1. What's your name and where are you from? 

I’m Genesis Torres and I currently reside in South Florida

2. What is your hair type?

​​It’s definitely multi-textured between types 3c & 4a

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

I decided to go natural in March 2012. I had decided to really fall in love with the natural curls that I was blessed with because I owed it to myself to feel and know that I was beautiful the way God had made me. 

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

Combating Breakage, anxiety over hair growth (not growing fast enough or not the way I envision in my mind) and not comparing my hair journey with other naturals.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

I deep condition weekly, I co-wash 2x per week.

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

I refresh my curls with water and a leave in conditioner and I mostly wear my hair in a wash n go.

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

I massage my scalp with coconut oil, I detangle with a leave in conditioner and or coconut oil and sleep on a satin pillow case.                 

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

​​I use direct heat VERY VERY SELDOMLY! I know what has helped a lot with the growth and health of my hair is staying away from direct heat as much as possible. I do use a bonnet dryer sometimes to set either my perm rod or flexi rod sets. 

9. Do you braid your hair? If so, how often do you do so in a year? 

I do not leave my hair in braids however I do style my hair with a braid out set as a protective style and to elongate my curls.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush? 

Wide-tooth or even better for me my fingers, I find using my fingers to detangle is safer for my hair and they’re FREE 

11. Is your hair normally loose or in a protective-do? 

My hair normally in in either a wash n go or twist out style. 

12. Have you ever had a hair tragedy? What was it? How did you recover from it?

Since I’ve been natural I can’t say that I have , but I did get a bad haircut when I was a child (way way too short ) 

13. What's your biggest tip for maintaining healthy or long hair?

Lay off direct heat –keep the flat iron and blow dryer away!

14. Where can we find you online? (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc). ​

• Instagram: @gen_gen91

1. What's your name and where are you from? 

My name is Marcian and I am from Jamaica but currently in Florida.              

2. What is your hair type?

My hair type sits between 4a and 3c with super coily texture and normal porosity. 

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

May 2014 I big chopped because I wanted to start a healthy hair journey, to do this I knew I had to stop using chemical relaxers in my hair and embrace my natural hair.

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

The most challenging part of my hair journey was waiting for my hair to grow back after my big chop; I had to learn a lot of patience.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

My washday is fairly simple, I wash with shampoo making sure I concentrate on my scalp and I follow up with a deep conditioner, which sits on my hair for 20 to 30 mins. After my deep condition treatment I do the LOC Method (Leave in conditioner+oil+cream). Then I stretch my hair either with the banding method or large braids. When  my hair is stretch I then do a protective style.

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

It depends on the style I am rocking, if my hair is in two strand twist I mist them with water/oil mix to refresh and wake then up.

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

My night regimen: I really focus on protecting my hair and preserving my hairstyle by using all things satin, Scarf, Bonnet and pillow on my hair.

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

No, I am happy that my hair care regimen excludes using heat.

9. Do you braid your hair? If so, how often do you do so in a year? 

No, I don’t do extension braiding.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush? 

I use both wide-tooth combs and a Denman brush.

11. Is your hair normally loose or in a protective-do? 

My hair is mostly in a protective style.

12. Have you ever had a hair tragedy? What was it? How did you recover from it?

I would not say I had a hair tragedy but as my hair got longer I really struggled with detangling but I am getting better. I now make sure my hair is super saturated with conditioner before I do any detangling and that has helped tremendously.

13. What's your biggest tip for maintaining healthy or long hair?

I must say that I retain my hair length by keeping my scalp clean, deep condition regularly and doing the LOC Method religiously. Keeping my hair in protective style helps a lot with length retention and a lot of TCL and patience.

14. Where can we find you online? (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc). 

• Facebook: facebook.com/Diynaturalhairstyles
• Instagram: @4adaniels
• YouTube: youtube.com/The777hhh777

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

I've been natural all of my life. Once when I was younger my mom put a relaxer in my hair because my curls were a bit crazy, but that was the first and last time. I was about 7, and it left me traumatized.

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

I can't speak for going natural, but the hardest thing about being natural is having the patience to properly care for my hair and style it. My hair takes a really long time to dry, so styling is usually a 2-day process for me at least.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

I don't really have a weekly regimen. I let my hair tell me what it needs most of the time. If I do plan on styling my hair that happens on weekends, and from there I won't do anything until wash day. If my hair isn't styled I try to moisturize at least every 3 days using the LCO method.

