Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care

Hola Chicas!

I thought I'd share a few of my fav pics from Christmas break, along with my New Year's Resolutions!

I plan to:

1. Deep treat every time I wet my hair.
2. When dry styling, use a comb or brush only the *first* time, and my fingers for subsequent sessions.
3. Henna at least once a month.
4. Take my vitamins everyday!
5. Walk everyday... (at least 4 times a week).
6. Drink at least 48oz of water daily.


In other news, Aunty stopped by my house with her hair looking all fly! Check out what she did:



1. Started with dry, stretched hair (an old twist-out).
2. Used fingers to detangle (she can't comb or brush dry hair because it creates frizz).
3. Made 8-10 two strand twists, moisturizing with the Setting Lotion Mix as she went along.
4. Rolled each twist into a bantu knot.
5. Spritzed knots with Set it Free.
6. Put on a scarf, went to sleep.
7. Took them down in the morn, and fluffed.

CN: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
I was a long term transitioner. I got my last relaxer in September 2007 and shortly after, I decided that I didn't want to do it anymore. I had been getting my hair relaxed for 16 years and honestly had no idea what my natural hair looked like. I had considered growing out my relaxer when I was a teenager, but after going about 4 weeks past my usual relaxer time, I just couldn't do it. It took becoming an adult to really be able to take it seriously.

CN: When did you BC? What was your initial reaction to your natural hair?
I did my version of a big chop September 3, 2009, almost exactly 2 years after my last relaxer. I say my version of a big chop because I didn't cut all of the straight ends off. I just didn't think I was ready to go as short as I would have had to in order to get rid of all the straight ends. My initial reaction was shock. I did not intend for the stylist to cut as much hair as she did, so it took me a few days to embrace it. After about a week I started to really love it. Now, 3 months later I am so happy with what I am learning about my hair and myself.

CN: How did family and friends react to the new you? What was your response to them?
My husband has been extremely supportive. He is happy as long as I am happy. Everyone else has been really supportive as well. I have a lot of friends who are already natural so it hasn't been to bad to find support.

CN: What was your transition routine?
So, in 2007 when I decided to start transitioning, I did not know a lot about natural hair. I spent a good part of my 2 year transition time flat ironing my hair every 2 weeks. Imagine my dismay when I learned that heat damages hair and I was hurting the very hair I was trying to grow! This past summer I decided to not do any heat styling and see how I would be able to manage. It was great! I started reading blogs and watching YouTube videos and soaked up soooo much knowledge. Once I stopped flat ironing, I did mostly twist outs and flat twist outs. I even attempted a few roller sets. It was amazing to see my hair really start to show her true self. I started experimenting with various products and learned that I like Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue for my twist outs. Once I learned about co-washing, I started doing that as well. I am truly a PJ and will buy anything that seems like it will offer something for my hair.

CN: What was your staple hair style during the transition?
My favorite style is a twist out. I'm sure as my hair grows I will find something else that I love. I think it's funny that I was doing twist-n-curls before I found your site! (because I had to roll my ends to make them curl and match my new hair that was growing).

CN: How did you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
Because I was going to the salon every 2 weeks for my flat ironing, my hair was doing pretty well during the transition. My stylist understood that I was transitioning and kept up with my deep conditioning and moisturizing using mostly Redken products.

CN: Why did you choose to go natural?
I felt that with so much advancement in technology (flat irons) it would not be difficult to transition and keep it to myself. Now that I know about heat damage I probably won't flat iron as much, but I also think that my perception of natural hair has changed. I am sooo in love with what is growing out of my head right now. I have a serious case of hand in fro disease!

Pictures -
#1 is me before my "big chop".
#2 is a twist out.
#3 is a rod set.

***UPDATE: Click this link to view the interview on Tyrashow.com. Judith is very kind and down to earth, and I'm glad I was able to chat with her. She answered many of your questions too!




Hola Chicas!

For those of you that caught Michael Jackson's This Is It in theaters, I'm sure you couldn't help but notice the beautiful (and CURLY!) vocalist Judith Hill. She rocked the stage in her duet "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" with MJ, and I must admit that my eyes were pretty much glued to her throughout the movie...which was awesome by the way! She constantly changed her hair-- huge fluffy fro to defined and curly to curly extensions with popping highlights.


I contacted her last week to see if she'd like to complete an interview for Tyrashow.com. She agreed! So my lovely curlies, I'm asking you to help me structure the interview. What questions would you like answered?!

Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

Rachel's back... a 23 year old student who currently resides in Louisville, KY. She decided to transition in November 2008, and more than a year later, she is still going strong and has become well versed in dealing with the 'terrible twos'! This is why Ms. Rachel Neirene is our new Transitioning Guru! Today, she shares her fav products!

CN: How long have you been natural?
I've been natural for 15 years! Why isn't my hair down my butt?..lol I never knew how to properly take care of my natural tressses. Since finding youtube a year ago, that's when I had this awakening of loving and wanting to care for my hair.

