Photography - L'Amour Photography

Hi loves.

I hope all is well with you.

The big chop is not so uncommon in this era where natural hair and being bald is actually a trend that doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon.

However, when I decided to cut my hair, it had absolutely nothing to do with being trendy.....although everyone seemed to think so and I made no point of correcting them. Why? You may wonder. Well, because the reason behind me shaving was a long story which I didn't feel like sharing with everyone who met me and asked, "Ghai Linet, kwani ulinyoa?" or "Aki mbona ulinyoa?".

Anyway, now that am sharing these pictures with my short hair I must as well tell the story.....mostly as a diary entry for me and not so much to explain myself to anyone.

So.

In 2014 I had this serious urge to cut my hair but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'd always find myself in a new hairstyle and somehow I got through the bad days which were really bad. Let's just say that I didn't have the guts to do it despite constantly telling myself that hair is a renewable resource, it will grow back...right? Perfect logic but zero guts to follow through.

After we did Ivy's scan and found out it was a girl I became excited all over again about the big chop. I would imagine all the things I'd get to do with my daughter and starting out the natural hair journey was suddenly very appealing. I would have a partner in this journey, twinning away in various hairstyles.

Well, that didn't happen. 

When I delivered her I had simple braids on my hair in preparation for the busy life ahead with a newborn. Once I undid them I still wanted to shave but somehow my mom and sisters convinced me to just keep my hair. Thank God I listened to them because when my cousins' wedding came I actually had hair to style (Having lived the natural hair life for a few months now I know how tricky it can be to style it on a day to day basis....I shudder thinking of the mess I'd have been trying to style it for a wedding).

By this point there was still hope that I would keep my hair....like 20% chance. All that went down the drain when Kenyatta market happened to my hair. That's where I did my braids for the wedding. Within days my hairline started to recede and with it went the 20% chance. Days after the wedding, I was fed up with it. Top that up with the need I felt to do something for my daughter.....my hair had zero chance.

I left the house one day very purposed to chop it all off. I didn't even undo the braids. I just left with a baseball cap and went to the barbers'. I sat there and asked him to chop it off. He told me to first go and undo them because if we shaved it while braided I would end up bald. Then I made it very clear to him that going bald was exactly what brought me there. It really 'pained' him to start shaving it off, he actually tried to convince me to keep my hair but I would have none of it. It took him a while but eventually all the braids were on the floor. I suddenly felt this great weight leave me. 

The thing about shaving my hair is, I felt that I owed my daughter at least that one thing since life seemed to be moving on really fast. It didn't matter how I ended up looking...there are caps and turbans for that. What mattered was that I did that one thing for her.

Several months into this natural hair bandwagon and am beyond convinced that hair whether natural or treated is not a stronghold for me. All these bloggers and vloggers out there making it look like a cruise......well,it isn't. In between knowing my hair texture, finding affordable products for it and styling it......my brain is exhausted. It's almost a bad hair day everyday, no kidding. The TWC was more manageable. Apparently my hair is now at the awkward stage going by some post I came across online. 

But for Ivy anything is worth it, any day.

These pictures were taken at random locations in Tigoni, Limuru.

This right here is my definition of a day well spent. Out there in nature, dressed in comfortable clothes/shoes I can run around in, surrounded by the people I love and someone to capture the moments. 

This is my kind of style of late. Anything comfortable....especially the shoes.

That's it for today.

Thank you for stopping by.

Much Love,

Linet.