Hey Naturals....HELP! To Big Chop Or Mini Chop, That Is The Question

[enscott14]

Hello beautiful ladies!

Ok, so I am in a very big dillema here! I have been transitioning as a natural for a year and a half now, and I am L-O-V-I-N-G it!!

The texture and the thickness of my hair is unreal! I feel like I have a different set of hair. Like somebody took my head off and replaced it with another head with nice hair.

Anywho, my dillema is the BC. I don't know if it is better to do a BC or it is better to do a mini chop. I've talked to many different women I know that used be naturals, are naturals now, or transitioning and if you can imagine, I am getting different responses, so I am sooooo confused!

Can you natural ladies please help a sista out and let me know what you think is the best thing to do. Also, what are the benefits of a BC as opposed to a mini chop and vice versa. AND, which one gives you the best and/or fasted growth overall?

Thanks ladies, I really appreciate it!

Smooches!

 

[luv04]

Hey Enscott14, I think that I did a little bit of both..i transitioned for about 9 months..i gradually chopped to a bob style haircut..there are pics in my album. To eventually make a Big Chop to Natural..So i think that the benefits of Big chopping versus transit. for a while is that you dont have to worry alot about lines of demarcation with relaxed and natural hair. and breakage, etc. but i think the bc is best when your ready to see and deal with your natural hair..because i think alot of times if your not ready you could not take care of your hair because your not ready. But i think the choice is yours so far ive had great growth since i chopped i dont use heat. and i think that has help significantly with my growth along with vits and water..Happy Hair growing luv04

 

[meia]

I transitioned for about 1 year or so (it might've been more come to think...but i can't remember) before BC'ing. I wanted to make sure I wasn't bald or with really closely cropped hair. Having had short short almost buzzed hair before, I knew I wouldn't be able to take that- i'm just one of those types of women that cry when getting even a dusting so I wanted to retain as much length as possible before Bc'ing.

I finally decided to cut my hair when I couldn't get the comb through my hair without ripping out clumps of hair and figured "this is just not going to work anymore. So either do it or tear out more chunks of hair" so I just cut it...by that time it curled up slightly below my ear which made it somewhat bearable...I would BC but try and wait it out until you just can't transition anymore before that point. Mini chops could be good too but I just knew I couldn't do both hair textures anymore and I was just prolonging the inevitable so I just forced myself to do it and once it was done it was so worth it....honestly!

HTH

 

[HrdErndWizDom]

It sounds as if you could handle a BC, because you are already loving your natural hair. Think about how much simpler it is to handle one hair texture than 2 totally different types. I chose to BC after 2 months of new growth, so I'm biased. So just do what you are most comfortable with.

 

[MissMeWithThatIsh]

I think it depends on you.

I was using a texturizer...
and now that I am transitioning, I'm using techniques that will save the hair from breaking in demarcation... blowdrying or air drying.

If you are ready to chop and never go back, then I suggest BC

 

[enscott14]

For the ladies that have replied so far, thank you soooooo much for your opinions! I am definitely taking it all in. Hopefully, I can get some more of you ladies to respond as well. The more opinions, the better! Again, thanks so much, you ladies are wonderful!!

 

[CarefreeinChicago]

I say big chop that way you have a clean fresh start trust me it will grow back and if you are uncomfortable with the lenght throw some braids or weave in until it gets to your normal lenght that's what i did
HHG

 

[GirlywithCurlies]

Since you have a year and a half's worth of growth at this point you should be pretty comfortable caring for the new texture. I would just BC and keep it moving.

I transitioned through braids and weaves and every time I would take them down I would do a mini chop of 3 inches or so then go back to braids. But in your case since you have so much growth I say go for it and please post pics!!!!

 

[DDTexlaxed]

Wow, kudos for transitioning so long. I couldn't transition longer than 2 months before I got fed up and BCd. I say if you are comfortable with your current natural length, then BC. If not then do mini. I'm sure your hair is going to be fab either way.

 

[glamazon386]

Can you natural ladies please help a sista out and let me know what you think is the best thing to do. Also, what are the benefits of a BC as opposed to a mini chop and vice versa. AND, which one gives you the best and/or fasted growth overall?

Thanks ladies, I really appreciate it!

Smooches!

Well It's not a matter of which one is better, it's just which one you're more comfortable with. Neither one is better than the other. And neither one has an effect on how much growth you'll get either. You hair will grow at the same rate whether you chop now or chop later. The benefit of a BC is that you get to learn your hair at each stage instead of suddenly having a mass of natural hair, but if you've been transitioning for a year and a half you should have a good amount of hair right now so in essence you wouldn't be able to get to know your hair at each stage so it doesn't really matter. I chopped 5.5 months post relaxer and only had an 1-2 inches of hair left. That was a BC alright. You just have to decide which one is better for you. I couldn't take the stringy hair hanging on anymore so that's why I took some scissors and chopped my hair off. If you've made it this long maybe it doesn't bother you at much. You'll know when it's time.

