Singer Chrisette Michele Goes for the "Big Chop"

Often times, when Black women decide to begin their natural hair journey, they begin with the "Big Chop."  That's essentially what I did.  I had two little children and a perm and I was looking at myself in the mirror everyday and saying, "this is not me" as I combed through my hair.  I had already made the decision not to go to the beauty parlor any more due to the time it took to do so and the cost.  I just didn't want to shell out my money to the salon any more.  So, I talked with my husband about my great idea to cut it all off and went to a Barber and said, go for it.  I wore my hair in what was known then as a "boy cut" for awhile but I got bored fast.  The most I could do with my hair was spray it with sheen, pat it and go.  This was convenienent but the self-stylist in me missed the creativity of being able to wear different styles whenever I pleased.  So when I read about Chrisette Michele and her decision to chop it off, I could relate.  Although our stories are very different, and most of ours are, I think what she has done is to say N.I.C.E!


Chrisette recently explained to VIBE:

http://www.theybf.com/2010/05/11/chrisette-michele-its-just-hair
“The turning point for me to shave my head was when I was out on tour. I had some pieces glued into my head because I didn’t want to dye my own hair, and the glued on piece would not come out of my head so I said I’m shaving my head because this is ridiculous. This does not make me Black. This does not make me a great singer; this makes me have a piece of hair stuck to my head and I was like, "I’m done, I can’t do this anymore.My stylist once put a lace-front on me for a show that I did. I wanted to try it out. They take adhesive and put it around the edges of your hair and then they lay stocking material on top of that adhesive and then the rest of the stocking has hair attached to it and then this stocking material blends into your face and then they take makeup and put it on top of that stocking material and blend that into your face. I’m not sure if that’s healthy. I think you might get pimples and I don’t like pimples. I knew girls who shaved around their hairlines so that their lace fronts would lay better. I don’t know about that.”