HEALTHY HAIR JOURNEY: 6 INCHES TO 3 INCHES!!! BIG CHOP?!

Hey Blossoms,

So yes my hair has gone from 6 inches at its longest point (front of head to tip of nose) to 3 inches in that same spot! I know your wondering how???? I discovered something entirely by accident. While attempting double strand twists for the first time I noticed that the ends were super long and straight as opposed to curled or puffy. I went online to the natural hair channels I'm subscribed to on Youtube and even to the natural hair blogs I follow and looked at tutorials of two strand twists as well as pictures of a full head of two strand twists and noticed not one person had long straight ends! They were either curled  or puffed. My mind didn't want to believe it so I began to look at Youtube videos and blogs on hair textures during transitioning and my thoughts were confirmed. I STILL HAD PERMED ENDS!!!! I didn't notice before when I did bantu knots because you coil the hair together and wrap it into a "knot" so the ends aren't exposed. Nor did I notice during washing because of all the strinkage I had. When I attempted the double strand twists I could see my curls from my root to the middle of my hair strands but the ends were limp and straight.

Those straight ends had to GO! So I double strand twisted my hair and cut off all the straight ends. Now my ends either curl or puff. I'm a little disappointed that all the length I thought I had wasn't all natural BUT I am soo happy to have my CURLS!!! So if I had to do it over again so that my curl definition could shine through I would. I went from 6 inches of length to 3 inches!!! Although I literally lost 1/2 my length its better to get it out the way or risk the permed ends splitting all the way up the hair follicle to the curled end.

My hair before I cut the remaining permed ends measured as follows

Front: 6 inches (front of head to tip of nose)
Side: 5 inches (sideburn to jawline)
Center: 5 inches (pulled straight up)
Back: 4 inches (nape of neck to bottom of neck)

My hair NOW

Front: 3 inches (front of head to 1/3 of forehead)
Side: 3 inches (sideburn to tip of ear)
Center: 3 inches (pulled straight up)
Back: 3 inches (nape of neck to 1/3 of neck)

WOW huge difference.....check out the photos before I cut the permed ends

Front of head (6 inches)

Side of head (5 inches)

Back of Head (4 inches)

Close up: Back of Head (4 inches)

Here are length check photos now with hair in double strand twists....

I like the double strand twists because when they are taken out your natural curl pattern is defined. This isn't a style I'd wear by itself now but as I gain length to my hair I'll part my hair more uniformly better wear it. I finger parted these twists.


Here's the amount of hair I cut and I've taken a strand to show how straight the ends were.

All the permed ends I cut

Close Up of permed ends I cut...notice there are NO curls anywhere in this mound of hair

Close up of end of double strand twist...notice the long straight strands and I made sure to cut the point where the permed hair and curled hair met to avoid split ends

Here's a fro hawk I attempted a few days ago. I now notice how many straight ends there were. It definitely took away from the style and I am excited to attempt this style at a later date now that I have all curls.

Goodness look at those permed ends I honestly thought it was because it was an old bantu knot out and I had manipulated the curl out...lol...naive

Side profile..those permed ends are so flat and lifeless

 Here  is my afro puff ponytail before I chopped off the permed ends. Notice the very slight wave pattern and more importantly the straight strands all about the puff. It makes it look very uneven and thin.

Here's my afro puff ponytail after.

Notice the DEFINED wave pattern all about my head not just in the center like in the above photos and also notice my ENTIRE puff is curled and even. There is a lot of shrinkage so it does look significantly shorter. However if I pick the ponytail out I can make it as big as the one above. The one above wasn't picked out either.

All in all TODAY can actually now be referred to as MY BIG CHOP!! Inadvertently of course but a big chop nonetheless. I will keep the double strand twists in overnight and see what it looks like tomorrow. I'm excited to see my TRUE CURLS!

I definitely don't consider this a set back in any way shape or form...I am more motivated, excited and eager now than ever before.

Hope you enjoyed!

Until Next Time,

Later Blossoms!

Posted in: natural hair