Joslyn Blair

My No. 1 worry about doing the Big Chop? Losing my sense of femininity. I know—it sounds silly, but after sporting shoulder-length relaxed hair for as long as I could remember, the thought of rocking a short cut was downright terrifying (plus I never thought my face was the right shape—I had a childhood friend who used to oh-so-affectionately refer to me as “golfball cheeks”).

For that reason, after I decided to go natural, I was perfectly content with my decision to try my hand at transitioning rather than Big Chopping. Keep my length and achieve the same end result? Sign me up!

I bid adieu to my relaxer in February, and for a while had mastered the art of protective styles (hello, flexi rods!)… That is until I hit about the six-month mark. It was as if a light switch clicked over night, and I absolutelypositivelycouldnot deal with my hair for one. more. second.

So I decided to do the Big Chop.

One steamy Sunday morning, I ventured to a salon in Brooklyn and emerged 45 minutes later rocking my new short ‘do. As I stood outside the salon with my boyfriend taking the obligatory 80 selfies, two thoughts went through my head: 1. I don’t hate it! and 2. I can’t wait to buy some headbands. I spent the rest of the day headband-hopping my way through New York City, picking up any cute hair accessories that I could get my hands on.

Four weeks later, I can safely say that I’m obsessed with jazzing up my look with some cute hairbands. By Lilla has some ultra-adorable (and affordable!) accessories—like the headband that I’m wearing in my pic—that can also double as jewelry. I’ll definitely be ordering more in the coming weeks.

As I get used to my new hair, I’m excited to say that I haven’t lost my sense of femininity in the slightest. If anything, with the help of some headbands, I’ve learned to embrace it even more, golfball cheeks and all.