Natural hair terms and abbreviations
BC = Big Chop (major cut to remove relaxed ends from natural hair)
BSL = Bra strap length (hair)
BSS = Beauty Supply Store
CBL = Collar bone length (hair); same as shoulder length (SL)
CD = Carol’s Daughter
CD HHB = Carol’s Daughter Healthy Hair Butter
CG = Refers to Lorraine Massey’s “Curly Girl” method. The basic tenets are cone avoidance, no or low poo shampoos and co-washing.
CL = Chin length (hair)
Cones = Non-water soluble silicones, such as amodimethicone, dimethicone, etc..
Co-wash = Conditioner washing (using conditioner to wash rather than shampoo)
DC = Deep Conditioner
DIY = Do It Yourself
DT = Deep Treatment (interchangeable with DC)
EO = Essential Oil
EVCO = Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (interchangeable with VCO)
EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil
FSG = Flax Seed Gel
HE = Herbal Essences
HE HH = Herbal Essences Hello Hydration
HG = Holy Grail [the elusive but miraculous product(s) that give you the hair of your dreams]
HIH = Hands in Hair (syndrome characterized by the uncontrollable urge to constantly touch twirl one’s own hair).
JBCO = Jamaican Black Castor Oil
OCM = Oil Cleansing Method (for skin care)
Pineapple = High ponytail to protect curls while sleeping
PJ = Product Junkie
S&D = Search and Destroy (method of trimming split ends and cutting out SSKs one by one)
SL = Shoulder length (hair); same as collar-bone length (CBL)
SLES = Sodium Laureth Sulfate
SLS = sodium lauryl sulfate
SSK = Single strand knot
TnC = Twist and Curl (made famous by CurlyNikki; see here for my tutorial)
TO = Twist Out
Transitioning = Growing the relaxer out of one’s hair while maintaining the two different textures (natural/relaxed)
WL = Waist length (hair)
VCO = Virgin Coconut Oil (interchangeable with EVCO)
ZSC = Zizyphus Spina Christi (an ayuverdic herb used to cleanse hair and restore life and add texture/volume to limp, fine curls)
Hair Length Diagram
Notes: Shoulder length is the same as collar-bone length. Chin length and ear length, though not indicated in this image, are pretty self-explanatory;).
hairscapades 
May I make a suggestion? Slip in SNF (Sofn’free) right before SSK. I work with Sofn’free GroHealthy products and know that the company would be thrilled to see it up there, since the entire line is made for textured hair of all kinds. Thanks from Lisa and the rest of the SNF crew.
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Hi Shelli,
I can’t find any other way of contacing you, so here it goes.
I believe it was last week or the week prior–you posted an update from someone, and when o read her story, it hit home for me. She had her blog listed, and I went there and meant to bookmark it so I could come back and comment because I was on my iPhone. Well, long story short, my safari locked up on me and I had to erase history, clear cache, & reset. Needless to say, I lost the blog that I wanted to come back to. Is there ANYway you could send me her blog again? I don’t have her name correct, but it may have been Cas or Cys or Cyd…? I’m not sure. I do know that she was new to blogging and fairly new to the natural scene. She was also into fitness, using the couch to 5k app was something I remember her talking about.
Anyway, please help, if you can. I really wanted to post on her blog to let her know that I though it was great so she would keep it up–don’t want to just ‘lurk’…
Thanks for any help!
-Nikki
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Hi Nikki! My email address is under the ‘About Me’ tab. Haven’t found a better place to put it yet. Do you think you may have read the review on Terressentials and went to Chy’sCurlz blog? That’s the only one I can think of to which you might be referring. If not, do you know if it was a GOC update or a Hairstory? You can search those posts using the tabs.
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Ohmigosh, yes! That’s it, right there! Thank you so much for you quick reply! I love your blog, and I read all of the posts that you submit. I’ve learned so much from ladies such as yourself, and it is MOST appreciated, as I am a bit ‘hair-challenged’. I wanted SO badly to enter your GOC, but I don’t really notice much growth in my hair, and I don’t know how to do buns, or twists. Like I said, hair-challenged…sucks for my daughter. 🙂 Any-hoo, thanks so much! Take care, and Happy Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. (Too early???)
–Nikki
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LOL!!! Awwwww, thank you for reading Nikki! We have to get you the confidence to try some buns and twists, you can’t be leaving your little girl hanging;)! And remember, the GOC isn’t about people who have it all figured out! Shoot, I don’t! You see that I keep modifying and researching and evolving. The thing about the GOC is just committing to spending some time on your hair journey, establishing and sticking with a regimen (which can be as simple or as complex as you like and may evolve as you learn/try new things), documenting your trials and tribulations, your successes and failures and learning from these things. Your goal doesn’t have to be length driven, it can be just that you want to learn more about your own hair and feel more confident in how to take care of it, or it can be that you just want to be consistent in a regimen for six months and/or maybe you just want to learn how to do a style or two;). *lol*
Well, thank you sooo much for your readership and I’m so happy I was able to point you in the right direction. I’m loving that Chy’s Curlz is “playing at home” and was very excited when I saw that she is succeeding in her fitness goals. She definitely inspired me to try Terressentials in the New Year (after my twists … hoping to get a gift certificate for it from my Secret Santa at work;). Happy Holidays to you too;)!
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I’ve noticed that the shorter your hair the longer it takes to do it creatively. After working on my locks for hours I don’t have energy for much else. Very time-consuming right now!
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what is JBCO ?
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Jamaican Black Castor Oil.
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