The Big Chop!!!!

Black hair is beautiful, but it has it's woes. It's fragile as heck and we as black women spend a good deal of time and money treating it cruelly. Recently, I decided to stop treating my hair like I hated it and go back to my natural roots. I got the big chop. I went for the TWA (teeny weeny afro) and I love the freedom of it. Now for some it might have been scary, but I'm very philosophical about my hair. It's just hair, it grows back...fast even. I've had every length of hair from down my back to shorter than short.
Black hair is political. If you wear it braided or natural what statement are you sending to society? What does it mean when you go out into world without a processed do? Choosing to go natural can involve a level of self acceptance that many AA women find difficult to make. Growing up we can all remember wrapping a towel around our heads pretending it was a luscious mane of hair and swinging it back and forth. How many times have I heard the expression "Your hair is your crowning glory". I'm more than my hair and how it's styled. My beauty and even identity aren't defined by my hair. And yet I want to take care of it. I want to take care of myself. That's one of the reasons I exercise too. I want to embrace a healthy lifestyle on all levels.
I've embarked on a quest to learn (even at my advanced age, lol) how to care for my hair properly using products that protect and nurture my hair. The internet is a vast and wonderful resource. I've also found quite a few books on the subject on amazon. I've learned that my hair is mostly likely a combo of 4a/4b, which means it's kinky, tends to shrink, prone to dryness and has a "s" shape curl pattern. O. is mostly a 3c. She has clearly defined spirally curls, it can be frizzy, needs lots of moisture. My goal is to learn to care properly for O.'s hair. You've seen it, it's gorgeous. However, her hair's texture is vastly different from mine. She's also extremely tenderheaded which poses it's own challenges. I own a nice wide tooth detangling comb and have recently ordered a kakakiki kombbrush to try out. I'll let you know how that works out. I want O. to always take pride in her natural hair and not have any of the issues related to the whole black woman hair thang!