My Story: I had a jerry curl in the 5th, 6th, and 7th grade and a perm from the age of 15 til my present age of 36. My hair has always had some type of chemical in it. My mother is a cosmetologist and she knew how to take care of my hair, so I never had a bad relaxer experience and my hair always would grow. When I got married in 2007 I moved to Maryland. In four years I had 5 different beauticians. Each had some great qualities when it came to hair but none could grow hair, style, cut, color, or condition all in one. My mama so far had all the qualities I required in a cosmetologist and she was back home in Michigan. The Search: In January 2010 I started really wondering about my natural hair after seeing people with natural hairstyles and watching a load of YouTube videos, talking about confused. :o) I thought long and hard about going natural it took me about a year or so of going back and forth about whether I should go natural or not. Inspiration: My natural hair inspiration came from Rusticbeauty natural hair video on YouTube. She was one of the first videos I watched and I really liked the look of her hair and it seems as though she took great care of it. Another inspiration as it relates to going natural is Nikkiemae2003 from YouTube. Finally, after watching other videos it was Colouredbeautiful YouTube video that made me want to do my big chop. I just loved her TWA and her curl definition. The Transition Process: I got my last perm on April 1, 2011. I only transitioned for 3 months, just long enough to get about 2 inches of new growth. This process was not hard but I did get tired of not really styling my hair with my flat iron. What I got to help me through was roller sets and I loved those. Big Chop: I decided to do the big chop on Friday July 1, 2011. When I woke up that morning I was nervous as all get out. Throughout my workday I was like today I’m getting the CUT. When I got to the salon after work I had to wait about an hour before seeing my beautician, but I didn’t mind. I was a little nervous but to my surprise an older lady was waiting with a curly TWA and I was inspired even more. When my hairdresser called me back she asked if I was ready and I said yes with a big smile! :o) So she sat me down and started cutting. Getting my hair cut off was not the problem cause I’ve had short haircuts before, what I was wondering was if I would have any curls. After she cut off all the permed ends she gave me the mirror to look at my hair. To be truthful, I did not want to see my hair until she was done cutting it completely. She then washed and conditioned my hair and the cut more off. Once completely finished she asked if I wanted to keep my permed hair, I said no “it’s just hair.” :o) She gave me the mirror once finished and it looked ok to me but I was not thrilled because I saw some straight pieces. When I got home, I played in my hair, put some moisturizer in it and poof curls everywhere. It will be 6 months on Sunday January 1st, 2012 and I LOVE MY NATURAL HAIR!

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