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

My morning routine is simple. Take of my satin scarf, shake my hair out, and go!

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

My nighttime routine consists of moisturizing (if necessary), putting my hair into a pineapple, and wrapping a satin scarf around my head.

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

I used to only wear my hair straight (talk about heat damage)! Now, I only use direct heat (flat ironing) every 6 months to do a length check. I do use indirect heat (a bonnet dryer) to help dry my hair when styling. ​

1. What's your name and where are you from? 

Coby and I am from South Florida.

2. What is your hair type?

3b/3c curls.

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

I’ve been natural my entire life, but decided to embrace my curls in 2012. 

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

The most challenging thing was definitely finding out what products and styles work on my hair and staying away from heat tools.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

I wash my hair once a week, usually a Saturday, and then I’ll either complete a wash n’ go or a braid out to last the entire week. . Leaving me only to moisturize daily. 

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

I usually just take down my pineapple that I slept with and use my favorite moisturizer/oil to loosen and refresh my curls. 

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

I moisturize my scalp/hair and create a pineapple to sleep on. Then cover with a satin scarf/bonnet.

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

Very rarely, I may straighten or blow out my hair to stretch or trim my ends.

9. Do you braid your hair? If so, how often do you do so in a year? 

I’ve braided my hair once this year, but won’t be doing so again anytime soon.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush? 

Fingers/Denman Brush.

11. Is your hair normally loose or in a protective-do? 

I tend to wear my hair loose.

12. Have you ever had a hair tragedy? What was it? How did you recover from it?

I haven’t really had a hair tragedy, aside from a couple of failed hairstyles. Nothing too drastic.

13. What's your biggest tip for maintaining healthy or long hair?

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! And stay away from heat as much as you can.​

14. Where can we find you online? (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc). 

• Twitter: @themanechicks_
• Instagram: @themanechicks_
• YouTube: youtube.com/TheManeChicks

1. What's your name and where are you from? 

I'm DeShaunah, I am from South Florida, USA. 

2. What is your hair type?

4a/4b curls.

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

I big chopped in 2013 after badly damaging my hair from relaxers and constantly coloring my hair. 

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

The most challenging thing was finding styles for short hair.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

I wash my hair every 2 weeks, and do a twist/braid out to last the entire week. Again, moisturizing daily.

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

I usually use a moisturizer/oil and fluff out my curls and make a large puff on top of my head.

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

I moisturize my scalp/hair and create a pineapple to sleep on. Then cover with a satin scarf/bonnet.

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

Very rarely, I may straighten or blow out my hair to stretch or trim my ends. 

9. Do you braid your hair? If so, how often do you do so in a year? 

I’ve braided my hair once this year, but won’t be doing so again anytime soon.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush? 

Wide-Tooth Comb.

11. Is your hair normally loose or in a protective-do? 

I tend to wear my hair loose.​

12. Have you ever had a hair tragedy? What was it? How did you recover from it?

When I had relaxed hair, I constantly colored and cut my hair and eventually my hair started breaking off, so I big chopped and went natural.

13. What's your biggest tip for maintaining healthy or long hair?

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! And stay away from heat as much as you can.

14. Where can we find you online? (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc).  

• Twitter: @themanechicks_
• Instagram: @themanechicks_
• YouTube: youtube.com/TheManeChicks

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​

1. What's your name and where are you from? 

I'm from Adrianna and I am from South Florida, USA.

2. What is your hair type?

3c /4a (in crown) curls.

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

I transitioned and cut my relaxed ends in 2012. I had a relaxer for most of my life and due to the relaxers, constant straightening, and color, my hair became extremely damaged and short. I decided that I wanted my hair grow longer and healthier, while also embracing my curls. 

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

The most challenging thing was definitely finding out what products and styles work on my hair and staying away from heat tools.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

I wash my hair once a week, usually a Saturday, and then I’ll either complete a wash n’ go or a braid out to last the entire week. Leaving me only to moisturize daily. 

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

I usually just take down my pineapple that I slept with and use my favorite moisturizer/oil to loosen and refresh my curls. 