 

[imstush]

Well It's not a matter of which one is better, it's just which one you're more comfortable with. Neither one is better than the other. And neither one has an effect on how much growth you'll get either. You hair will grow at the same rate whether you chop now or chop later. The benefit of a BC is that you get to learn your hair at each stage instead of suddenly having a mass of natural hair, but if you've been transitioning for a year and a half you should have a good amount of hair right now so in essence you wouldn't be able to get to know your hair at each stage so it doesn't really matter. I chopped 5.5 months post relaxer and only had an 1-2 inches of hair left. That was a BC alright. You just have to decide which one is better for you. I couldn't take the stringy hair hanging on anymore so that's why I took some scissors and chopped my hair off. If you've made it this long maybe it doesn't bother you at much. You'll know when it's time.

ITA with the above post. It depends on you. I've never had less than shoulder length hair so I knew a BC wasn't for me. Each time I transitioned and just did mini chops. The first time took me less than 2 years this time took me a little longer than 2 years. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Cheleigh]

Well It's not a matter of which one is better, it's just which one you're more comfortable with. Neither one is better than the other. And neither one has an effect on how much growth you'll get either. You hair will grow at the same rate whether you chop now or chop later. The benefit of a BC is that you get to learn your hair at each stage instead of suddenly having a mass of natural hair, but if you've been transitioning for a year and a half you should have a good amount of hair right now so in essence you wouldn't be able to get to know your hair at each stage so it doesn't really matter. I chopped 5.5 months post relaxer and only had an 1-2 inches of hair left. That was a BC alright. You just have to decide which one is better for you. I couldn't take the stringy hair hanging on anymore so that's why I took some scissors and chopped my hair off. If you've made it this long maybe it doesn't bother you at much. You'll know when it's time.

ITA with your entire post! I transitioned just over a year and at about 11 months, I was so tired of the two textures, tired of having only one style. I did the BC because it was best for ME. But I know some people on various hair forums in their 16, 24 month of transition, and that's working best for THEM. Either way can be more or less beneficial, depending on your short term hair goals. I didn't want a teeny TWA so I transitioned until I felt I had enough hair for a medium TWA.

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Neither is better/worse. I did a mini chop because I was not ready for short hair. I went from BSL to above APL in month 11 of my transition. I am in month 13 now and I don't plan to BC. I don't like dealing with the straight ends (my curly fro style didn't work out) but I also am still not ready for a more drastic length change.

 

[danigurl18]

I did mini chops before I did the BC...

 

[Carrie A]

This is LHCF so most of the responses are going to be biased towards a longer transition. I cut my relaxed hair into a short style then transitioned (13months). I must say that most ladies that do the BC find it quite liberating. With a long transition you may be tempted to relax and the urge can come out of nowhere. The TWA pretty much looks good on everybody- only you have to briefly deal with that growing out phase.

 

[Stormy]

This is LHCF so most of the responses are going to be biased towards a longer transition. I cut my relaxed hair into a short style then transitioned (13months). I must say that most ladies that do the BC find it quite liberating. With a long transition you may be tempted to relax and the urge can come out of nowhere. The TWA pretty much looks good on everybody- only you have to briefly deal with that growing out phase.

You are so right! This happened to me the last time I tried transitioning and just today a client and I were talking about hair, how long it's been since we've relaxed, me transitioning, etc... anyway I told her my main reason is due to limp hair and she suggested that I use a ceramic curling iron and was telling me how much of a difference it would make. I told her STOP! Before I loose my strength and give in to relaxing again.
I started talking about other reasons I'm going natural too and regained my strength back.

It does get hard, so for ME I think I will probably do the big chop before this year is up. So far I'm going on 3 1/2 months.

 

[Napp]

i do think bc is a bit better only when breakage is involved. long transitions are usually for people who have less breakage at the demarcation line and shorter ones are for people who tend to get alot of breakge or are just impatient. these are just my observations.

when i did mini chops i just became frustrated because my hair was still unmanagable just shorter. so i just cut it off. The relaxed ends always get in the way imo. ive only texturized twice and had horrible experiences on both (one where i knew what i was doing and one where i didnt)so im not tempeted to mess my hair up anymore.

 

[Whimsy]

What is your goal? Do you care about maintaining length?

BC if you don't care about holding on to length or whatever.
MC if you want to keep length.

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

The only bad thing about doing a big chop that I can see is the length issue. If you are not worried about that, then I would just BC, it's definitly easier and you can go ahead and get acquainted with being completely natural.

 

[Miniaturemom]

Oh! Thank you for asking this question!!! I've been contemplating this myself and am curious to hear LHCF's advice.

 

[NikStarrr]

I transitioned for a year and during that time did 2 mini-chops--bobbed my hair twice. I think that helped with getting use to the (soon to be) shorter hair.