These are pictures from month 12 of my first big chop.  These were originally posted in July 2006.

My mom hooked me up by cornrowing the front part of my hair. I left the back free flowing.  I love this look a lot. I wish I could braid like this.

Here’s another view of the front. It felt good having my mother do my hair like she did when I was a child.

Here’s a close view of the cornrows.  She took the ends of each cornrow and braided them into another braid across my head.

This is somewhat of a side view of this hair style.

Another close view of the cornrows.

Here’s a back view of the style.  (Can you tell that I love this style?)

Here’s the side view.  Dang, I could of picked my fro out a little better – oh well, I still love the style.

After I was done loving the fro, I decided to two-strand twist the back of my hair.  I plan on leaving this in until my nappiversary at the end of this month (yeah right).

Here’s the front view of the cornrows and two-strand twists.

My son and I

My little super hero is protecting his identity with his shades

I was feeling a little lazy, so I decided to go with a simple wash n’ go for a few days (I haven’t done this in months).  Here’s the result.

A wash n’ go is just what it sounds like, you wash your hair and go, letting it ‘do what it do’. Here’s the back of my wash n’ go.

Here’s just another view of the wash n’ go.

Here I am trying to give a closer view, but it’s not working very well.

Here’s another stretch afro. Tomorrow is my 1 year nappiversary, so I felt like showing off a year’s worth of growth (I cut my hair down to less than an inch exactly one year ago!) Who says nappy hair can’t grow?

The stretched afro is one of my favorite styles.  Best of all, its easy to do!.

Here’s the stretched afro again in different lighting.  Notice the difference in length between my stretched afro and my wash n’ go from a few days ago.

This is just the same afro.

Stretched afro once again.

It’s my nappiversary!!! Here are growth comparison pictures from my BC to one year later!

Here’s the side view.

Here’s the back view. Ladies – do not fear the BC! It grows back faster, (& healthier) than you think!

Pictures from month 11 of my first big chop.  These were originally  posted in June of 2006.

After wearing a twist-out for a little over a week, it was time for a wash and a change of style. .I brushed my hair further back for a slightly lowered puff.  I used water and aloe vera gel to slick it down, then tied it down with a silk scarf. The accessory that you see around the puff is actually a necklace made of stones.

Here’s a side view of the puff to show that it is slightly lower than my normal puffs. This style was inspired by Nachural.

Here’s a front view, although you cannot see the puff as well.

After twisting and trimming my hair, and wearing two-strand twists for five days, I separated the twists and created single strand twists.

For some reason, the single strand twists look shinier than my two strand twists.  I really like this look.

Here’s a picture showing what the single strands look like when stretched out.  I’m very close to my one year nappiversary and loving the length that I’ve achieved.

Here’s another experiment with hair accessories.  This is a old hair clip that I always loved, but could not wear after I chopped my relaxed hair.  I clipped it to the elastic holding my puff.

This is just another picture of the clip and puff.

Here, I tried to get a closer view, but it does not seem any closer than the other pictures

This is a back view of my mom’s hair.  My mom always believed that her hair was very thin.  As soon as she went natural (one month after I did), she discovered that her hair is not thin at all.  It is very soft and curly though.  She likes to keep her hair at this length.  I think it looks gorgeous.

Here’s a picture of my mom and I together.  Aren’t we naturally cute together?

Pictures from month 10 of my first big chop.  These were originally  posted in May of 2006.

I just couldn’t resist putting a flower from my Mother’s Day bouquet in my hair.  This is a twistout resulting from twists that I wore for a week.  I have a habit of twisting my hair, wearing it for a week and then taking them down because I miss my afro

This is another picture of the twistout with the flower.

I feel very springy! Is that a word?

Purchasing accessories for hair can get expensive! However, most of us have old jewelry lying around that has been passed down from our mothers and grandmothers.  Why not use those old broaches and clip-on earrings to accessorize those puffs!  I took a flower broach from my mother-in-law’s collection and pinned it to the elastic band holding my puff. I love the result!

This is a great way to add life to the puff, once they begin to get boring.

Accessories can also transform a regular puff into a quick, cute style that can be worn to dress-up occasions, such as weddings!