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

I moisturize my scalp/hair and create a pineapple to sleep on. Then cover with a satin scarf/bonnet.

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

Very rarely, I may straighten or blow out my hair to stretch or trim my ends.

9. Do you braid your hair? If so, how often do you do so in a year? 

Ivery rarely braid my hair. My scalp gets pretty dried out so I don’t tend to braid my hair often. I’ve braided my hair twice this year. The first time was a protective style with a few chunky cornrows braided and twisted into buns. The second time I braided my bangs out of my face all the way to my crown area. 

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush? 

Fingers/Tangle Teaser. 

11. Is your hair normally loose or in a protective-do? 

I tend to wear my hair loose.

12. Have you ever had a hair tragedy? What was it? How did you recover from it?

About a few months into being fully natural I decided to dye my ends red. At first, my hair was doing fine BUT, I was really inexperienced with taking care of color treated hair and I was still learning about my natural curls. Eventually, my ends became dry and brittle, reducing my length a bit. So, I turned to protective styling and constant deep conditioning. Every so often I would clip my ends to get rid of the color until there was none left. 

13. What's your biggest tip for maintaining healthy or long hair?

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! And stay away from heat as much as you can.​

14. Where can we find you online? (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc). ​

• Twitter: @themanechicks_
• Instagram: @themanechicks_
• YouTube: youtube.com/TheManeChicks

1. What's your name and where are you from? 

Hey curlfriends! My name is Jumoke and I am a current student at the beautiful Florida International University and reside in Miami, Florida.

2. What is your hair type?

To keep it simple for people, I mostly refer to my hair as kinky lol. My hair is a myriad of 4s with tighter 4c at the nape (kitchen) and sides of my head, looser 4a curls at the crown of my head, and 4b everywhere else! (Ironically, I still am not fully convinced what 4b hair looks like. My 4a and 4c hair are easy to differentiate but I honestly don't know what 4b is lol!)

In addition to my hair type, I believe I have low porosity hair for many reasons. For one, it was really difficult for me to learn how to moisturize my hair! My hair hates silicones or anything that just sits on top of my hair which is why I switched to the Curly Girl Method. Also, deep conditioning never really worked for my hair unless if I use heat or steam otherwise it seems like a waste of time and money.

In regards to my texture, I have a mix of fine, medium, and coarse hair depending on what part of my head. The parameter of my head and my "baby hairs" tend to be finer and silkier. The crown of my head is the coarsest and my 4c hair is medium in texture. Overall, my hair is thin in density. I really am living proof of multitextured hair!

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

I "returned" natural coming into my freshmen year of college in fall 2012. I have a whole article dedicated to my hair journey on my blog which you can find here: My Hair Story

Basically, I struggled with my hair my whole life and there came a point in high school when I only found beauty in weaves. By my senior year of high school, I decided to jherri curl my hair (worst decision ever smh) and hated it so I hid under self made weave caps until I could get a job and car in college to fund salon appointments. When I started college at FIU, I was overwhelmed with the amount of natural haired women on campus! (At that point, I didn't even know natural hair was a thing lol.) 

I had met another fellow Nigerian girl who had been natural for three years and her hair always blew me away! I started to think to myself, how are we the same race and nationality and your hair looks like that and I'm still struggling? Before you know it, the day after Thanksgiving Day, I was chopping the remainder of my jherri curl. Coincidentally enough, since my hair was so damaged from the Jherri curl, I only had two follicles of hair to cut and had a year of new growth underneath so I don't know if one would call it a "big chop" lol.

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

The most challenging thing about going natural is the learning curve definitely! Literally having to undo years and years of what you thought you knew about your hair to learning something completely different. I keep telling folks that going natural isn't for the faint of heart lol. Returning natural requires a lot of love, patient, and willingness to try something new if your old routine doesn't work.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

My weekly regimen fluctuates to whatever suits my hair. Unfortunately since I'm a college student, I have bouts of not taking good care of my hair during times of stress. I'm also a technique junkie (haven't heard of that one yet have you lol) so I tend to either start and fall off different regimens or end up incorporating them into my overall regimen. For example, I incorporate the LOC Method, Curly Girl Method, Greenhouse Method, and the Maximum Hydration Method. Although it seems like a lot, I pick and choose what works for me and what I learn from each method.

