Jess is 2 years Natural!

CN: How long have you been natural?
February 15th makes 2 years !!!

CN: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
Short term. Very short. I BC’d after 8 weeks into my “transition.” I wanted to transition for a long time but I quickly realized that patience wasn’t exactly one of my primary virtues.

CN: What is your current regimen?
As of right now, my current regimen is a Wash n Go. Every Sunday or Saturday, I rinse or co-wash my hair depending if it is my “cleanse” week or not. I make sure that I always deep condition for 30-45 minutes, maybe an hour if I’m not busy. I then lightly rinse the DC, apply my leave in, detangle my hair, scrunch and go. My favorite/holy grail products are Devacurl One Condition ( I love the smell and hold ), Devacurl Heaven in Hair, Devacurl Set it free, and Devacurl No Poo. I am also in love with Jessicurl Weekly Deep Treatment and Jessicurl Too Shea Conditioner. I am also a fan of Treseme Naturals conditioner. I do not use all of these products at once, I usually alternate. Oh, almost forgot, Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle rose is awesome too! I always add an oil to my deep conditioner as well such as extra virgin olive or or extra virgin coconut oil. It may seem as if I use a lot of products at once, but I really do not. 90% of the time I am using the Devacurl line, and will alternate the deep conditioners. I usually deep condition with heat.

My Wash n Go’s last seven days, so my regimen is very repetitive. I have tried twist-outs, and they are usually a hit or miss with me. My hair is very fine, so if I use too much shea butter or any other styling product with my them, it will weigh my hair down too much. It is not even funny, Lol! That is why I just stick with the wash n gos.

I trim every six months, snipping away the single strand knots or frayed ends. Sometimes, I will just do a search and destroy. I did flat iron my hair back in August (18 months post BC) and it was a nice change, but I missed my curls after a week. I will not be flat ironing my hair again, I didn’t have heat damage, it just took forever and I feel like there is always a “risk” of getting heat damage when you use direct heat. It is a 50/50 chance in my opinion. I escaped it this time, but that doesn’t mean I will next time. If I decide to wear it straight, I will rollerset it with little to no direct heat.

CN: How do you maintain Length? Moisture?
Well, I condition my hair A LOT. I try not to manipulate it much, especially since it is longer now. I deep condition my hair weekly with heavy deep conditioners, and I only used heat once. I know it will be an extremely long time before I use it again (maybe never). I stick to the same regimen. I feel that once you find a regimen that works for you, you should go with and stick to it. Wash n go’s work for me, I love them so that is my staple hair style.

CN: Night time routine?
My night time routine is basically sleeping with my hair out on a satin pillow case. It is crazy, I used to sleep with a satin bonnet or scarf, but it is getting harder to stuff my hair in the bonnet. I just sleep on my hair now. I wake up in the morning, flip my hair over, and ruffle the hair at the scalp, stand upright, shake my hair from left to right a couple of times and my hair is good as new! If it is a little fuzzy (usually at the top) I will spritz it with Oyin Juices and Berries or smooth the spots with a little of Deva Set It Free. I really think because of my current length, I am able to do this. I could not do this with a TWA or during the in between stage.

CN: What would you tell a new natural, or transitioning diva?
Patience, patience, patience! When I BC’d, I didn’t have much hair to work with but I made the best out of it. I wanted long natural hair so badly, and at times I would get frustrated but tried to focus on what I had and enjoyed every stage of it. I would also tell a new natural to do what works best for you and your hair. Every natural has his or her own way of styling thier hair, find what works for you and stick with it, do not fight with your hair, work with it! 🙂

CN: What’s the best thing about being naturally glamorous?
Versatility! I love that one day my hair is huge and the next day it can shrink to my ears! (Even, though shrinkage sucks at times!) Everyday is something new with natural hair! I absolutely love seeing other naturals when I am out and about, it is a great feeling .

CN: Anything else you want to add?
Yes! I would like to thank you and the CN.com community as well as the natural hair community on YouTube. A couple of months ago I made an announcement that I would start making YouTube videos again, but since things came up, I closed my YouTube channel…again. I want to apologize to my subbies. The good news is, I have a new blog and I will upload videos, old and new, and blog about my hair experiences there. The blog is www.loveyourcurls.blogspot.com. I am excited about it and I look foward to blogging and sharing my experiences with you guys. I will also update and answers any questions about TWA in the Curlfriends section in the CN.com forums. Again, thank you sooooooooo much for your support, you guys are awesome!!!!