If you Google the term ‘big chop’ the search results will almost always reference ideas surrounding starting a natural hair journey or going natural. If you put in ‘relaxed hair’ and ‘big chop’ in the search bar in hopes of finding results for relaxed hair you might still end up at a dead end.
It kind of makes you wonder can we use the term ‘Big Chop” when referring to relaxed hair? Well the answer is a resounding ‘yes!’ The term big chop has been sensationalized in a sense to mean more than it literally means and most commonly the term is used by those transitioning from relaxed to natural.
Even though there is nothing wrong with a little radicalism, if you were to define ‘Big Chop’ it just means cutting your hair in an effort to remove any damaged portions relaxed or natural or just because you want short hair.
Anyone can big chop and if you are relaxed and want to start a healthy hair journey, a big chop might just be in order for you as well.
Why You Should Consider Big Chopping When Starting A Healthy Hair Journey
Sometimes cutting all your hair off is not aesthetically ideal, especially if you have never worn your hair short so undeniably the decision might be extremely hard. However I can guarantee that it is even harder trying maintain broken or damaged ends as your healthy hair starts to grow in.
Sometimes starting fresh gives you renewed energy to focus on your hair goals especially if you are doing what is right for it and your are being very diligent with your chosen regimen.
This is something that a lot of relaxed ladies don’t like hearing but if your hair has been stuck at the same length for a long period of time, it is likely that it’s because your hair is not very healthy right now.
By healthy I don’t mean shiny or any other aesthetic measurement, I mean down to the cellular level, your strands are not likely to be in the ideal condition to support hair length.
There is a distinct reason why BHI’s tag line is ‘With health comes length‘ which simply put means that you have to start chasing health first before you will begin to see length.
However you may find it a lot less severe and easier to do a series of mini chops rather than one swift cut because unlike transitioning to natural, you won’t be dealing with two polar opposite hair textures.
If you decide to do mini chops as you embark on your healthy hair journey the result will be the same in the end, because eventually you will end up losing all the hair you started with as your healthier stronger and well looked after hair starts to grow in.
Journey to Waist Length says
ive had to start over a few times, when i was fully relaxed
Kerimah Rogers says
Big chop!!! Uhhhhh NO! Not me! I don’t want to look like a man!
Candi Ballard-Zolicoffer says
Even when I went natural 10yrs ago I never bc I just grew it out and gradually cut my hair until there was no more relaxed hair I wasn’t down with having hair that short cause its only so much you can do to it
Joyce Hellaclassyandsassy Williams says
Your hair is bang’n! Journey to Waist Length
Krista Kinchen says
Yep, it sucks
Jenny JackJack says
Ive been relaxed 21 years and ive never had to big chop at all…..
Andrea says
I cut my hair very short once while relaxed because of heat damage. a Halle Berry pixie. When I went natural I cut my relaxed hair off after four months. in my opinion the first cut was nothing like learning to handle an entirely different curly hair texture you’ve never dealt with before. That is what bc means to me. Not going from long relaxed to short relaxed. I just consider my relaxed cut a hair cut. I like short and long hair.. At times think I’d like to go back to twa. I think they’re cute sassy sexy but I like big hair too so haven’t decided. I didn’t think any time I decided on a short hair it was that big of a deal because if I didn’t like it I grew it out. A lot of people in my family are cut off and then grow out their hair long again.