GAB Studio

EEK! I did it! The big chop for curly girls who have spent countless hours on their journey is one of the saddest and power relinquishing things we can ever do. After trying so hard to fix and perfect our hair, the big chop can be seen as giving up; I see it as a new, blank canvas to learn from.

Let’s start from the very beginning (a very good place to start). Growing up, my hair has always been loose ringlets and has taken me on a serious mental journey of coming to accept my curls as they are. For a short period of time in middle school, I went through the inevitable “I wish I had straight hair!” game of constantly straightening my hair because curls were not what I liked. Although I tried my genuine hardest, I was not good at straightening, did not have a good straightener, and was often forgetful about remembering to actually do it. This phase did not last long and I ended up wearing my hair up in a bun for a majority of high school and the beginning of college. I just hated how I couldn’t get my hair how I wanted it to look! I spent hundreds of dollars and hundreds of hours trying to figure out a good combination of products that worked best for my hair to no avail.

Finally, I found DevaCurl. DevaCurl was my saving grace and made my hair exactly how I wanted it to look. After a few years of using their leave in conditioner (miracle curl cream), my hair had gotten really long and stringy. I was so upset and spent the next year trying new products and also giving my hair some time to breathe, again, to no avail. My hair had thinned so much, lost a majority of its curl and volume, and just “hurt my hair” on a daily basis (which had never happened before). It wasn’t until I went and got my haircut today that I learned about the DevaCurl lawsuits, so maybe that really was the problem.

Nonetheless, what is done cannot be undone. I was trying to figure out the best way to move on with life and get my hair back up to how it used to look in its heyday without doing the big chop. I was coming up flat and talked with my hairdresser who suggested I go through with it and do the big chop and just start from scratch, which I knew deep down was the best solution for me anyways. I had almost 10 inches of hair cut off today (which she literally slipped on while cutting my hair, it coated the floor) and for the first time ever, my hair is cut above my shoulders. What a concept.

I absolutely adore this cut. It is good for many facial shapes and allows your hair a break to try and heal itself. While it looks healthier and chicer, I also believe it looks quite a bit more professional than my ratty, long, curly hair. With short hair comes great responsibility though. I had to go out and buy my very first hair dryer so I can learn to diffuse it, I bought barrettes since it wont go up in a ponytail, smaller plastic hair ties that will actually fit little hairstyles, and an embarrassingly large and expensive load of new hair products to replace the ones I’ve had since middle school that obviously aren’t working.

Am I horrified by how much money I spent on my hair today as a broke college student? YES. Do I already feel more confident and professional just because of the cut? Also yes. Am I finally at the age in my life where I am excited to do my hair instead of it being a burden to deal with before I leave the house? Yes! (my fellow curly girls will understand that one). If you’re wondering whether or not to make the big cut, just know you won’t regret it and there’s so many ways to play with your hair! Your curls will always look great. And if you don’t have curly hair, tell someone that does that their hair looks good and you admire the work that went into it, because it was probably A LOT.