By the way, this puff is made from a week-old twistout.  The twistout is holding up so well, that I could probably wear it for a few more days.  However, it’s definitely time for a wash! (Its been two weeks!)

Here’s another broach.  This butterfly broach is a little more fitting for Spring.

The broach is just attached to the elastic band that is hidden underneath my puff.

Pictures from month 9 of my first big chop.  These were originally  posted in April of 2006.

Here’s a picture of my hair, freshly washed, no products & unmanipulated.

I have a strange loose texture of hair behind my ears. It does not shrink much, so a lot of time it’s just sticking out like this (unless I pat it down) .

Here’s the same texture on the other side.  I am glad that it is not like this all over, because it would be very hard to style.  It does not hold well when I twist it and in an afro, it just sort of sticks up like in these pictures.

After a very frustrating 2+ hours trying to flat twist the front of my hair, I decided to try cornrows.  After another hour of trying to cornrow, this is the result.  I’ve hidden the imperfections with a scarf so it looks decent.

Here is another view of the cornrow/puff combination. I’ve discovered that the key to cornrows is proper hand placement. I finally figured it out when I got to this side.  I just hope I can remember what to do next time I decide to cornrow.

I am happy with the results.  I am just not happy at the time I spent trying to braid.

Here’s the first side that I completed.  I am right handed, so this side usually comes a little easier. I always mess up when I get to the top and the other side.  I think I have the hand placement down so I hope I am on my way to mastering cornrows.

After visiting Pebbles Page (http://www.pebblespage.com/ ), I was inspired to try a stretched afro. After spritzing my hair with distilled water to moisten,  I grabbed large sections of hair and twisted it.  Then I secured the ends with ouchless elastic bands. I left my hair like this overnight

This is what the front of the hair looked like.

Here is the result of the stretching process – a nice full afro.  Compare this afro to my afro pictures proceeding

This is what the stretched afro looked like from the side.  I love the way it came out

Just having fun with the camera.

Just another view of the stretched out afro.

I took this picture towards the end of the day. I liked my afro so much that I was inspired to go out and buy new earrings.  By the way single ladies, do not be afraid to wear those full stretched out afros in public! You draw A LOT of male attention! (I’m married so no flirting for me).

I used my stretching technique once again and here’s the result.  I like it even better this time!

Here’s the back of my afro.  Is this a BAA yet?

Here’s a side view of the afro.

Here’s the afro without the headband. Too bad I’m no good at shaping my afro.  My husband wasn’t home to help me either! Oh well.

I’m back to twisting.  My hair needs a break.  Here’s a cornrow/two-strand twist combo style.  For some odd reason, I can cornrow my hair to the side easily.  This took about five minutes to do.  If I was cornrowing backwards, it would have been an all day thing.  Go figure!

This is just another view of the style.

Taking a break from hair pictures, I just had to post this picture of my 4-year-old in his Sunday best. He looks like a little man in this picture (or a little preacher). On another note, now that my hair is natural, I have learned to take better care of his hair.  I wash his hair once a week with a bar of castile soap and condition it with olive oil.  His hair is no longer dry like it was before I went natural. Going natural benefits the whole family!

I ordered a few of my Val & Nadine products to preview them for quality.  I bought a tank top, mug & messenger bag.  I am very pleased with the results!

Here’s the back view of the tank top.  The comic strip printed on this shirt is the Self Hate comic.

Pictures from month 8 of my first big chop.  These were originally  posted in March of 2006.

The TWA growout challenge is over! I participated in this challenge with other members of nappturality.com.  We went from November 2, 05 until March 2, 05 without trimming or cutting our hair.  My afro has grown a lot during this challenge.  Go back to my 2005 pictures and compare it with my afro in October and November to see the difference.

This is just another view of my grown out afro.

I brushed my afro back into a puff.  I am getting closer to a pony puff.  I’d say I have about 4 months to go.

Here is the side view of my puff.

Here is the back view of my puff.

Here is the front view of my puff.

Here is a close-up picture of my puff.  Compare this puff to my October and November puffs!

Right after my participation in the TWA Growout Challenge, I two-strand twisted my hair and trimmed the ends as I twisted.  Here’s the result. I dressed the style up with two brown snap clips.

