Meet TYA21... self-proclaimed chameleon! Natural hair is ridiculously versatile :)
CN: How long have you been natural?
I have been completely natural since March of 2009! I relaxed for the last time in June 2007 and transitioned for almost 2 years by gradually trimming away the relaxed ends.
CN: What is your current regimen?
My regimen is pretty simple - shampooing when my hair feels like it needs it (usually once every one to two weeks) and deep conditioning after every shampoo. My go to style since I’ve been wearing my hair natural is a twist out. I re-twist each night which allows me to go 5 or 6 days w/o re-styling. In the warmer months I like to co-wash several times a week with either Herbal Essences Hello Hydration or V05 Moisture Milks. I always moisturize before twisting, and then seal my ends with Hairveda Vatika Frosting (coconut oil). I change up hair styles from time to time and will either straighten my hair (maybe once every 3 months) or I’ll try out another style. I also henna about once every one or two months for its conditioning properties.
CN: How do you maintain length? Moisture?
For years my hair has pretty much grown to and remained at around the same length (between apl and bsl stretched) and I think I maintained that by keeping my regi simple – dc’ing once a week, moisturizing when I felt like my hair needed it, trimming regularly, drinking lots of water, and maintaining a super low manipulation style. But over the past few months I have begun to finally grow past bsl for the first time since I can remember, and I think the reasons for that is 1) I’ve learned to put the scissors down. I admit I have a problem with trimming my ends even when they don’t need to be trimmed 2)I moisturize more often (daily or every other day) and 3) I've started taking supplements that were missing from my everyday diet. Being a vegetarian and also a very picky eater in general, my diet lacks a lot of nutrients that are essential to healthy hair and body. So I think the supps help me out a lot.
CN: How do you protect your curls at night?
I moisturize and re-twist nightly (between 4-6 twists) and wear a silk scarf to bed.
CN: What would you tell a new natural or transitioning diva?
Allow yourself time to get used to your natural hair. I remember when I first started wearing my hair in its natural state, I would literally have to force myself out the door (late for work) because I wasn’t used to or comfortable with how I looked with curly hair. I was so used to wearing my hair relaxed and straightened that when I tried to wear my hair in its curly state, I convinced myself that I didn’t like it. It took me some time and a lot of trial and error with products and styles before I was able to accept my natural hair. But I’m so glad that I allowed myself the opportunity. Now when I walk out of the house, I love my curls!
CN:What's the best thing about being naturally glamorous?
My favorite part about being naturally glamorous is the versatility. I feel like I have so many more options now when it comes to styling my hair than I had when my hair was relaxed. I feel like my natural hair allows me to be a chameleon, and I haven’t been bored with my hair since going natural.
Twist-Out (fav style)
6th day hair Twist-Out
Twist-n-Curl
roller set and silk wrap
roller set and flat iron
mini twists
43 comments:
Very pretty, pretty, pretty!
you are my new hair idol.
you look fab
I just had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. Your hair is FAB-U-LOUS!!!
NaturalNixon
Man your hair is the bomb!! I loove the twist out! I would love to know what products you use to achieve such style. My twist out does not last that long and my curls are as not defined.
mrsnicolek@yahoo.com
Nicole
Thanks!!
Beautiful! I am long time transitioner and you are now my hair idol! Your hair is beautiful!
Vee
Beautiful hair!!!!
yay ty!! just amazingly beautiful hair!!!
"GAW-JUSS" hair! Very very pretty!
You look great love that twist out.
Tiffany
http://liferequiresmorechocolate.blogspot.com
Lovely hair. I can relate to what you said about getting used to our hair. Seems odd that we have to do that but we do. I too spent many a morning in front of the mirror trying to "fix" my hair. Truth be told I still do. But I've learned to love curly/coily hair in general and my hair in particular.
thank you for sharing your beauuuu -tee- full hair. :) you are another inspiration for us transitioning out there. I just have one question, what is a "silk wrap"? whatever it is I want one too when I straighten again. :)
Very nice hair indeed. You're such an inspiration to us all, now I know what the future holds or looks like for my hair.
first off, your hair is beautiful!!! I wish I had seen this post last night b/c I could've used it this morning. I BC'd over the weekend and was so nervous about coming to work this morning that I started over 3 times... yes, I mean- went back into the shower, wet my hair and started over!!! LOL By the 3rd time, I realized that I needed to relax and accept the curls (and not so curls) on my head. Thanks for sharing your story!
Your hair is very lux! Thanks for sharing.
Gorgeous!
Your hair is GORGEOUS!!!:-D I'm LOVIN' your twist-out! Thanks so much for sharing your story!
-CurlySwan
You are my new HAIR IDOL...I am doing a slow transtion as well and would love to know what products you are using!!!! I am at the one year mark and have alot more to go! Please email me if you can at dionjaymes@yahoo.com Thanks!!
Your hair is BEAUTIFUL!!
I can't help but think with hair like this why are so many black girls relaxing? Who told us hair isn't good enough and why do we believe them?
*our hair isn't good enough*
give me your hair now!
why would u not want to wear that to work?
not like its an actual fro.
or even kinky.
Your hair is beautiful! I am lusting over it as I type. :o)
Beautiful hair and story! Lovin the twist out!!
Wow! This is one of the best twist outs I have seen. Please do share what products you used and your method... Is this on wet hair...how are u securing the ends? That twist out is perfection!
I am a silent stalker but I had to let you know that you're hair is beautiful. What products do you use more your mini twist?
So, I've read your interview and know what products you use (thank you for that). What I want to know is which of those products is making your hair so friggin' shiny?! It's beautiful! Is that the Vatika? Or the henna? Thanks!
Thanks so much for the kind words ladies!!!