CN: What is your current regimen?
Currently, I shampoo my hair about every other week, co-wash once a week and deep condition about once a month. I am very low maintenance when it comes to my hair. Less is best has and is working for me. Ive never done a ACV rinse, baking soda treatment, pre-poos, henna coloring etc and it is well within my soul!.. lol

CN: How do you maintain length?
I maintain length by keeping my hands out of my hair!!..Ive been natural so long, I don't have that constant desire to twirl, play, mess in my hair...I style and leave it alone. Also, I give myself a dusting every 8 to 10 weeks and keep my ends very moisturized. As for moisture, I have been using a staple product consistently for the past year which incorporates a daily routine of maintaining a balance of moisture and protein which takes the guess work out of am I putting in too much moisture or too little protein etc. This has done wonders for my hair and has given me great results.

CN: How do you protect your curls at night?
First, I massage my scalp with a follicle invigorator, moisturize my hair and the ends and pin my hair back at night and sleep with a satin bonnet, that's it! No huge ritual here..again I am very low-maintanence!

CN: What would you tell a new natural, or transitioning diva?
For a new natural, I would tell her to please LOVE the hair you have. Don't compare yourself to other curly haired women. We are all unique and no one curl is the same. Be patient and embrace the journey you're on. Like any new endeavor, it's going to have its highs and lows, but its all a part of the process. Lastly, don't be a product junkie!! There is too much information
out here that can steer you to the types of products that have worked on hair that may be similar to yours. Start there instead of jumping on every new product band wagon that comes out. I may get a lot of flack for what I just said, but my personal hair journey has proved that it's OK to find what works and stick with only that!

CN: What's the best thing about being natrually glamorous?
I would say the best thing about it is, IT'S ALL ME! no enhancements, no additions, no quick fixes! I love walking in a room and Im the only natural, or Im in the midst of a sea of naturals! I've been at this a long time and even though its just been THIS YEAR that Ive fully embraced my hair, Ive kept the same principles of loving me and loving the hair God gave me.

The one thing I'd like to add is: I am very happy to be apart of the natural
hair community. I've learned so much from a lot of women and gained alot of
insight. I hope that my time here in this natural hair movement continue to
bring positivity and unity among each other. Peace*

CN: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
I transitioned from April 2009 to December 2009. Of course I thought of transtitioning longer to acquire more length, but I couldn't deal with dual textures. Also I couldn't wait until I was completely natural.

CN: When did you BC? What was your initial reaction to your natural hair? 3rd picture-Post BC!

CN: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
I was a long term transitioner-- 8 months. In the beginning I wasn't really planning to transition... I usually stretched relaxers for 5 months at a time. I was 4 months into a stretch when I realized I just wanted to be natural!

CN: When did you BC? What was your initial reaction to your natural hair?
I BC'ed on May 27th 2009 . I could see the difference between my natural hair and my relaxed hair-- it was so much healthier and thicker! I couldn't wait any longer and decided to cut it off. At first, I really didn't know what to think... I didn't have any ideas on how I was going to style it, or care for it, so I braided it up. The braids were in for about a week before I told myself that there was no reason to hide from my BC. The time had come for me to learn how to deal with the new texture and embrace my short hair.

CN: How did family and friends react to the new you? What was your response to them?
I hadn't told anybody I was going to do it, not even my fiance. People asked me why I did it, and I shared my reasons with them frankly. In the end, I decided it didn't matter what people thought! I also realized that hair is hair and it would grow back in no time.

CN: What was your staple hair style during the transition?
I always wore a beanie hat with my bangs flat ironed.

CN: How did you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
I was and still am using water and shea butter, and sealing with coconut oil.

CN: Why did you choose to go natural?
I was damaging my hair so bad! I had no clue that my actions were keeping my hair above shoulder length all those years. Researching online has taught me how to care for and style my natural hair. Seeing so many beautiful women with natural hair inspired me to take the leap as well. Now I'm in love with it so much, that my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner!!!

I also have a blog documenting my natural hair journey @ mizzangieshair.blogspot.com

Hola Chicas,

Did y'all miss me?! I sure missed you! I was without internet access for 2 days... it felt like a friggin' eternity. Although it's no longer Friday, I thought I'd share the Fierce Christmas pics that I've received over the past few days. I hope each of you had a blessed and delightful Christmas. I went to midnight Mass, cooked with granny and my sister on Christmas morn, opened gifts, ate lots, slept, and ate some more! It was awesome.

Anyway, show your fellow CN.comers some love!





MahoganyCurls:
Happy Holidays! I decided to do a simple wash n go puff for christmas. That's it!
















Courtney:
Courtney from Miami here! This is my Christmas look!













Mary:
I just turned 20 on the 20th and wanted to have my last kiddy Christmas, so I did pigtails and curls! I got this style from the post titled " Baby Girl's Natural Hair and Flexi Rods" from CN.com. They came out great and everyone adored me. Pulled them off with the hat the next day as well.

