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

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

28/12/2016

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

My name's Maiya. I'm from Connecticut.

2. What is your hair type?

I have Type 4 hair. 4a, 4b, and 4c. Kinky, curly, coiled. Lol definitely difficult to deal with at times.

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

I decided to do the big chop on September 12th, 2014. It'll be three years this year. I'm so proud of myself. What made me go natural? I became impatient with trying to find hairstyles and haircuts that fit me. It was a lot to deal with and I honestly thought it was more work than being natural. So I told my mother I wanted to cut all of my hair off. Although she didn’t take me seriously. I continued to push the thought and it happened. My older sister went with me to a barbershop. That day changed my life.

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

The most challenging thing about going natural is having patience. I'm impatient as impatient gets. Learning that the process doesn't happen overnight and disciplining myself to not cut my hair in any way really taught me about growth. Not only hair growth but self-growth. I never had a doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be able to grow my hair back. Since I was so dedicated to having beautiful curls, doubt never crossed my mind. Not knowing what would be ahead of me, I really didn't care because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this.

5. What is your weekly regimen?

Wow um, my weekly hair regimen….hm, that's hard. I sleep on a satin pillow case always. It really helps because sometimes I'm super lazy and I don't feel like putting my hair up. Depending on how I feel, I'll wash my hair every two weeks (with conditioner/deep conditioner). I shampoo my hair every 3-6 months. A majority of times, I wash my hair at the end of every month. Everyone's hair care is different. I, personally, don't have to wash my hair as much (blessings). Lol, but when I do decide to wash my hair, I wash with a homemade avocado hair mask. That includes honey, and as many oils as you like. My favorite oils to use are Tea Tree Oil, Moroccan Oil, Avocado Oil, Almond Oil, Olive Oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Carrot Oil, Aloe Vera Oil, Macadamia Oil, Amla Oil (Sally's Beauty Supply sells most of these oils for about $3-5). Hot Oil Treatments are a life saver. I do them every week. I suggest all of my curly gals and guys to do the same. You'll see amazing results.

6. What is your daily morning regimen?

My daily morning regimen depends on what I have to do that day. So if I'm having a chill day at home, I'll leave my hair up in a pineapple do or two buns. Just to keep it out of my face. If I have to be somewhere whether it be an event or a party or I'm going out with friends, I usually leave my hair out. I don't moisturize my hair EVERY day. I moisturize whenever my hair is dry and brittle or hard to manage. That's every 2-4 days. Plus, always having your hands in your hair causes split ends and breakage, so it's good to just let it be whenever you don't have anything important to do.

7. What is your daily night time regimen?

I don't have a special night time regimen. I just have to make sure my hair is out of my face. Since my forehead is acne prone. And because I use a lot of different oils in my hair, that shows, so I wash my face twice a day to keep away dirt and oil. If I'm bored, I'll experiment with my hair. Like trying different hairstyles I picked up from Natural Hair Youtubers.

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

I don’t use heat often. Only when I want to do a blowout. That's rare. I haven't used heat in over a year. Which is such an accomplishment for me because before going natural I was addicted to using heat on my hair. I love my curls too much to ruin them. Heat isn't bad at all. Just make sure you don't use it a lot.

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

I don't braid my hair at all. Lol, it hurts.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush?

I've never tried a Denman brush but the wide-toothed comb is cool. I don’t use it often. It does help with detangling.

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

My hair is normally loose. Whenever my hair is in a protective style, my choice would be twisted. A good twist out always makes me happy.

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

Since being natural I've had two hair tragedies and they both involve being "scissor happy". I had to trim my ends (which I always do myself and I'm a master at it now). But I cut too much off and my hair was so uneven. I had to wait 3 months for my hair to grow back to actually take my time cutting it. It was a disaster. I was so unhappy with the end result. My second hair tragedy happened 2 months ago. Once again I cut too much hair off and my hair looked choppy. A major mess. I didn't get discouraged this time around, though. I decided to wait it out. I ended up liking the look, after all, lol.

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

MY BIGGEST TIP FOR MAINTAINING HEALTHY HAIR: Do not cut your hair if you do not have to and make sure you take care of your hair. If you decide to go natural or convert from perms, you have to be serious about taking care of your hair. It's a lot of work but so much fun if you don't look at it as a chore. It's an experiment you should enjoy, learn from and teach others about.

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