Dayna!!!!

-How long have you been natural?
I have been natural since about 2000. I wanted to dye my hair blond and my stylist at the time refused to put permanent color over my relaxed hair. So I stopped and slowly cut out the relaxer.

-What is your regimen?
My regimen stays the same. My product line up is always changing. I am always after the next best thing. I typically clean my hair with a calcium bentonite treatment or Cassia then I follow up with a deep treatment. I love conditioner. I will sometimes leave the conditioner in my hair all weekend and jsut wear cute hats or head wraps. To style I co wash daily with TJ Nourish ( it is the best conditioner for $3 I buy at least 5 bottles at a time). I apply my leave in of the moment followed by a cream styler then I put on a light weight gel. I have not mastered the second or third day hair yet so at night I mositurize my hair with some sort of hair butter and sleep on a satin pillow case.

-What is the one thing you’d tell a newbie to help her on her journey?
Be patient, understand that your hair is not going to look like mine or the next natural girl and that is okay. Learn to love and understand what your hair can and cannot do. Learn to love letting your hair do what it does. I can “do” my hair one day and try to recreate that look the next with the same products and it will come out totally different. I have learned to not fight it but embrace it.

-How do you maintain length?
Moisturize, mositurize, mositurize. I deep condition at least once a week and I moisturise my hair with some sort of hair butter/cream daily. I try not to focus too much on how much my hair is or is not growing and next thing you know it is down my back!

-What advice would you give to naturals that want to dye their curls?
Dying your hair is alot of upkeep similar to relaxing or texturizing your hair exepct you can’t hide when you need a touch up. I get my roots done every 6 – 8 weeks just like a relaxer. Now coloring your hair is tricky because the more you condition your hair the more it strips the color. So doing something that is good for your hair is actually bad for your color. Before I get my hair dyed I do a protein treatment about 3 days before. I have to lay off the overnite deep conditioning treatments for about 2 weeks. So it is a balance to give your hair the mositure it needs but to take care of your color. Also if your are going from dark to light, light hair does not reflect light the same way as dark hair does therefore your hair will not appear as shiny and then on top of that you have textured hari which does not reflect light the same way straight hair does. This is why I use Cassia to help with keeping my hair shiny and the strands silky.