I usually wash and reset my hair every week preferably on a Saturday and my routine goes as follows:

• I shampoo my hair once a month with a sulfate free shampoo (doesn't matter which as long as it's Curly Girl Friendly)
  
• In between shampooing, I alternate between cowashing with Tresseme Naturals or I do a bentonite clay mud wash to keep my hair clean. Since I only use CG friendly products, I don't have much buildup.
  
• I deep condition my hair every week with a fabulous homemade concoction I created myself. :D I use Tresseme Naturals Conditioner as my base, add molasses, honey, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, and tea tree oil to an old Tresseme Naturals Conditioner bottle (those things come in handy!) and I microwave it for about 30 to 40 seconds so that it stays relatively warm while I wash my hair. When applied to my hair, my hair feels like butter and it melts away all my tangles! I deep condition my hair my using the Greenhouse Effect Method so after my hair is saturated with the concoction, I apply a plastic cap and then layer it with two satin bonnets and a beanie or two to keep my head warm. I usually leave it on for a few hours not because it benefits my hair more but as a college student, I'm always busy!
  
• Once I rinse out my conditioner, I keep my hair moisturized by using the LOC Method. Since my hair is already wet, that works for my liquid. Then, I immediately apply a mix of extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil to my hair. Finally, I apply my cream which I'm currently using Creco Pelo Tratamentio (the slip in the stuff is AMAZING!! It's pretty easy to find it in Miami where there is a thriving Spanish community. I got mine from Publix) and I top off everything with some organic Shea butter whipped with lemongrass. I braid my hair into 10-12 plaits and then I undo them in 24 hours for a well defined, moisturized braid out that I wear for the week.

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

In the mornings, I'm either undoing my braids which I do with oil coated hands. If not, I usually style my hair in a puff or frohawk once my braid out starts looking puffy and afro-y.

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

At night, I usually just spritz my hair with water and seal with my oil mix. For those days that my hair is unusually dry, I remoisturize my hair with Creco Pelo and oil (I try not to use Shea butter more than once a week as it weighs down my hair).

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

Yes I do! Occasionally (like every two months), I blowout my hair on warm/cool hair to avoid damage. I straightened my hair once and I was so adamant on not damaging my hair that it ended up looking like a blowout lol.

9. Do you braid your hair? If so, how often do you do so in a year? 

As far as single braids with braiding hair (that's what Nigerians call it lol), no, I stopped doing that back in 2013. I realized that my thin hair could not handle the weight of extensions so I always end up paying the price when I take them down. I would lose tons and tons of hair and it simply was not worth it anymore. I use to do box braids/twists and kinky twists with Marley hair but my natural hair was not benefitting from long term protective styling so I just let that go. Anyways sha, I do a mean crochet braid! ;)

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush? 

Chai! Neither lol. My hair is not strong nor is it thick enough to withstand most tools. #DeathToMyHair!

11. Is your hair normally loose or in a protective-do? 

Loose! Anyone who knows me knows how much I abhor long term "protective styling." Why does my hair need to be completely hidden for months at a time to be protected? That's what low manipulation styling and hats are for lol. The few times a year when my hair is hidden and I'm either wearing a wig, weave, or quick ponytail, I never hide behind the term "protective styling". No my dear, I'm just wearing a wig lol. Sometimes you just want to change up your look without compromising your own hair.

12. Have you ever had a hair tragedy? What was it? How did you recover from it?

Fadda God... The calamity of the jherri curl! If you want to hear my whole hair story, once again check out my blog or click the link above. To sum up, I got a jherri curl done my senior year of high school and it was just so bad. I reeked for a whole week, dripped on my clothes, and on top of that- I looked like a damn poodle smh. Never again. To answer the question though, my solution was to hide under weaves and wigs until it grew out so I don't know if that's a valid answer lol. Ladies, save yourself the stress. Just don't do it and love your natural hair lol.

13. What's your biggest tip for maintaining healthy or long hair?

Oh wow it's difficult to just pick one so here's two-

1. MOISTURIZE! I cannot stress this enough. When it comes to kinky hair and balancing moisture and protein, always err on the side of moisture. Learn to find effective ways to moisturize your hair. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way and my hair stayed stagnant for six months because it was breaking off due to the ineffective ways of moisturizing my hair (oh the joys of having low porosity hair).
   
