On the Couch With Charnay

Charnay shares about her journey to curly bliss, as well as her beautiful Flexi Rod results:

What’s up CN!

I’m Charnay, I’m 20 years-old and have been completely natural since September 2008. My decision to go natural came after my last perm which happened to be for my prom in May 2007. My hair was NOT healthy before my transitioning experience because I was addicted to doing crazy things that didn’t work well with my hair like, perm and color. Nevertheless, my hair went from being bra-strap length to bob length in a matter of a year. It was breaking off fast and I had to do something about it.

Despite my friends’ and family’s opinions, I decided to just stop getting perms, and boy was it rough. It was my freshman year as a dance major at Temple U and many times I felt like I couldn’t continue my transition journey. Because of my major any cute (straight) hairstyle I had would sweat out in a matter of minutes. So, It was hard not only because I didn’t know how to correctly care for my hair, but I was also concerned about how people would perceive me, given at the start of my college life, first impressions and new friendships were extremely important to me.

In January 2008, I transferred to a school closer to home, and I was determined to make it a new start for myself. I switched majors because I knew dance really wasn’t something I wanted to make a career of and I also decided to embrace my natural hair (stepping away from the flat iron). I started wearing braid outs and twist outs and surprisingly, I actually met a lot of people through my hair. It was different and I started to embrace that, instead of hiding from it. I got the courage to chop off the last of my permed ends in Sept. 2008 and ever since then I have been learning and using the internet (mostly CurlyNikki and Youtube) to discover new ways to care for my hair. Along with this, I have also been discovering what simply works best for MY hair because every one’s hair is different. I’m glad that I have come to love my NATURAL hair while I’m young in spite of the social norms, with great help from your site.

Current Regimen

• I Co-Wash every 3-4 days; depending on my previous style and products used (I detangle with my hair separated and braided in 4 sections to avoid further tangling) *Aussie-Moist Conditioner *Natre’s Gate Henna Conditioner *IC Fantasia Tea Tree Naturals Intensive Conditioner
• I Deep Condition once every week; sitting under a hooded dryer for 15 minutes *Aussie-Moist Deep Treatment
• I apply raw Shea butter to the four conditioned sections
• I use a Leave-in and style (sometimes using a diffuser) *Kinky Curly Knot Today *Kinky Curly Curling Custard *Miss Jessie’s Curling Pudding *Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel