How To Do The Big Chop

The big chop is a pinnacle moment in many naturals lives where they decide to part with their old hair destructive ways, cut off the damage and start anew. Cutting your hair is not the only way to go natural many people decide to transition their hair before they decided to cut it or just don't cut it at all. I will write about transitioning your hair without cutting it in another post.

I have done a (semi) big chop as a young teenager and I have also transitioned my hair in my mid-late teens and I must admit, I think I preferred transitioning my hair. After cutting my hair, I felt it was really short so I started to straighten it everyday which lead to heat damage and me deciding to transition years later.

Last week I went over to my best friend's house and helped her to cut off her hair. A few years earlier we had done the big chop on her hair but since she had cut it, she had gone back to straightening her hair and you could see the heat damage as her hair was curly at the top then straight in the middle however it would curl at the ends (with a lot of help from curl activator and eco gel). She was much more confident than I was when it came to cutting off her hair. She kept telling me how liberated and empowered she felt as her hair fell to the floor while I winced at every chop of the scissors, if I felt like I was cutting it too short, she would tell me to imagine that the dead hair was just a dead body. I really hope she has that type of confidence with everything. Anyways, after doing 2 big chops on her and a semi chop on myself I wanted to impart some valuable tips on to you before you pick up the scissors and take the plunge.

Personally, I feel most big chops fail because there is no plan in place for what happens after the dead/damaged hair is gone. Your hair became damaged for a reason, through straightening, dying, relaxing or perming etc. So unless you intend to change your behaviour, you are wasting your time cutting your hair off, just to damage it. Have a plan in place for how you are going to look after it from now on. Go out and but your new moisturising hair products. For hair growth, I would recommend natural oils and butters to moisturise and care for your hair, you want to be using botanical natural products that provide real results, check out our best recommended ingredients for Hair Growth here. You can also try our Hair Growth formula for our Custom Cleanser and Conditioner . Stay away from gels and just embrace your natural hair texture for a while to allow your hair to grow.

After I cut my hair, I basically went into shock and so have many other people. I had never seen myself with short hair and I felt so strange. My best friend claims she looks like a boy (she does not) but having to rock an extremely different look, can be really daunting. After my mum cut my hair at 14, I hated how short it was an immediately pulled out my straighteners so I could feel a little bit normal again. This is obviously counterproductive so just be aware, it will be short, you will feel strange, people will probably comment on it but you just have to trust the process.

If you know that you aren't going to feel comfortable with your hair super short, try and opt for protective styles like braids until your hair grows a bit longer. While your choice of styling is likely to be more limited now with shorter hair there are definitely options for you out there. You can experiment with different hair jewellery and accessories and headscarves until you find something you are comfortable with.

I hope that this post helped you if you are deciding to do the big chop but just remember that a big chop isn't a sudden fix that will give you perfect beautiful curls. A big chop is a fresh start. Once you cut off your hair it is your opportunity to treat your hair the right way and see the results. Let me know how you did your big chop and what made it successful in the comments below.