2. Don't let the natural hair community dictate how you can take care of your hair. Now this one is tricky because the natural hair community has offered a plethora of valuable information during the peak of the natural hair movement BUT one thing that I have noticed is that there seems to be a restriction on women with kinkier hair. I see more answers to a cure rather than prevention. For example, I see more advice to wear "protective styling" and hiding your hair around the clock to deal with the fragile nature of our hair than more advice to prevent breakage as in to create regimens to address dryness and tangles. As for me, I have dipped into "no no" areas one would have considered unacceptable for a natural with kinky hair. I've done wash and gos consistently, use gel, have experimented with grease, cowashed my hair everyday in the summer with Tresseme Naturals and used it as my leave in (CG Method/Conditioner only method), and have went months without "protective styling". I've had varying results with all these methods but at the end of the day, don't be afraid to try something outside the "norm" of the natural hair community and have fun with your natural hair! Even if doesn't work out, it's hair and it'll grow back lol.

14. Where can we find you online? (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc). 

• Blog: jumibearz.weebly.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/jumoke.ayoajayi
• Twitter: @jumokeh_
• Instagram: @jumokeh_
• YouTube: youtube.com/jumibearz

1. What's your name and where are you from? 

My name is Yataye (Pronounced “Yah-Tay”) Keaton and I’m originally from St. Petersburg, Florida.

2. What is your hair type?

My hair texture is very coarse and varies from the front of my head and crown to the nape of my neck; but for hair typing purposes, it would be classified as 4C.

3. When did you go natural and what made you do it? 

I began the process of returning back to my natural hair texture on August 18, 1999 while serving in the U.S. Navy; I’d made the decision because I got tired of having my hair relaxed, the awful smell and my scalp being irritated by the chemicals.

4. What was the most challenging thing about going natural? 

The most challenging thing about me “Going Natural” at the time was staying within military grooming standards/regulations and experimenting with different protective styles while trying to be creative.

5. What is your weekly regimen? 

My weekly regimen consist of keeping my natural hair moisturized with Shea Butter, Nature’s Blessing (Hair Pomade), or some other essential oil (I.e. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Castor Oil or Jojoba Oil, Etc.) and shampooing & conditioning it (Every 7 – 14 Days). 

6. What is your daily morning regimen? 

Since “Twist-Outs” are my signature style, I untwist my hair; rub a light moisturizing agent through it; separate my twists in the desired look for the day and lift my hair at the roots with a metal pick to add volume and remove the parts.

7. What is your daily night time regimen? 

My daily night regimen begins with me misting my hair lightly with water, two-strand twisting it (adding an essential oil to the ends for overnight protection) and tying it down with a silk or satin scarf or just sleeping on my satin pillow case.

8. Do you use heat on your hair at all? 

Yes, sometimes I use a hooded dryer (or hooded Hair Steamer dryer) for deep conditioning.  My natural hair stylist also uses a ceramic hair dryer (warm setting) when creating various styles that may require my coils to be a little loose.

9. Do you braid your hair? If so, how often do you do so in a year? 

Yes, I braid my hair in various natural hair styles; but, I also wear protective styles about 2-4 times a year (mostly during the winter months).

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush? 

Wide-tooth comb.

11. Is your hair normally loose or in a protective-do? 

My hair is normally loose because I love the freedom and versatility of wearing my natural hair.

12. Have you ever had a hair tragedy? What was it? How did you recover from it?

Yes. I had a sew-in done many years ago that left me bold at the crown of my head.  I recovered by giving my hair a year’s rest without extension of any kind (to include sew-ins); I also manipulated my hair as little as possible and massaged the crown of my head with essential oils to promote hair growth in the affected area.

13. What's your biggest tip for maintaining healthy or long hair?

My biggest tip is maintaining a “Positive Mental Attitude” about your natural hair coupled with drinking plenty of water, taking some form of vitamins & minerals and eating as clean and healthy as possible because the external health of one’s natural hair begins with the internal care of one’s mind and body.

14. Where can we find you online? (blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc). 

• Website: fthdesigns.com
• Blog: talkwithyahtay.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/TalkWithYahTay
• Twitter: @TalkWithYahTay
• Instagram: @TalkWithYahTay
• YouTube: youtube.com/RealRootzTV