Brittn44:
This is my Christmas Eve look. The style was a few days old (*lol*). I did two flat twists on each side, and pinned the rest of the hair in the top. In the back, I did a Twist-N-Curl with foam rollers on straightened hair, but I prepped it with my olive oil-water mixture and Garnier Fructis Sleek-N-Shine Leave In Conditioner Creme. For Christmas Day, I just tied it back in a ponytail. (btw, I'm transitioning and about to BC.)







CurlyErnie:
I hope this holiday has brought you lots of love, blessings and of course a few gifts! Here's my hair today, a bantu knot out on a 4 day old roller set (a la MahoganyCurls). Thanks for all of your support on my journey to reclaim my curl pattern. I've been natural for almost 7 years, but excessive heat use and curl abuse has robbed me of a consistent curl pattern.

La'Shara:
This picture was taken @ my birthday party. I had a fabulous time! I refreshed my twist out the night before with GF Sleek and Shine leave in conditioner, retwisted, sealed with Shea Butter and rolled for a dry twist out. I also co-washed last with Trader Joe's Nourish Spa conditioner, I like it.






Stephanie:











Kattya:
Date Night!!!!! We were both done with school for the semester and my attending gave me a gift certificate to a local Indian restaurant... So I asked him out on a date (check yes or no) and we ended up getting dolled up for the evening. This is a 3 day old twist out- lots of frizz and very little definition of my curls at the ends but nonetheless... gotta make it work (and my hubby gave me many compliments... or is that mandatory on date night?).








Katrina:
This is a picture of my first Faux/Fro Hawk and the first style I've EVER loved with my natural hair. My total attitude changed when I left my stylist's shop! I was on my way to church in this pic and HAD to get some documented proof of how fly my natural hair can be! Love your site and thanks for giving all of us curlies, coilys, twisties and nappies some shine!










Jennika:
Here is a pic of me and the husband from my holiday party. Due to concern about my ends, I have been wearing two strand twists for weeks. I rolled the ends this time(per your example) and untwisted. I pulled the side back and secured with IC gel and bobby pins! Wal-la!

The winner of our weekly Butters-n-Bars giveaway is.....

traveljunkie08

To join the challenge, check out the links below:

Contest Rules and Forum
Miss Naturally Beautiful You 2010

Remember, you must post everyday, Mon-Fri, to qualify for the weekly henna/shea butter giveaway!!!

Later Gators,
Nik

Hola Chicas!

Merry Christmas Eve :-D

Assuming you've completed all of your errands, gift buying, and cleaning up, what do you plan to do to your hair tonight? Is it already styled and ready to go?

I'm braided up for Midnight Mass tonight, and will wear the same dry braid-n-curl on Christmas day too! So...

1. What are your Christmas hair plans?

2. Send a pic brief description of your style if you get time tomorrow for Show&Tell!

Later Gators,
Nik

LJ Kelly, a long-term transitioner, and STL curly writes:


Hello Nikki,

I did the BIG CHOP on December 23, 2009 which was also my 20-something birthday! :) I had been transitioning for 17 long months but I chose my birthday to chop all my relaxer off because I wanted the date to be significant, and also so I would have a decent amount of length. I have never had extremely short hair so doing a drastic big chop was pretty much out of the question! My transition taught me many lessons in self acceptance and confidence but the best lesson I learned was PATIENCE! I very rarely used direct heat in my transition; I mostly did protective styles, flexirod sets, roller sets and at the end braid outs.

My story:

This has truly been a journey for me. I decided to stop getting relaxers (my last was July 9, 2008) because I wanted my hair to be in the healthiest state possible. I found Healthy Textures website where I learned about co-washing and how unhealthy mineral oil and petroleum was for my hair so I threw out all of my hair products that contain them (which was A LOT)! In my “cabinet cleaning exercise” I began to think about the damaging ingredients in relaxer. I thought about stretching my relaxers to just 4 times a year but that still did not solve the problem so in August 2009 I decided that I would stop getting relaxers but still straighten my hair with flat irons.

Soon after I decided to stop relaxing, Healthy Textures format changed so I was forced to search for other knowledge of healthy hair on the internet and I found tons of natural hair blogs that began to change how I viewed my hair. CurlyNikki was a God send for me & it really shaped my transition as far as attitude, styling techniques and even products. Soon after I found the site, I began to rethink my ideas on natural hair and I decided that I would embrace my natural curl!

Pictures:

1: Relaxed hair
2: One year in my transition w/ a flexirod set at the CurlyNikki natural hair meet up in STL
3: My favorite picture & first successful Twist 'n Curl! :)
4& 5: 100% NATURAL in my birthday dress! :)

Take a look at my fotki here: http://public.fotki.com/ljkelly/

Thank you, Nikki for your site and all of your support! :)

Happy Holidays!