Sometimes I miss my shorter hair…there I said it. The natural who has finally achieved some length over the last few years is admitting to missing her shorter coils. Virtually unheard of with us brown girls I know. Since we were playing with barbies and dollhouses we’ve doted on long hair. I was that little pigtailed girl who attached brown ribbon to her ends to create the illusion of longer hair. Silly, I know but at age 8, the logic was completely on point. My hair was brown, the ribbon was brown, no one would ever be the wiser! After all the youthful days of wishing for longer hair, I’ve been guilty of abusing my tresses as an adult; relaxing, depositing color, wearing tightly pulled hairstyles, you name it, I’ve done it. I had zero respect for my hair, thinking I could treat it any kind of way – afterall “it’s just hair” I thought. Once I realized the error of my ways, with some occasional backsliding #dontjudgeme, I started to retain some length.
The other day I was looking at some photos from a few years ago and found myself digging my look. I don’t know that I appreciated it at the time but it was a very cute look. At the time I was wearing a wash and go which was once my go to style. Just the right amount of shrinkage, win, the coils fell just where they needed to, win, and it was flattering to my face, win win! I think I am going to work on recreating the look without cutting my hair.
Sharing hairstories and life experiences from a curl’s perspective. Find Tammy at her blog, Curlychics, on Twitter, and Facebook.
sometimes I miss my hair at the length shown here. It has grown so much and I love how healthy it looks and feels now. Thanks for the compliment posted anonymously.
Yes. A couple months ago I had a really cute kind of oblong shaped afro. Now it's grown and it doesn't hang right anymore. I want to grow it out but I'm struggling with the shape now. I'm in a very awkward stage and it does get frustrating.
Some times i miss my short hair as well. I was much easier to detangle and style. Wash and go were go easy. I often wonder if i should BC again. But I don't think i will… no right now any way 🙂
I miss my really low fade! I loved how easy caring for it was, how it felt to my touch, how it looked! Enjoyed my hair at that super short length for about four months and I'm now growing out my hair, and I'm enjoying that too, but some days I do catch myself longing for my fade!
Yep, I sure did that's why I did a second BC last year after being natural for 5 years. People thought I was crazy to cut all that hair off. lol I'm now in the process of growing it back out though. ~KF519
lately, i have found myself thinking about going back to a short sophisticated look. not anytime soon, but sometime in future.
M 3C/4A hair is the cause for my MAJOR shrinkage it looks about 5 inches shorter than when I blow it out… But I can understand why you miss shorter hair! Long hair is a double-edged sword.
being in the awkward stage, I miss my shorter hair. I long for the times where my twist outs resulted in this large, beautiful, curly afro..*sigh*..now they just look like a stringy, straight ends mess lol. I've tried flat twisting but to no avail. Cutting my hair a couple inches has crossed my mind, but I'm determined to grow out of this awkward length. Patience is key.
I completely understand, I now have armpit length and I often think of cutting it especially when I see super cute twa's. Maybe one day I'll get the courage to do it.
I absolutely miss my shorter hair. I recently cut it into a bob so it's not as long all over.
There's some back-and-forth about whether older (usually non-black but it applies to black as well) women should keep their hair short but as someone who is only a few years away from 50 I can tell you that there's something very appealing about not having to spend precious extra time trying to maintain longer hair. I BC'd for the fifth time in my natural life a little over two years ago and if I were living in a town where I could find/trust a stylist to keep it tight I'd still be wearing that TWA today. As it stands, I've been growing it out for about 18 months and now that I'm past the in-between stage I'm wearing TSTs (my own hair) because, again, I do not want to spend tons of time on my hair. Ironically, with TSTs, I retain almost all my growth…I may very well be one of those rebel women who keeps my hair long well into my old age… 🙂
I BC'd twice and I liked the short look. But I have also had and liked big hair. I won't say long because my hair grows out, not down, lol. I dunno, I think the only stage I didn't like was the in between stage where it wasn't a TWA, but it wasn't anything else,either.I like both extremes, very little hair or lots of it. Guess I'm just a wierdo like that.
Hey, you don't have to miss it. Nothing some clippers or scissors won't cure LOL!
Thank's for your information. It's really nice and informative.
Great article!
Yes, this is why I chopped again earlier this year.
Yes ma'am I definitely understand! I shaved my head almost 3 years ago, had been growing my natural hair ever since and had considerable length but just recently (about a week ago), chopped my hair back to a tapered twa style. I just missed my short hair but wanted to stay natural(I had a short cut when I cut it off). Everyone thinks that we all want to grow hair down to our ankles but even with me being about bra strap length I couldn't wait to cut my hair off and actually take advantage of rocking a twa…and I love it now! It's just hair and if I ever decide to grow it back I know what to expect. Do what makes you happy!
Oh YES! There is definitely another big chop in my future!
I loved my TWA. Not just because it was easy to do, but because the style look good on me! Short hair can be very flattering and chic!
I really miss my TWA and I'm seriously thinking of big chopping again this fall. It was so easy to care for…no dreaded re-twisting every second night… and it really suited my face. Also, I got way more compliments on my hair when it was a TWA.
Wow….I have been contemplating a haircut as well. I am 3.5 years natural and I am ready for a change
It's nice if that length flatters you. But for my self, no ma'am. Glad to leave shorter lengths in my rear view.
I can so relate, I've just reached my 2 year natural mark & I keep getting the itch to bc all over again. I just remember the simplicity of having a short do. It took me no time to detangle cause I could just run my fingers through it & my wash time was 10 minutes tops. Oh how I miss those days…who knows that might just be my 2 year ann gift to myself.
Brooke B.
