CurlyNick– Natural Hair Idol!!!!

CN: How long have you been growing your hair out?
Well I had my last official haircut when I was in 10th grade, which was around 2001, so about 9 years now. This was a time when cornrows were in style and I wanted my hair to look like Bizzy Bone’s hair. *laughs*

CN: What is your regimen?
Actually when I first started growing my hair out, I didn’t have any particular regimen or hair length goal. I didn’t even know anything about hair care or anyone who knew about it. I just did what I thought was necessary like when having short hair, such as wash it when it needs washing, moist when it felt dry, and comb it when it needs combing. *shrugs*
I used any shampoo that was available and the moisturizer I primarily used was the Lustasilk – Moisture Max. I was pretty much on my own in growing my hair. My hair grew to be about mbl until I learned a little bit more about hair care, such as bad ingredients, cowashing, oils and treatments, and hair styles from a friend I met around 2007. (Shout out to Starlah B!)

Right now, I still kind of do my own thing, but it’s a little bit more schedule oriented now. Currently I’m doing the following:

– I wash my hair on the weekends using Cream of Nature: Detangling Conditioning Shampoo, and wash my hair at the end of the month with Tresemme Deep Cleansing Shampoo (w/ added olive oil)

– I’ll occasionally cowash my hair once a week with Kirk’s Original Coco Castile Conditioner if I want my hair to look more ‘silky,’ but I don’t do that too regularly anymore.

– I moisturize my hair with the following moisturizers: Carefree Curl Instant Moisturizer Spray, Cornrow Magic Oil Sheen, Surge Extra-Strength Moisture Aide, and Cream of Nature Leave-In Conditioner (with Rosemary and Lemongrass). I don’t really keep a regular schedule when moisturizing, but rather just randomly choose one and just do it when it feels dry.

– The oils I use to seal after moisturizing include: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Wonder 8 Oil, and occasionally Vitamin E Oil and Castor Oil (both usually mixed with the Olive Oil).

CN: What is one thing you’d tell a newbie to help him/her on their journey?
From my personal experience in growing hair, I would say have patience and don’t keep your focus on how long it is or want it to be. I think hair will grow if you let it grow, but I often see many people get frustrated at slow growths or trying to reach a certain hair length goal. If you’re constantly thinking about it, constantly checking your hair length, it’d eventually just cause you to become more discouraged and frustrated when you’re not noticing much difference. My hair didn’t grow long overnight. I wasn’t really worried about how long it gets, and certainly didn’t expect I’d have my current hair length now. *laughs* Just keeping your hair healthy is most important I think and the length will be the bonus over time.

CN: How do you maintain length?
Well I don’t do much styling to my hair, and I can’t do all the ‘girly styles’ you all like to do *laughs*. Early on when I first started growing it, I didn’t do anything but picked out the afro. After about a year, I was able to put it in a short tail after slicking back the top and sides. I wore my hair occasionally in cornrows in high school and college, but not too often because I really didn’t know anybody who could braid or do hair. So I usually just wore it in buns and tails, which is what I currently do now mostly. I’ll bun more often so that my hair wouldn’t rub against my clothes and start breaking or losing moisture. So I think the low manipulation and protective styles are what helped me the most in maintaining my length, as long as I kept it moist, trimmed the ends about every 2-3 months, and washed it regularly. We could maybe factor in the ‘good genes’ element if you believe in that sort of thing. *laughs*

CN: What do you do to preserve your curls at night?
Generally, I try to preserve the waves at the top more, while the waves and curls naturally appear at the ends. I’ll more often than not under-roll my tail up into a bun or occasionally twist or braid my tail and then roll that into a bun as well. Then I’ll tie my hair up and sleep with a du rag. Next morning, my hair stays relatively wavy curly.

CN: How do you get those curls to pop?
For me, I have always had naturally curly hair. But when I comb it or detangle it, my hair tends to get wavier. I can get them to pop more by doing cowashes or conditioner only method. When I apply conditioner (either the leave-in or the rinse out) to my wet hair and towel wrapping it or letting it air dry, the curls become more defined. Another way to get my curls to pop more, I would wet my hair in the shower. Afterwards, I’ll moisturize and seal my hair a little bit (usually with carefree curl), then finish by towel wrapping my hair to dry it. After about 20 mins of drying, my natural curls start showing up more as well.