Reflecting on My First Ever "Big Chop"

I was going through some photos on my facebook page and happened to come across a photo from when I did my very first "Big Chop" back when i was still in cosmetology school in 2008. If you're a regular reader then you may know i'm not particularly a fan of the BC term, as to me the term just sounds horrible and scary, but for the sake of 'Laymen's terms', I'll just call it that today -_-
Anyhoo... I realized upon seeing this picture, that I've basically BC'ed every year from 2008-2010, and all for extremely different reasons.

Weave I sported to Brazil

The first time i big chopped was in the fall of 2008. I had went to Brazil to visit my family with that curly red weave I had mentioned a couple of posts ago... You remember... this one:

Haircut I was sporting at the time

So during this particular visit to Brazil, I had shown my family a photo of the haircut I was rocking at the time and they loved it and nearly begged me to take my weave out because most women there all sport long curly or straight hair... so I did.  Since I was wearing the curly weave, I hadn't given myself a touch-up relaxer because I needed the little kinky-ness in the roots for the weave to blend, so naturally upon taking the weave out, and being in Brazil in a warm climate, I figured if I was going to wear my hair out it would be best if I touched up my roots. So, with all of the hair knowledge I thought I had, I went to the beauty supply and bought the relaxer I had applied on my cousin's hair about a week before. 20 minutes later... my hair DIED! I wanted to cry but I didn't because I needed to hold my composure in front of my family. My hair before the Brazilian relaxer was gorgeous, healthy, shiny, bouncy and full of life, but this hair after relaxing felt like straw. Literal Straw... I could have put a broom on my head that felt better! To achieve the beautiful hairstyle I used to wear with my short haircut, I would rollerset my hair and it would have body, shape, movement, and last me about a week. After killing my hair, it wouldn't hold a curl, a set, straightening, nothing I tell ya! I mean I was sooooo in love with my short haircut (The Rihanna before Rihanna people called it or the Kelis, lol) so I was super devastated. Cheap plastic-y  weaves even felt better than my hair.

What exactly went wrong? At the time, I had no idea there were so many different kinds of relaxers out there, I just assumed there was Lye and No Lye, so when i finally looked everything up and realized what had happened, i realized there was a different chemical agent in this Brazilian relaxer, Guanidine Hydroxide! For information on the different types of relaxers out there, I found this great site that really breaks it down, so click HERE to learn about the different chemical relaxing agents.

Long story short, the dead hair wouldn't do ANYTHING. It looked like straw, it felt like straw, it snapped off like straw. So after a month or two of fighting it and wearing a wig, about a month after returning to cosmetology school, i chopped my hair off. Did I love it? NO! But me not being one to mope, or want others to see me feeling insecure, i rocked it. Yes, after about 2 or 3 months I relaxed my hair again; Not that I didn't like my hair, but I just didn't want short natural hair. Had it been longer.... Had I knew then what I know now, I would have started my healthy hair journey and never would have turned back, and I'd have the long natural hair I've been yearning for. I will commend myself for always wanting to go with health over length, which is why most styles generally looked good on me. Now, 3 "Big Chops" later, I can say I've embraced myself with short natural hair. Although I'm over having short hair right now and can't wait to feel my curls cascading down my back, I still want to some day try a ceasar... Someday... lol

Have you "big chopped" more than once? What have your experiences taught you? 

Showing off my magenta hair & Brows
under my foil hat my classmate made for me, lol