For my twist outs I usually use Komaza Care Coconut Curl Hair Lotion to moisturize, and Hairveda Vatika Frosting to seal. I use these products on damp hair and also when re-twisting dry hair. For this particular twist out I applied Komaza Care Coconut Curl Hair Lotion to my shampooed/dc’ed hair in 4 sections, and then applied Hairveda Vatika Frosting to each half of my hair. I left my hair to air dry for about 30 minutes (to cut down on drying time while in twists). Then I re-wet as necessary with a spray bottle of water (mainly a little on the ends) before smoothing each section with my denman brush, and twisting it in 6 twists. I applied some more Vatika Frosting to the ends of my twists and coiled the ends around my fingers so that as it dried, the ends kind of molded into a coil. Then I let it air dry overnight while wearing a silk scarf.
the silk wrap pic is actually the 5th pic posted – not the 4th. But I started out with a roller set, then wrapped my hair, applied a little bit of moisturizer, and wrapped some saran wrap around my hair before sitting back under the dryer for about 10 minutes. It somewhat relaxes the curls when doing a roller set without taking away all of the body and it gives your hair a silky shine and feel. For the straight hair pic I actually flat ironed it after a roller set.
For the mini twists I used Silk Elements MegaSilk Leave-in prior to twisting each section.
I would definitely have to say that both the henna and the coconut oil contribute to the shine. I don’t think I could live without either product.
@ Sky - hey girl!! Thanks for showing love! :)
@ Fat Chick – congrats on your bc!!!
@ Anon 3:52 pm – I sent you an email
@ Anon 5:30 pm – For me it more so had to do with adjusting and learning to accept my curls. I’d seen beautiful natural heads of hair of all different textures, but when it came to wearing my own hair in its natural state, I couldn’t handle it – at least not initially. I also didn’t want to deal with the attention and questions that would come from wearing my hair differently. And there’s also the fact that my twist/braid outs looked VERY different when I first started trying them out…lol.
Thanks,
~Ty
OMGGGGG your hair!!! (Speechless) O_O It's GAWJUSSS!!!
when I see hair like this it makes me wonder why it was ever permed - but I know, it's a mindset thing. Beautiful crown!
OMG that hair.. Honestly y'all, I am trying one of them rollersets/silkwrap styles soon. I haven't had straight hair for two years, I would like some versatility.
New hair Idol for sure!
Ty- I love your hair. As far as trimming goes, how often were you doing it and how often are u doing it now? I say this because I wanted to keep my hair ends looking good but I still want to retain length
Beautiful Hair!
If your hair looks this beautiful natural
please don't ever relax again.
Simply gorgeous!
Thank you!!!
I trimmed about every month (sometimes more frequently). The amount of hair trimmed varied, but I basically maintained the same length give/take an inch or so)throughout my transition. Now I’m trying to cut down on trimming and doing more S&D’s instead.
~Ty
I would like to know how much of your hair is all natural now. Are you still in the transitioning phase or has it all grown out completely? Your hair is so amazing...... Still can't figure out why you were afraid to walk out the door :) I'm sure you ask yourself the same now. We've all gone through it. I just love the mini twists. How long did it take to put those in and how long do they last? Looks like you went to a Salon to have them put in. Very inspiring....Thanks so much for sharing! Would love to see some videos from you.
I am 100% natural! The mini twists…it took me 4½ hours to put them in and one hour to take them out, less than an hour later (just long enough to take a couple of pics and decide that I wasn’t wearing them out of the house) lol. I didn’t like them at the time, but when I look back at the pics I don’t think they look that bad. Next time I try them I will be wearing them for a while. I have one short vid about the beginning of my journey through my first year natural on my shutterfly page. Feel free to leave your email address or pm me on the forum (under ‘Ty’) for the password.
Thx
~Ty
hey i have a question for you, do u mix your henna with amla or u just henna? thanks
Hey ladies!! I'm new to the site...but I can't stay off of it now. TY, YOUR HAIR IS GORGEOUS!! How did you get the twist and curl look?
I love your hair! I would love to know more about your henna treatment regimen. My email address is zavilez@hotmail.com.
Thanks!
Your hair is gorgeous! You have no reason to feel self conscious about it. I mean ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! YOU GO GIRL!! (do people still say that??!!)
Your hair is beautiful :)
What is your hair type?
Hey ladies, so sorry for the late reply!
Darkbeautytt, I currently just use henna. My mix consists of 1 3/4 cups of henna powder, 2 1/2 cups of cold water, 2 tbsp of sweet almond oil (or castor oil since I’ve run out of the almond oil), and 2 tbsp of honey.
Dani, thank you! For the TnC look I did it immediately following my first henna treatment while watching CurlyNikki’s video tutorial, so I tried to follow her instructions to the ‘T’ but using my own products. I think I used Cantu Shea butter leave in for this TnC.
Zena, thanks so much! I have a pictorial of my henna process on my Shutterfly page. Will email you the link and pw. I do it about every 1-2 months.
Anon June 15, 2010, 7:58 pm, thanks so much for the encouraging words…and yes, I still say that too, lol
Beautifully Centered, thank you! I think I am mostly 3c with some 4a in the back. And I have a patch on my front left side and another in my crown section that is a loose wave.
Thanks again ladies!!
~Ty
Ditto what everyone else said. When I saw your hair my mouth dropped. I had to call my co-workers over to come and check it out. Absolutely gorgeous. You are an inspiration for me to continue experimenting with the natural style basics(twist outs, braid outs,etc) until I am satisfied with the results. Thanks for sharing!
Rhythm&Drama
Your hair loks a lot like CurlyNikki's, which makes me think that henna must really be worth a try!
I've only been natural a month and some change, after 6 months of transitioning. I think I'll henna after I've been fully natural for a year!
LOVING YOUR HAIR TY!!!
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