DIY Jo | I am not my hair

I never thought that I would ever cut more than a half-inch of my hair off, but as I wrote in my previous DIY Jo feature, my hair was just breaking, so I did the unthinkable - chopped most of it off.

Everyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love my hair. Cutting it is not something that I would have ever considered, but the shedding of my hair due to stress was something that I could not come to terms with. There were sections that had short patches up to about one and a half inches long. Onlookers saw thick hair, but when I combed it, I felt the inconsistency throughout the hair.

The last straw occurred the Saturday after I wrote my previous DIY Jo. I was pulling out the twists I had in my hair and on touching one, without tugging or even unravelling it, it fell off in my hand. I looked at the twist in my hand with tears in my eyes and I was like enough is enough. My hair was not damaged, it was just a victim of my circumstances at the moment. Haircare goes beyond the products that you use, and as such, you can care about it all you want, but if you are not taking care of yourself or eating properly, it will fall out. So I called 'hairskinlovejamaica'. Unfortunately, this was not something I was going to experiment with.

BIG CHOP

I trusted them because they specialise in natural hair at an affordable cost. With much reluctance, I went and had them cut my hair. She made several big twists and snipped while I sat down overwhelmed and completely emotional (no, I did not cry. I needed to be an adult about it). After the cut, it was then treated. My head felt empty, even though there was still a bit of hair because it was a tapered cut and it was not shaved, so even the parts that looked short are about an inch long.

I was uncertain about how I would feel about my hair being gone. I have always used it as a buffer for me on days that are not too great. But quickly, I got over that, and like India.Arie said, 'I Am Not My Hair'. Now I can start over and fully appreciate my hair at every stage, state, and length.

So I will not encourage people to cut off their hair, especially if they're not emotionally ready, because it can be a culture shock. I can honestly say it is not so bad, and sometimes instead of trying to repair it, it is just quicker and easier to start over.