Queen Alicia ~ Queen Of Kinks, Curls & Coils® (Neno Natural)

7/8/2015

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

My name is Alicia and I am from Southern Georgia.

2. What is your hair type?

My hair type is predominantly 4b. I have always been confused as to what exactly my hair type is, but I believe it is mostly 4b with a little 4a.

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

I transitioned for almost 11 months before I big chopped on December 8, 2012. So I have been natural for 2 years now. Yay! Whew.

Because my hair wasn't healthy like it used to be when I was younger and because of my research on the chemicals (relaxers) I was putting on my hair, I thought that going down the natural route would be good for me. I remember when I first moved to Georgia and how the girls in my class were pretty much jealous of how thick and long my hair was. On one horrible evening, my cousin put a relaxer in my hair. I think it was a bad relaxer because my hair immediately started to break off really bad. That night, we went to the salon and the beautician cut off a lot of my hair in all types of layers. I remember going back to school and everyone wondering what happened to my hair and why I cut it. Anyway, it seemed that from that point forward, my hair was never the same.

I also was curious to see what my natural hair looked like. My cousin had gone natural and encouraged me to do the same. I just wanted to embrace the hair that I was born with. There's so much versatility that comes with natural hair. I can wear it curly or straight (without putting harmful chemicals on my hair).

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

The mostly challenging thing about going natural would be transitioning. Dealing with two different hair textures was tough! But there is a solution: protective hairstyling. :)

5. What is your weekly regimen?

I recently created a weekly/monthly hair regimen. Monday-Wednesday I oil my scalp with JBCO and moisturize my hair (focusing on my ends). On Thursday I co-wash and oil my scalp and of course moisturizing the hair comes after washing. And again, on Fridays and Saturdays I oil my scalp and moisturize my hair. Sundays consist of deep conditioning my hair and oiling my scalp. Also, every other week (on Thursday) I shampoo and use a hair mask. Sometimes I switch up the days but I've been pretty consistent since creating this regimen.

6. What is your daily morning regimen?

I don't really have a morning regimen. Sometimes I keep twists pinned up in my hair, so the most that I would do is spray a leave-in conditioner on my hair; or in the case that I want to take out my twists/braids, I will apply oil on my fingers and hair to give my hair a nice shine.

7. What is your daily night time regimen?

Referring back to my weekly regimen, I oil my scalp and moisturize my hair (ends) at night , as well as massage my scalp a bit.

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

Rarely. I haven't directly blow-dried or flat-ironed my hair in a year. I do plan to use heat on my hair soon.

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

Well, unfortunately I do not know how to cornrow, but I can do plaits. I don't do that too often. I would say maybe 7 times a year.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush?

I prefer the Denman brush, but I use both.

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

My hair is normally loose, but I need to do more protective-dos.

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

I've had a couple. On question three I mentioned my relaxed hair tragedy. As far as natural hair, I encountered some heat damage. I did a protein treatment and little by little trimmed the heat damaged ends. There's still a tiny bit left, but I'll cut that off when I do my next trim. I'm not sure if this would be considered a tragedy but like most naturals I struggle with single-strand knots and split ends, and it's really hindering my hair journey and goals. I recently discovered a small bald spot around my crown area. That was pretty disturbing. That is what prompted me to oil my scalp daily in my hair regimen. I also plan to do a protein treatment and put in some Senegalese twists or some braids to give my hair a break.

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

Keep the moisture in. I look at it like this: water is one of the number one moisturizers. We use it on our skin, hair, and it revitalizes our organs when we drink it. Moisture allows things to thrive. A plant will not thrive if it does not receive water (moisture). Therefore, your hair will not thrive if it does not receive an adequate and consistent amount of moisture.

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