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

5/12/2014

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

Hi, my name is Chalise and I'm from New Jersey.

2. What is your hair type?

The front of my hairline is 4B but everywhere else is 4C.

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

I went natural in 2003 because of the environment, money and time. During my freshman year in college, I noticed a lot of young women proudly rocking afros, twists, coils and locs. Fascinated by the versatility of natural hair, I researched maintenance tips and photos to encourage me to go natural too. It wasn't until a very bad experience at a hair salon that I took the plunge and transitioned immediately.

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

Transitioning was pretty easy because of websites like Fotki and nappturality.com. Once I became completely fro-tastic, I was amazed at the behavior of my hair, like “Why can’t you retain moisture?” & “Ugh! Tangles again?”

5. What is your weekly regimen?

My weekly regimen includes a shea butter mix every weekend, a spray of conditioner mix every 3-4 days and leaving my hair alone because she’s very temperamental.

6. What is your daily morning regimen?

I don’t really have a morning regimen. I discovered my head’s a night time gal.

7. What is your daily night time regimen?

When it’s time to moisturize my hair, I unravel my ponytail to get to the ends then lightly spritz it with a homemade conditioner concoction. The hair is then braided or twisted back up for the next few days. At least once a week, I like to add in a scalp massage.

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

Very rarely (perhaps once a year) but if I do it’s mostly in the front

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

Too many to count, lol. I haven’t done single braids in a while but I braid my hair almost every week or other week.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush?

Wide-tooth all the way but I also love the Tangle Teezer.

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

Protective-do, all the time

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

lol I’ve had quite a few bad experiences. One included a “Silkener”, a term explained more properly now than it was back then. Another hair tragedy was at a salon. The stylist lingered on my poor strands for far too long with a hot comb and caused major heat damage. Sadly for both tragedies, I cut a good portion of my hair and did my natural journey all over again. I also took extra care of my strands with weekly conditioner washes and peppermint scalp massages.

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

I’m currently APL (arm pit length) but when I had bra strap length I achieved it through adequate moisture, stretching my hair and not touching my strands for days on end. If you have moody hair like mine, this will work for you. :)

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