(The Follow-up) To Cut or Not To Cut

 It has been several days now and, let me tell you, I am loving this short hair I'm rocking. Well, I am loving it now...

The first couple of days after making the final cut, I was a bit manic and bi-polar about what I'd done with my hair. I'd love it for 10 minutes, then I'd be Googling "how to make a wig look like it's your own hair" and "are weaves hard on your natural hair?"

Thankfully, I adjusted to being so close-cropped. Now I don't know if I will ever go back to longer hair. There are pros and cons to either style.

• I can easily twist longer hair. Twisting elongates my curls and produces a variety of styles.
• I can easily make thicker Bantu knots with longer hair. I love wearing Bantu knots. It was the best way I stayed a bit cooler during the hottest weather before, you know, I CUT OFF ALL MY FREAKING HAIR. 
• I could pull my longer hair back and/or up with bands and clips when I was lazy about styling. Or, for a cute style,  I could twist my hair into rows halfway and pull the rest into a band.
• Hair this short is perfect for lazy people.
• With this short hair, I can still make Bantu knots. They are tiny but not bad-looking. I can also separate and twist my hair into rows but I have to secure and lock down the ends with metallic clips.
• I can style my short hair in more ways than I thought I'd be able to. I can smooth it down on one side or, if I want, smooth all of it down with some holding gel. That's a tricky look to pull off though. Do it wrong and you look like you're wearing shoe polish on your head or like a cat's been licking your hair.
• Sleeping on my short hair is a, um, dream compared to when it was longer. I don't have to worry about my short hair being so mashed out of shape in the morning. I can get up, spray in a little conditioner and get on with life.
• My short hair requires a lot less touching up during the day. There is not enough of it to get messy or for the wind to blow. 
• Shorter hair makes my gray now look more interesting and pretty and not just distracting.

Yeah. I can get down for a while with this short look. I did have to go back several times and snip off some of the stray pieces that I missed the first few times. I think I have it evenly cropped now.

(My cousin asked why this bottom pic looks like a graduation pose! LOL)

I am also pleased that I didn't have to buy any styling products right away. I'm such a product junkie as is that I found what I needed in the bathroom pantry.

I need this curl cream to
get back into stock somewhere soon...
It's amazing.

I think I really needed this big chop. To be honest, my hair did need this. What little hair is left on my head is so soft and healthy. No more damaged sections to hide or split ends to worry about. I don't even have to detangle it after washing. There is not enough of it to tangle! And when I said that sleeping on it is a dream...

The first night I went to bed with the new cut, I was a little lost. I didn't need to spend half an hour putting styling my hair into twists or worry about not twisting it and having to pull it back with a ponytail holder. Nope, none of that. I just... laid down and went to sleep.

That next morning, the only reason I needed to use a conditioning spray was that one side of my hair was flatter than the other. Also, the spray just smells so dang good.

And, guess, what? It was so much cooler today with this short hair -  even though temps got to over 86 degrees. That sounds lovely and would be if the humidity didn't shoot up to 73%. There are days we hit 90 degrees and 80% humidity.

When I feel up to it, I will practice doing some Bantu knots and twist-outs or twist rows. It may not look like there is enough hair left to work with but go look up something called "natural hair shrinkage". Some of the photos are hilarious but true. Your jaw will hit the ground.

Anyway. The cut is here and happening. And maybe shorter hair is the way to go now that I'm over 60? ~shrug~ Watch me if I don't get a t-shirt that says "Short Hair, Don't Care"! 

Peace

--Free

UPDATE - I had to take a photo for a family album the other day. I did both filtered and"natural" shots (I was trying to slide my age back a couple of years!). I thought I would share some just because my hair is growing out and I wanted y'all to see the progress.

I don't know why I look wasted.
I was just tired, not high...

One of my brothers asked
why I look so mean in
photos. What?!?!?

P.S.: For days after writing this follow-up, I was still snipping off stray strands. Every time I stopped to admire myself in a mirror, I'd see one or two little hairs that needed scissoring... I have a feeling that it will be a week or more before I have this short 'do totally neat and cleaned up! But I do love it, yes, I do.