Toya's Hair Diary: Dare to Do a New Do

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe Halloween today!  Last night at Shutup and Sing at the Hard Rock Cafe, I went as Janelle Monae. 

Rick Ross (Jason Waters), Janelle Monae (Me),  Lady Gaga (April Rucker)

Can I just say that this was the most fun costume ever?  Not only do I want to wear my hair like this more often but I also want to wear more blazers...and bow ties (half kidding about the bow ties).  I was a little nervous about doing my hair myself but it turns it out it wasn't that hard at all.  Last night was the first time since my Big Chop in January that I blow dried my hair straight.  It has grown a lot more than  I realized and that was encouraging.  I particularly loved the wild way my hair looked before I pinned it back and was starting to get that feeling of wanting to cut the back and sides of my hair again.  After much urging from Melissa, I'm going to hold out.  Still I can hear the faint cry of some clippers nicely lining up my edges that I miss so much. *Sigh*

I was shopping at Wal-Mart Sunday when the checkout lady,  a newly natural naturalista looked at my hair (it was big and curly in the front and the back was in a knit cap) and let out a heavy sigh.  "I want my hair like THAT!" she said.  I thanked her and told her something that Erika Alexander of Lovely Bands told me. Enjoy every part of your journey:  the beginning stage, the awkward in between stage, the "ooh I can finally put it up in an afro puff" stage. All of it.  Growing your hair naturally is a wonderful journey with plenty of discovery.  I looked at her closely cropped hair and told her that I missed where she is in her journey right now.  It's all beautiful and it's all necessary. 

Do you have any new hairstyles that you've recently discovered that have made you love being natural even more?  If not, try something new!  I guarantee it will make you fall in love with your hair all over again.