I do miss it at times. I've cut my hair various times throughout my 32 years, doing the BC 3 times. Right now I have this goal in my head, b/c I've never had my hair reach the BSL (which is practically MBL on me), so I'm just going for it to say that I did it. After I reach it, I vary well can see myself going short again. That's the thing, with both relaxed and natural hair I've always enjoyed the growing out phase, but not necessary long hair. I would get bored and want to change it up again.
So hey, if you want to go short, go short. Forget everyone else.
yes I do miss mine sometimes too. Especially those lazy days when all I want to do is wash and go, but proper decorum suggests that I'd better not do that today! lol
so…. cut it?
HELL NAW I don't miss shorter hair because it NEVER looked "gamine" like Anastasia's did. (BTW, she's gorgeous).
My shorter hair was more like the chck downing the whiskey shots in Eddie Murphy's "Coming to America" bar scene.
YeGods I'm glad I'm past that length, LOL!
It's so funny! A lot of times, especially when natural, other naturals don't get why some naturals keep their hair short. Not everyone wants to achieve bra strap length or whatever length hair. Short hair can be just as glamorous and beautiful as the long, European look. I have short natural hair(currently im in between TWA and BAA) and I love it! I think it shows off my features very well.
Nope,I certainly do not miss my hair from my 2nd bc 8 months ago.
Nope, don't miss it. Never have. I guess I'm the minority.
I just cut off a few inches of hair to achieve a short summer style that would allow me to go back to wash and goes and stop being a slave to those twist outs. I got a Taraji Henson asymetrical bob which flatters my bone structure perfectly. I feel fly, pretty, and free from hair on my neck on 100 degree 100% humidity days! – Stacy
I dont miss it because i did a long transition and cut my ends off over time but as of late i find myself wanting to cut all my hair off. Twa's are so cute for real
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Oh my gosh! Your story about moving the ribbons to the end of your hair made me laugh out loud because that is still a story that is told by my family members about me some 30 years later and I have my second grade pics to prove it! When my Mom got the pictures she said, "I didnt do your hair like that" and I told her quite matter of factly, "Yes, I know, but it looked better this way"! I had some nerve!!! At least you went with brown. I had red yarn ribbons, but I didn't care. It looked good to me!
I too miss short hair. Before going natural, I wore the cutest short haircuts. It was when I decided to grow my hair long that I started getting relaxers on a regular basis. Now that I've gone natural and my hair is just past my shoulders, I'm missing the ease of short hair. I already know that I won't grow my hair much longer no matter how healthy it is. For me, long hair is just too much trouble whether it's relaxed, natural, curly or straight.
I wore a TWA for about 7 years before deciding to let it grow out 3 years ago. I miss short hair on wash days, and on days I wake up, would like to wet and re-do my hair, but I don't have time because it takes too long to dry.
I've been rocking a TWA for a minute now and my hair grows like a weed! As a matter of fact I'm getting a trim after work today. When my hair gets to the point that I have to start twisting it (I used to do that for years), it's time for a trim. Not a BC, but just enough so that I'm not twisting at night and spending more than 15 minutes (top) on my hair. I say if one can flaunt a short 'do, then by all means…do! hppynppy@aol.com
OMG this is me to the core, at the moment I am rocking a TWA that is will be considered medium hair by December (its growing FAST!!). At the moment I am considering BC again…OK…I KNOW cutting off HEALTHY long hair is look down upon in some cases BUT I argue that I had natural hair ALLL my life (NO perm, nor relaxer) and I my hair has been every many lengths, the waist long, bra strap, and shoulder length (You can see a trend lol, I was cutting a little at a time till I had the guts to BC)…AND I vote short hair is the way to go! LESS time detangling, no need to twist up at night, 1.5 hrs to wash, DC, and oil! The wash is my number one reason, it is BIG because at waist length it took a whole weekend to go through one wash and style cycle,
Friday night: pre poo oiling (overnight),
Sat morning: detangle braid and wash,
Sat afternoon: DC, wash and re braid,
Sat night: Air dry braid overnight and morning included too,)
Sunday Afternoon: moisturize, oil and re braid to stretch hair out further
…Just to think about those days make me tired. So I understand why women can love TWA because I am one of those woman….Sorry for the long comment but this hit home for me 🙂
I absolutely agree! It will be 3 years since I big chopped on Halloween this year, with about a 3-4 month transition, which equaled short and easy to care for hair! I have often thought about a 2nd big chop and probably will do it in the next few years. SHORT HAIR IS AWESOME!!
I absolutely agree! It will be 3 years since I big chopped on Halloween this year, with about a 3-4 month transition, which equaled short and easy to care for hair! I have often thought about a 2nd big chop and probably will do it in the next few years. SHORT HAIR IS AWESOME!!
I did the big chop and loved it so much (no hair, don't care), I almost did not grow my hair out. Before I did the BC I had a short pixie hair cut, that I loved as well but it become difficult for me to maintain because of the relaxer. With short haircuts your face, smile, personality, and confidence stand out. Especially with a big chop. For example: maybe a week at most after my BC I went to the university that I go to. I wore plain white jersey maxi dress; that I love (so I was already feeling myself). As soon as I got on the campus a Indian girl told me I was one of the most beautiful people she ever saw. I'm average looking, but I'll take a compliment like that any day, plus she seemed sincere. I've never received a compliment that genuine before or since my big chop. That is because with short hair I truly shine from within.
My friend and I were just talking about this. We definitely don't appreciate the ease an versatility of shorter hair. Now, I look back and realize how flattering it was. And I got hit on much more back then 🙂
It is like me, I enjoy the strinkage majority of the time. I _ am amazed how short it gets I am a 3c/4a. Even though my hair is longer I miss the short look as well.
Megan Montgomery