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

6/2/2015

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

My name is Dayna, and I currently reside in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

2. What is your hair type?

I would say that I have type 4C hair.

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

I transitioned for about a year in 2012. In February 2013 I decided to chop off the remaining relaxed ends. My 2 year natural anniversary will be February 2015! I decided to go natural because I was tired of putting chemicals in my hair and I was tired of my hair being brittle, and overall unhealthy.

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

The most challenging part about going natural was finding the products that worked best for my hair. When I first became natural I was a product junkie, like most new naturals. I was trying any and everything that my favorite YouTuber tried and recommended. That just led to frustration because everything that works for her may not work for me. So really finding the best products for my hair has been challenging, but now that I have; it is super easy!

5. What is your weekly regimen?

My weekly regimen consists of a wash and deep condition. My wash days are Sundays, so I use this time to relax do some chores around the house while I have on my shower cap deep conditioning my hair. After the deep condition I will either flat twist my hair, or protective style it in a goddess twist braid.

6. What is your daily morning regimen?

This typically depends on my hair style and what my hair tells me in the morning. If my hair is in flat twists, I would unravel them using coconut oil, then fluff and style. If my hair is just out; I would do the LOC method (Liquid, Oil, Cream). I will spray my hair with my favorite leave in conditioning spray, add in a little coconut oil, and then seal in the moisture with shea butter.

7. What is your daily night time regimen?

My nightly routine is the LOC method mentioned above if my hair needs it, and then adding Jamaican black Castor oil on my edges.

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

Right now I am participating in a no heat challenge, so I am currently resisting the urge to use any heat. But I am typically not a big heat person. I will probably go another year before I flat iron/ straighten my hair.

The last time I had my hair straightened was February of 2014. I told myself I will not straighten my hair until it is down my back lol. So I think I have another year to go! But once the challenge is over I will use small amounts of heat, such as a blow dryer just to stretch my hair a little for my twist outs. Currently, if I want my hair to be stretched; I would French braid my hair in about 6 sections and then stretch those sections across my head and bobby pin it. In the morning I will take out the braids, comb it out a little and my hair is stretched.

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

I do get my hair braided, but not that often. I had my hair braided about 2 times this year. I keep the braids in for about a month.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush?

To detangle I use a wide-tooth comb. I think this is gentler for my thick 4c hair. For styling my twist outs, when my hair is already fairly detangled; I will run a Denman brush through my hair to ensure it is extra smooth.

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

I think my hair is normally more so in a protective style. I wear my hair loose, maybe once a week. The rest of the workweek it is pinned back in my favorite twist style.

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

Yes I have had multiple hair tragedies.

The first one was when I went to a new stylist and she said I needed a “trim” but cut off about 4 inches of my hair. That was a tragedy because I did not think my hair really needed that much of a trim!

My second tragedy was postpartum hair loss. At exactly 3 months postpartum I started experiencing EXTREME hair shedding. Literally when I washed my hair it was falling out in clumps; it was awful. It was a really tough experience because there was nothing I could do about it. I experienced the shedding for about 6 months. My daughter turned one in October, and my hair just now started to really be normal again. With this “tragedy” I unfortunately just had to wait it out, and just maintain moisture until my body and hormones was back to normal.

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

My biggest tip for maintaining healthy hair is actually caring for it and taking that time for it. Now that I am a mother, I have learned that hair to me is sort of like a baby or a child. Your hair, just like a baby cannot take care of itself. You have to nurture it, feed it, be gentle, teach it, all of those things. You can’t expect for the child/ hair to do these things on its own. So I have learned that if I really take the time to do these things for my hair, it will thrive!

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