Here is the back of my twistout. Rather than taking the twists all the way apart, I achieved a slightly different texture with this twistout by untwisting the two strands, but leaving them as is (get it?). This made my hair look as if they were mini twists. I really liked the look.

Here is the side view of the twistout.

This is the front view of the twistout.  Can you see how it looks as if my hair is still twisted VS my earlier twistouts where the hair just looked wavy?

Black and White pic of the twistout.

I’m just trying to do something different with my hair. Here’s a regular finger combed, wash-n-go afro – diagonally parted in the front and held back with snap clips.

Here is a closer view of my wash-n-go, parted and held with clips. My husband did not like this style when he saw it, but this is one of those times when only my opinion counts! It’s my hair darnit!!! LOL

Pictures from month 6 of my first big chop.  These were originally  posted in February of 2006.

Here are the same twists, one week later.  The scarf is a must now, because the flat twists in the front are very frizzy.

The back still looks fine though.

The scarf will save the style for at least another week.

After 2 weeks, I finally removed the twists. Two weeks is the longest I’ve ever kept twists in.  This is the resultant twistout.

Here is the back of the twistout. Notice how much fuller it is than my first twistout back in December.

I’ve seen a lot of hair albums with black and white shots, so I decided to try one.  I like the result.

After another five days wearing a new set of twists (not pictured), I took them down for this twist-out.  I cornrowed the front for a slightly different look (style idea taken from Naturally You magazine).

This is just another view of the cornrow/twist-out combination.

Front view of twist-out/cornrow combination.

Front view of twist-out/cornrow combination.

I changed one of the pictures into a coloring book effect. I thought the result was sort of interesting and reminded me of Valerie from my Val & Nadine comic strip.

This is just an ordinary wash n’ go puff with a butterfly comb accessory.

Pictures from month 6 of my first big chop. These were originally posted in January of 2006.

This is another twistout.  This is the second day and it is holding up well.

Another view of the twistout.  This is becoming my favorite style (for now anyway!).

30th Birthday Picture.  Yes ya’ll, I made 30 years old today!  I thank the Lord for another blessed year!

Another 30th Birthday shot.

Here’s a close-up of my 30th birthday twist-out.

Six months nappy! Here is a 6 month growth comparison. The picture on the left is my big chop.  The picture on the right is six months later.

Side shot of 6 months of napps!

Growth in the back!

Six months of napps!

Flat twists in the front, two-strand twists in the back.

Another view of flat twist and two-strand twist combo.

Front view of flat twist and two-strand combination.

When my twists start looking frizzy, I dress them up with a scarf.

Front view of scarf and twists.

Another view of scarf and twists.

Pictures from month 5 of my first big chop.  These were originally posted in December of 2005.

Here is a picture of my first attempt at two-strand twisting my hair.  I added a headband to see what it would look like.

Here’s a picture of my two-strand twists dressed up with a scarf.

Here’s another picture of the twists and scarf.

Here is my first twistout.

Another view of the twistout.

Back view of the twistout.

Here I am with my son, a few days before Christmas.  I dressed up my TWA a little with a butterfly comb.

Here’s another picture of my dressed up TWA.

I went to visit my parents in California for Christmas.  Here’s a picture of my mom and I.  After relaxing and/or pressing her hair for over 40 years, my mom decided to chop off the processed hair a few weeks after I chopped mine.  She loves her TWA so much, that she decided to keep it at this length.  I think she looks gorgeous!  My own hair is two strand twisted.

Here is another view of my mom and her TWA.

Here is a side view of my mom’s TWA.

Here is a back view of my mom’s TWA.

Pictures from month 4 of my first big chop.  These were originally posted in November of 2005.

I am attempting to learn how to flat twist my hair.  This was my second attempt at flat twisting.  They were not as bad as the first attempt, but not so great either, so I dressed them up with a scarf and puff.

Here is another view of my flat twists/puff combination.

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Another wash n go picture. It is getting so cold now, that we are letting my son’s hair grow into an afro, too.

Pictures from month 3 of my first big chop, 5 years ago.

This is what my hair looks like wet, fresh from the shower.

This is what my hair looks like dry with no products added.

This is my first time sporting a headband.

This is what my hair looks like three months after my big chop.  I’ve stretched it out to show the actual length minus strinkage.