How long before you big-chopped?

[naija24]

Hey ladies,

So this is an extension of another thread. It seems like most of the board is now fully natural. This is a surprise to me but I guess more and more black women find going natural as the key to getting longer hair?

Anyway, I wanted to know...how long did you guys transition before you big chopped? I can't imagine all of you transitioning for 2-3 years at the same time.

I plan to transition via weaves for the rest of the year (finally decided) and I plan to big chop in November of this year so around 10 month transition.

 

[Prettymetty]

2 months. My big chop wasnt planned or anything. I panicked and chopped it when my hair got really tangled/matted from wearing wigs without braiding it underneath. I went from mbl to bsl to apl in a few months. Then after the matting incident I was pretty much faded

 

[naija24]

You had only an inch of hair when you big chopped? Wow! When did you BC and how long is your hair now?

I am trying to develop a mental chop of how long my hair should be if straightened for my transition.

2.5 months -- pixie cut
4 months -- ear length bob
6 months --bob ( I plan to BC here)
8 months -- neck length
12 months -- almost SL/SL

 

[toaster]

I BC'd at 17.5 months. My hair was past SL but not quote APL.

I also wanted to say that there are a lot of reasons people go natural, but many relaxed ladies on this board and in real life have long, healthy, and gorgeous hair.

 

[Prettymetty]

You had only an inch of hair when you big chopped? Wow! When did you BC and how long is your hair now?

I am trying to develop a mental chop of how long my hair should be if straightened for my transition.

2.5 months -- pixie cut
4 months -- ear length bob
6 months --bob ( I plan to BC here)
8 months -- neck length
12 months -- almost SL/SL

My first bc was August 2011. My second bc was January 2013. I had a looot of scab hair. After 2nd bc I was ear length/neck length. Now im apl inching towards bsl

 

[havilland]

i transitioned for 2 years and 4 months. my hair was just past apl.

basically after the first 14 months or so, i started trimming along the way and cut the last of the relaxed ends off at the end. i just cut whatever i grew.

my hair was almost BSL when i started so i was unwilling to cut it.

 

[nlamr2013]

11 months.

 

[BranwenRosewood]

I'm texlaxed now but when I went natural last year I transitioned for 9 months. I planned to go longer but the tangling and matting from my over-processed ends almost gave me a nervous breakdown when it was time to detangle.

If I make it to APL this year I plan to transition for 2 years starting next year.

 

[veesweets]

13 months. Looking back, I probably could have made it to 18 but I got impatient

 

[SweetlyCurly]

I did a Long transition of 2 and a half years. So glad I did.

 

[Dayjoy]

18 months. I had planned to go for 24 months but I just didn't want to wait any longer and I wanted to do it for my birthday as a gift to myself.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

Hey ladies,

So this is an extension of another thread. It seems like most of the board is now fully natural. This is a surprise to me but I guess more and more black women find going natural as the key to getting longer hair?

Anyway, I wanted to know...how long did you guys transition before you big chopped? I can't imagine all of you transitioning for 2-3 years at the same time.

I plan to transition via weaves for the rest of the year (finally decided) and I plan to big chop in November of this year so around 10 month transition.

My BC wasn't planned at all. I looked at my SL hair and kept seeing pieces of hair breaking off and all over my sink, took a scissor and cut it all off. I was probably 3 months post relaxer.

 

[overtherainbow]

I BC'd at 11 months. I originally planned for a full year, but that last month was brutal. I had a hard time towards the end because I used to relax my hair bone straight and my new growth was 4b. So every style, no matter what, looked awkward. And I was spending 5 hours a week on just detangling my hair alone! When I big chopped, I was CBL and I consider myself an average grower.

 

[RegaLady]

9 months after my last perm

 

[whiteoleander91]

a few days shy of 12 months and I was a little past cbl

 

[ezina]

I was smooth sailing at 2 years and 6 months and actually could have gone longer but a variety of factors (that included a date that was coming up) came together that made me big chop earlier than anticipated. The goal was to transition for at least 3 years.

 

[dede1129]

I BC'ed at 7 months. That's normally the point where I had given up in the past and relaxed so I hurried up and chopped it off before I chickened out lol My hair was BSL.

 

[BostonMaria]

I big chopped after 10 months of transitioning. I had 5 inches of hair and it took 12 months to be APL. About 24 months to get to MBL. Forever to get to waist length LOL about 3 years I honestly don't remember anymore.

When I first joined this board in 2008 I think it was about 65% relaxed, the rest were natural or transitioning. I wouldn't join until I was fully natural because I was scared of being tempted to relax again.

Seems like natural is the new normal around here

Sent from my iPad using LHCF

 

[sharifeh]

This is a great informative thread.
I don't know when I want to chop
I have a feeling i won't make it as long as I want to

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[ImanAdero]

I big chopped after about 5 months. But I didn't try to transition. I was OVER two textures of hair so I cut it myself and a few days later had a barber even it up.

 

[blue_flower]

I transitioned for 16 months, I think. My mom cut off most of the relaxed ends back in September and my hair ended up shoulder length with a couple relaxed strands up front that still need to grow out. My hair is like 98% natural and its now arm pit length.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

I'm going by length not time. At 28 months post, my natural hair is a few inches past APL but not quite BSL. I'm hoping my natural hair will hit a major length mark every 6 months. So something like this:
BSL by June 2014
MBL by Dec 2014
Waist by June 2015
Hip by Dec 2015
Tailbone by June 2016
If all this doesn't happen by the time line I've given myself, it's fine because the relaxed ends will give me the length I need until I get there...being that I'm sitting at waist now.

I think your plan will work just fine if being natural pretty fast is your main goal and you like dealing with shorter hair. When you factor in shrinkage, it will probably be even shorter

I'd much rather keep my length, so no BC in my future. The last 6 inches I have of relaxed ends left don't bother me as long as I keep them strong with protein treatments and smooth with roller sets. We stay cool and see eye to eye
I do trim around an inch a year just to help with normal wear and tear.

 

[Ravenhairedbeauty]

The 1st-4th times I bc I only waited about 4 months each time so my hair was really short. I was very impatient.

 

[tasha7239]

I'm texlaxed now but when I went natural last year I transitioned for 9 months. I planned to go longer but the tangling and matting from my over-processed ends almost gave me a nervous breakdown when it was time to detangle. If I make it to APL this year I plan to transition for 2 years starting next year.

This is me. I have been transitioning for almost 8 months. Everywhere I looked tonight there was a small dred or a knot ball. My relaxed hair is looking very thinned out and I have massive shedding. I want to cut it all off now but I'm scared of how i will look. I am a jacked up BSL now.

 

[yaya24]

both times- 2-3 months

 

[greenbees]

3 months. I walked out with basically a fade.

 

[ckisland]

The first time I went natural, I was supposed to transition for a year and then BC. I made it 10 weeks . I had 1 inch of hair because I was paranoid and had to make sure absolutely no relaxed hair was left.

This second time was different because I was natural, and started cutting from MBL up to grazing APL from June to November. After 6 years and 1 month of being natural, I relaxed and cut to CBL. I was relaxed for 13 weeks, and BC'd 6 days after my last touch up. I couldn't even make it a week . That's how badly I wanted to be back natural . I was a step from being bald when I BC'd .

 

[melisandre]

The first time I went natural, I transitioned for one year. The second time my transition was 6 weeks, if that.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using LHCF

 

[so_stush]

2 years and 2 months. Could've gone longer but at that point I was wearing my hair curly or bunned 100% of the time.

 

[Lucie]

It was kind of dumb how I did it both times. LOL! I transitioned for about 16 weeks both times and BCed down to a 1/2".