35. 10 Easy Steps to Go Natural Without Cutting Your Hair Off

Natural hair has been a passion for me since I went natural three years ago.  I took the big leap by deciding to forgo the *”creamy crack” and to embrace my God-given locks no matter what they be.  In order to start this natural journey there are only two options:  big chop or transition.  Big chopping is just what it says.  It’s cutting off all the relaxed or chemically straightened hair, which leaves the new grow or natural hair.  What’s left is a twa or teeny-weeny afro in most cases and that was mine.  The second option is to transition, which is to gradually trim the hair as it grows until all the relaxed or chemically treated hair is gone.  Ladies usually try to transition for twelve or more months.  This takes time and patience and that’s what Nik Scott’s book 10 Easy Steps to Go Natural without Cutting Your Hair Off is about.  The handbook is separated into a preface, an appendix, and of course the ten crucial steps.  The appendix includes questions and answers, Scott’s transitioning hairstyles, tips on how to choose a hairstylist and on how to cut relaxed ends.  There is also some information about scab hair and about a hair and scalp elixir.

The best things going for this book are that Nik Scott has successfully transitioned and grown her natural hair healthy and long (check out her You Tube channel at LongHairDontCareLLC), the steps are ordered correctly, and lastly that she goes in-depth on the psychological aspects to going natural.  However, there are things that don’t work and one of the primary problems is the editing.  There are problems with missing words, incorrect words, and passages that need to be re-written.  I blame her publisher.  It was their job, not only, to make her book look polished but that it be well-written as well.  I also wish the book was longer because there were places where I wanted her to explain more details.  For example, she only gives one recipe of a transitioning hair & scalp elixir.  It would have interested me to see more of them.  I really enjoyed the pictures of Scott in the inspirational transitioning hairstyles, although I would have like to have seen more pictures and more explanation on cutting the relaxed ends.  All in all, this book is an introductory look into transitioning.  Scott really hits the nail on the head in the sections “Do you really want it?” and “The changes I’m going through”.  The psychology counts tremendously when going natural because confidence has to reign to get to the goal and unfortunately discouragement can come from the people you love the most.  She stresses assurance, determination, patience, and acceptance as key factors to attaining natural hair.  Moreover, these important factors can’t be and aren’t stressed enough.  Check it out as a preliminary sneak peek into transitioning, but you will certainly have to seek other sources of information for details.  Who knows maybe Nik Scott has another book in the works in the near future?

“Nik Scott is more than a natural hair blogger and YouTuber. She is a self-proclaimed ambassador for Christ, wife, mother, artist, dreamer and doer. As a freelance writer, promoting self-confidence within young girls and women has always been a passion for Nik. Because of her innate desire to help women, Nik founded the online Black hair resource Long Hair Don’t Care in 2008. Since then, Nik has been able to use social media like YouTube to build solid credibility as an online authority on hair, do-it-yourself projects, style and everything in between!  In 2012 Nik established LHDC-TV, a life & style social media network which allows her to further inspire, help, encourage and teach.”(back cover of 10 Easy Steps to go Natural without Cutting Your Hair Off!)

BLOG: http://www.lhdctv.com
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/lhdctv
TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/inikscott
INSTAGRAM: @iNIKSCOTT

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

                                                                       —— Issac ASIMOV