For the past few years I’ve been on a serious mission to grow my hair to long lengths.  Way before that I had shaved my hair with a 1/4″ hair clipper guard at least four times, and also wore my hair super short for awhile.  At that time I wanted to feel beautiful with short low maintenance hair and I did.  I’d also had locs for awhile, colored hair for hair industrial gigs, and wore tons of other styles.  Just like others learning more about natural curly/coily hair care, having extremely long tresses seemed to be a common goal of mine as well.

different haircuts & styles I’ve had over the years

A few weeks ago I began questioning if the long hair goal was really me, and if I was truly enjoying this hair growth journey.

My hair was longer than it had ever been, yet I was extremely bored with it, and in desperate need for a change.  I wanted a carefree hair style that was nothing but fun.  I am not a big fan of long term protective hair styles although they work, I don’t like wearing my hair in a bun exclusively even though I did try it for a month, and I would rather not think too much about everything I do to my hair.  I simply want to enjoy it, LOVE it, and let it blow wildly in the wind.

So I freed myself, cut some MAJOR layers, and I am finally LOVING my hair again.

wash & go with a bit of shea butter

two strand twist & curl set with a bit of shea butter

Once I decided to cut my hair, my next step was to figure out the shape I was going for with my curls.  I cut my own hair, and have been doing so since junior high.  I’ve had to fix haircuts when I’ve had them done professionally.  I guess I’ve had way too many bad experiences in hair salons as well as on dance/commercial jobs with hair stylists.  So trusting anyone else with hair shears is currently a no-go.

wash & go with a bit of shea butter

This hair cut was done on dry hair.  It took me two hours initially to get the shape I wanted, and then another hour a week later to clean it up.  It usually doesn’t take me this long to cut my hair, but since this was a major reshaping I made sure not to rush.

Cutting curly hair is literally like shaping a bonsai tree.  It takes time to shape it to perfection.

Lately I’ve just been experimenting with a few styling options.  So far I’ve done wash and gos and twist outs.  In terms of my current hair regimen, I’m still doing modified water only hair washes.  I have come to the conclusion that it is crucial for me to do a monthly herbal clay cleansing/clarifying treatment to start fresh again.  I still don’t use conditioners, or other store bought products though.  I keep things extremely simple, yet I have started using shea butter again.  I just don’t use nearly as much as I used to.  I’ll get more into hair regimen details in a later article.

wash & go using only homemade flaxseed hair gel

One thing that I love most about this cut is that the shape allows even a not so amazing hair day to still work out great.  Plus 2nd and 3rd day hair is bigger than ever.  That’s the beauty of a great hair shape for curly hair.  I can fro it out with a hair pick or wear it curly.  It really doesn’t matter.  Will I grow my hair out again?  Hmmm maybe, maybe not.  I have a feeling I’ll be playing around with different hair cuts, but we’ll see what happens.

wash & go with a bit of shea butter

It does take a minute to get used to drastic changes, yet this one has been way too much fun!  Read tips on cutting curly hair here!

(Images by Dawn Michelle)

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