!

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  3. So awesome and great pointers!!!! I can't tell you enough how much I love your hair. I'm also so proud of you too because I know not having your stylist has been rough. You're doing a great job. And remember you might have bad hair days but you had those days with relaxed hair at times too (or is that just me, lol)!

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