So....I got a haircut- First Salon Experience Since Going Natural

On October 31st, I went to Great Clips to trim the last of the frayed ends that I've been gradually trimming off over the course of the year. I straightened my hair two days before and, as expected,I was still APL due to the evening out that I had been doing. I chose Great Clips because I heard that they, as with other similar places like Hair Cuttery, show you what they are cutting as they are cutting it and it's affordable (I paid $13 for the cut). None of that spin you around at the end nonsense.

Anyway, the hair dresser, who was a Caucasian female, inquired about how much I wanted trimmed off, to which I replied "about an inch or a little more if you feel that it's necessary."  From then, she proceeded to try to, as delicately as she could, part my hair with her fingers and comb through my hair with a fine tooth comb to aid the trimming process. Now, I should mention that my hair was kinky straight and not bone straight. So this fine tooth comb was not the business. However, she was rather gentle so I allowed her to continue. I was facing the mirror but couldn't really see all of what she was snipping off in the back. By the end, however, it was clear that she had cut off about 2 -3 inches in her attempt to "even up" my hair ( she made a blunt cut although my hair naturally grows in a V shape). 

Despite the fact that my hair had been taken from APL to barely SL in the course of a few minutes, thus setting back my hair journey about a year, I actually wasn't pissed. Part of that reason was that I didn't truly realize how much hair I had lost until I reviewed pictures later. Even so, while I have still slightly disappointed, I actually like the uniform thickness and the healthier ends. I hated my ends before. 

The shorter hair is a little different, since I haven't been at this length in about 2 years but i'm adjusting, I look forward to truly focusing on retention in this upcoming year, while maintaining this uniform thickness and minimizing splits. If I am able to retain most of my length, I should be able to return to APL and even maybe, surpass it by this time next year. How I plan to do that is through protective styling. However, I'm going to attempt something different this time around. I'm going to use braids & cornrows instead of twists (I want to spend some time away from mini twists to see if they may have had a part to play in the weakening of my ends; I may do larger twists on occasion for short term styles).  But, the new addition that I think I'm going to try is......wigs!! Though I've tried on wigs a few times before, I've never purchased one or really worn one because....well I think they look too "wiggy" on me. Yet, I see all of these women rocking these fierce hairstyles that are wigs and it makes me want to find one that will suit me. 

Wigs are a great protective style that allows you to maintain your hair underneath while still allowing your hair to be keeping it protected from the elements. AND you get to look cute and switch up your look in a few seconds. I've already started researching and if I can find a good one or two that I actually like, then I may throw them into the styling rotation. Otherwise, I'll be sticking to the basics and might consider a weave here and there. I will also incorporate dustings every 3 months to maintain my ends and eliminate the need for big trims. Will that be done at the salon or on my own? I don't know.  Despite my "trim to cut" experience, I wouldn't rule out Great Clips as a place to get a trim. I would just be sure to be very specific about the trim, pay close attention, and not give the stylist any flexibility in the cut. 

Here are the pics: 

Before the trim on 10/30/11 (back section straightened. Now that I'm looking at this still shot, I actually did pretty well with retention considering...) 

Now....

Pretty big difference, huh? Sadly...but oh well. There you have it! Let's see what 2012 brings for the hair journey. 

Side note: my hair felt ABSOLUTELY AMAZING after flat ironing. Like seriously. My hair has NEVER EVER EVER felt that soft and silky. I really couldn't stop touching it. It really felt like it belonged on another person's head so I definitely need to share what I did for documentation purposes.

1)Prepoo'ed with the steps given by Chicoro in her email on "How to Perform a Pre-Poo: Step 1 on How to Get Moisture Drenched Hair." (Google that and you should see how this is done on other blogs. I used olive oil as my oil of choice). 
2) Shampooed with CON
3) Sprayed hair with Rusk Sensories Cure Vitamin & Protein Treatment. Left it on for about 5 minutes. 
4) Conditioned with Giovanni Smooth as Silk & detangled. 
5) Applied Kinky Curly Knot Today then Got2Be Smoothing Satin Drops as my heat protectant. 
6) Braided my hair and sat under the dryer for about 15minutes on medium with the ion infusing. 
7) Proceeded to flat iron section by section on about 335 , using a boar bristle brush to smooth. 

HHG, 

B