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

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

2/11/2016

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

My name is Olivia Johnson and I am from Detroit, MI.

2. What is your hair type?

I have 3! I am mostly 4C but I also have 4A (in the front and sides of my hair) and 4B (in the back of my hair) textures.

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

I went natural in 2012. I wore my hair in a lot of twist outs during the summer to give my hair a break from heat, not realizing that was the beginning of me transitioning lol. After a few months with no heat, I was inspired by a couple of natural hair gurus on Youtube and that is when I decided to really go natural. I was tired of straightening my hair. I hated the process actually, but back then I felt like if my hair was straightened I was more beautiful and would be accepted more. I decided to make my own beauty standard and didn't care what others thought anymore.

Here is my hair story

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

The most challenging thing for me was learning how to care for my hair. I never actually did my hair in it's natural state, I only knew how to do my hair straightened so I literally had to learn how to do my hair as an adult and I had to figure out what worked and what didn't work for my hair.

5. What is your weekly regimen?

I wash or co-wash my hair weekly or bi-weekly, depending on if I have a lot of product build up or not. I usually pre-poo before washing my hair to make detangling easier. Most of the time I will two-strand twist my hair or wear an updo until my next wash.

6. What is your daily morning regimen?

Before leaving the house I make sure I apply moisturizer. Since I have type 4 hair it is essential that I moisturize daily, so I refresh my hair with a moisturizing mist or cream.

7. What is your daily night time regimen?

Before bed all I do is put a bonnet on, or I'll just sleep on a satin pillowcase. I only twist my hair the day I wash it, I do not twist my hair every night.

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

Yes I blow dry my hair. The very first year I did not use any heat at all, I just let my hair air dry. Now I blow dry my hair twice a month at the most. I have a lot of shrinkage, so if I want to wear a certain style I will blow dry my hair first to stretch it. I love how my twist outs look when my hair is blow dried first because my hair looks really fluffy and it is easier for me to wear updos when my hair is blow dried.

Check out my blow-drying routine here

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

I do not braid my hair, I haven't had it braided since going natural actually. I do want to start wearing braid outs though, so I will start braiding my hair soon.

10. Wide-tooth comb or Denman brush?

I use both.

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

It is normally loose.

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

I haven't had a hair tragedy while natural, but when I used to straighten my hair I broke my hair off and damaged my hair by using way too much heat.

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

Moisturize, low manipulation and trim when necessary. I do not detangle my hair everyday and I do not detangle when my hair is dry, that can cause a lot of breakage. I also do not wear super tight hair styles that will pull at my edges.

Keeping your hair moisturized will keep you from experiencing breakage, especially in harsh summers and winters. Also, a lot of people aren't retaining length because they trim their hair too much. On average, hair grows a half inch a month, if you are trimming every 3 months you are trimming your growth; half an inch a month x 3 months = 1.5 inches every 3 months on average, so if you are trimming too much you probably won't see growth. I always tell people to TRIM WHEN NECESSARY. If you go 3 months and you don't need a trim, then don't trim.

If you take good care of your edges and moisturize often, you will find that you won't need to trim your hair as much. Keep and eye on your ends and make sure you are keeping them healthy. Ends are the oldest part of our hair so they are more susceptible to breakage and damage. On the other hand, if you are not trimming your hair when you need to you also won't see growth. Your hair will break off really easily and you will not retain your length, so keep an eye on your hair and trim when you know you should!

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