Last week I took my Marley Braids out. Not the ones from my last post but the super long ones I did afterwards and never got round to posting here. Now it might not seem too strange that I should take out all my braids in between hairstyles but this was actually the first time I've taken them all out since my hair has been long enough to braid!! I've literally been washing it in sections and just re-doing it braid by braid because i've been so reluctant too see all my hair out at once and be crushed by disappointment in the length. Last week that is exactly what happened. After months and months of neglect my hair really hasn't grown very much at all. 10 months of growing it and nothing to show for it. My hair regime has been virtually non-existent and I haven't been moisturising it very often, my diet has been appalling and i've been scraping my braids into tight, high ponytails almost every day. Combine these factors with shrinkage and my painfully unrealistic expectations and there really was only one way this was going to end... In bitter, bitter tears. I really did give up and had resolved to forget the whole frustrating ordeal, nip to the barbers and shave my kinky lil problem off and live my life (at least for the foreseeable future) as a content #NoHairDontCare kinda girl... That was until a few very wise yet very simple points from my mate Cedric changed my mind... He basically made the point that this is where the real growing starts- this is where I begin to work on length.
The reason why this is so important is because I think when your 'big chop' is a real big chop... As in a hardcore 0.5 down to the scalp big chop, it's easy to forget that you are literally starting again. From scratch. It's not like cutting away relaxed ends and growing your hair out from a few inches. This for some reason just jolted me into seeing sense- If I can't get over my impatience I will never have decent length hair. This really is where the true grow out begins and if I look after myself and my hair properly then this time next year I should start to see some real progress. After prescribing myself: Biotin, MSM, lots of water, an improved diet and some serious TLC for my hair- starting with the purchase of a bottle of coconut oil and a tub of raw shea butter, I decided Havana Twists were the next protective destination for my hair...
I'm definitely a fan of this style. I've admired twists for years but always thought they'd be really hard to do (don't ask).... Turns out they're pretty easy. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of room for my technique to improve but I was happy with my first attempt results.
Maintenance wise though I think they will be a bit of a pain and they definitely wont last as long as braids but i'm glad to have a style change... Even if it's only a small one.
What do you guys think of twists??...
Yay or nay?? xx
(P.S. Title = lyrics to 'Cavalier' by James Vincent McMorrow)
extra virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, water, black castor oil and washing my hair with raw apple cider vinegar (with mother) has been my regime since my big chop a year ago. Learning to get used to my face with short hair is what has helped too - I had a tough 'wesley snipes' phase that was sheer horror! Also, i've been shaving an undercut for about half the time (early on my idle hands decided to dye the bottom - which resulted in crunchy bleached ends, but also doubled as a visual progress chart of my actual growth once the roots kicked in) and I think has promoted hair growth on the rest of my head but I don't know for certain if that's just in my mind. good luck tho, its looking good!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried doing marley braids using the crochet braid method? Much quicker, and less pull since you only have to single braid your edges.
You are soo gorgeous girl!I'm a bit jealouse ;)! I'm also a nappy girl, I didn't big shop I prefer to let my naturals roots grow up and ftom time to time cut relaxed ends. After 1year and half my hair were totally natural until today I don't have yet a good hairregime but I think I progress slowly but surely :p! As you said we have to get over our impatience! I'm looking forward to see your hair progress ! I really like twist, last summet I did senegales twist very loong but I never tested havana twist even I love this hairstyle!you are very pretty with it! But you know event it's a protective haircut it's not mean that you hair iare on holliday you have to continue to take care of them ;). Sorry for my poor english I'm french and I just study english at school! Xoxo Belva
ReplyDeleteYou look so beautiful with those twists and I'm sure your hair's going to get to where you want it. While, I don't really know much about real big chops, I'm sure the first stage is usually just the hardest. I probably read that on a gift card. Well.
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Definite yay! They look amazing.
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