Change IS Good!

Has anyone ever told you "Baby don't cut your hair" & "A women's hair is her glory"? These are both sayings I heard many times growing up. I must admit, I drank the cool-aid when I was a kid. I thought girls with the long hair were pretty, so I wanted long hair too. I wanted "good" hair, not "bad" hair.

As an adult, I've put childish things away. I love my hair on "good" days and bad days. I don't obsess over length. If it grows great and if it doesn't, I'll rock it anyway! My response to the afore mentioned sayings... If you cut it, it'll grow back... If you're pretty with it, you'll be pretty without it! It's just hair.

Now that we're done obsessing over length...short hair seems to be a popular trend amongst naturals in 2012. Many have opted to big chop -again- and others have chosen to not just chop, but shave their mane down to a fade. The Damn Salon in Atlanta featured several shaved looks at the 2011 Nzuri Natural Hair Showcase in Houston, TX in December. Cassidy Blackwell of Natural Selection was a featured hair model at the event and the Damn Salon did the "damn thang"!

NHH:

How did you feel leading up to your appointment to shave your sides?

Cassidy:

Totally jazzed. Sure I was nervous because it was such a dramatic look and I had never taken a buzzer to my head, but I was really bent on having this vision executed. And I wouldn't say it was an "appointment" as much as it was me stalking this dude for about 24 hours at the hair show and convincing him to shave my head.

NHH:

How did your friends/family react to your new look?

Cassidy:

My friends immediately loved it, but I was totally nervous about my family's reaction, but much to my surprise THEY LOVED IT TOO! My mom especially who thinks I should shave it all off...

NHH:

Have you ever been obsessed with length? If so, when did that change for you?

Cassidy:

Yes and only because I was obsessed with length when I had a relaxer. The Big Chop is kind of traumatic because you love your hair, but you're so used to having inches upon inches of it so you want it to come back. Then once you dive into the online community you're surrounded by acronyms such as BSL and WL and "growth checks" so it kind of becomes this mentality that length is the ultimate goal. I stopped caring as much about length when I got my first stylized cut last summer that was shorter in the back and longer in the front. I decided then that my goal was not to have the longest hair, but to have the most bad ass hair (and healthy!) and that those two things aren't necessarily the same thing.

Lookin' "Damn" good Cassidy!!

Jill Scott, singer/actress, also opted to ring in the new year with a new look:

"If you're pretty with it, you'll be pretty without it!"

I have coined 2012 the year of change. Thinking outside the box, going against the grain, trying something I've never tried before, doing something I've never done before... I'm RE-inventing myself and from the looks of it, I'm not alone!

Till next time... Be Bold. Be Beautiful. Be Natural.

Peace Out,

Naturally Knight