DOING THE BIG CHOP

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

DOING THE BIG CHOP

A big chop is when a girl decides to cut off most if not all of her hair, so as to begin re-growing it or just to keep it short.

The name Big Chop came around recently when some African (American) women decided to stop relaxing or chemically altering their hair and embracing their hair in its natural state. As most of the ladies who decided to go natural had damaged hair from extended use of chemicals, leaving their hair damaged, weak or lifeless, some decided they will cut it all and start afresh, and they termed it as the big chop, as the decision to cut off all your hair is a big deal for most girls.

However, a big chop is not only limited to cutting off relaxed hair, and is a term that cuts across to both relaxed and natural heads in their decision to cut hair and grow it afresh.

A big chop can be done in two ways:

Big Chop at the Barber Shop

This is the most advisable way to do a big chop, going to the barber shop saves you the worry of cutting your hair wrong and keeping it at the minimal length you wish for. A barber for the most part has the experience and knowledge of cutting hair so he/she is a sure bet of not messing up.
However, what most people worry about when going to the barber shop is the hygiene/cleanliness of the barbershop’s equipment. It’s always good to ensure that you check this. Before settling for a barber shop, ask around, investigate to ensure your safety.

Big Chop by yourself

If you don’t have money to spend or are more into DIY you can then go ahead and experiment and cut your own hair. This can be tricky though, so you might want to get a friend to help you with it, lots of mirrors around you so that you can be sure to cut it all at the same level and just get an overall good look.

After the cut, ensure that you wash your head with an anti-fungal soap/shampoo so as to ensure that you avoid any sorts of infections from the cutting machine. However if you do this at home you don’t have to worry so much about this as you will be using your own machine. But all in all after the chop it is necessary to shampoo and condition your head, this leaves you feeling great and like a load of stuff has been taken off your head.

For those who make the decision to do the big chop, I say go ahead, it’s not such a big deal, after all its only hair and I can promise it will grow back, and with proper care it will be even more healthier and beautiful.

And on that note is to just let you know that I did my big chop this previous Sunday, will post on it in the coming days. Here are some of my favorite big chop heads in Kenya, don’t they just look lovely???
Click to enlarge photos.