So I am at the one year mark of growing my hair back after my most recent “Bald Head” Episode. My most recent Big Chop was in 2018. I wore it short through most of 2019 and then started to grow it back. I have done this multiple times in my life. I am not one of those people who is obsessed with hair length so I tend to cut it every few months to keep it at a manageable length and every so often I just cut it all off. Back in the 1990’s when I first did this there was no name for it but now of course with the Natural Hair Movement in full swing we have terms for everything now.
So I have gone from the “Big Chop” to the “TWA” (Teeny Weeny Afro).
Velma (My Hair) is growing back in at a steady rate.
Shrinkage 
Shrinkage
I tend to have a lot of shrinkage. It doesn’t really bother me. It is just a reality of natural black hair. Some people have more shrinkage than others. My hair is pretty thick and dense ( I have a lot of hair). In the past, back in the days of relaxers my hair was described as “coarse” and resistant by more than one beautician and they always claimed it took such hard work to get it straightened. That is one of the reasons I tended to just do my hair myself. I had several beauticians want to put a “super relaxer” in, which on a couple of occasions caused my hair to break off. Although I have a lot of hair, it actually has a soft texture and is pretty manageable. It does however take some time and patience because of the density. I do not use heat on my hair with the exception of my deep condition and hot oil treatment, that requires me to sit with a heating cap on my head for 15- 20 minutes. I have done this faithfully since I was a teenager (even when I am bald headed🤣). It is part of my self care routine. Since this is the only heat I ever use on my hair I always let it air dry, when it is longer it takes over 24 hours for it to dry completely.
I haven’t had a relaxer or straightened my hair in over 20 years. I didn’t have any real issues with relaxers as my hair was always pretty healthy, it was just a decision that I made to make my life easier and to be more healthy (not using chemicals in my hair). I later learned that the chemicals in relaxers can be linked to fibroid tumors which I have suffered with for the last 15 years….so maybe I didn’t stop the relaxers soon enough. Although I do know that fibroids can be linked to genetics and are of course more common among African-American women. So I have no factual basis that my fibroids were caused by relaxer. However, I have no desire to return to the “creamy crack”.
I have not pressed or otherwise straightened my natural hair, simply because I don’t want to be bothered. I know some people like to do it for length check purposes but since I have never really been that concerned about having long hair it has never been a priority. I did think about it a few times over the years but would always talk myself out of it. I remember the torture as a young child getting my hair pressed for Easter Sunday. I would go through the whole ordeal, come out with long silky hair and by the next day My Afro was back. I would have a shrunken Afro with a Bang (thanks to those pink sponge rollers). I think as a young child I was fascinated with long hair but by the time I reached my teens and was either doing my own hair or occasionally paying to get I done it seemed that long hair was somewhat of a hassle. Plus I hated when people wanted to touch it or would comment, “you have so much hair”. I would also oftentimes get accused of wearing a wig or weave, little did I know I would still have to suffer through those accusations as a “natural”. So I learned that people have a hard time giving compliments. Instead of saying oh your hair looks nice. It’s “is that your real hair”…even when my hair is short… Whateva…insert eye roll. I don’t know why they ask if they don’t believe you anyway. I would get the “yeah right” stares or this infamous comment, “I know it’s yours because you bought it”. Nope it’s mine because it grew out my head (shoulder shrug).
So now that me and Velma have made the one year mark, I have to decide what to do next. Do I continue to let Velma grow big and full, cut it all off, get locs, maybe straighten it at least once after all these years. Hmmm🤔. Stayed tuned. Me and Velma got to figure out our next move.
