ChakaKhanian- Naturally Glam Hair Idol!

CN: How long have you been natural?
This second time around, I have been natural for 2 years and 2.5 months.

CN: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
Do you want me to talk about the first time I went natural or the second, lol? Well the first time, I was a long term transitioner- 1 year and 4 months starting in October 2002. I stayed natural until 2008, then I relaxed again. (What was I thinking?) No sooner than I relaxed, I knew I was going to go back natural. This transition was short term…5 months!

CN: What is your current regimen?
*My current regimen is going under a minor tweak- I currently wash my hair twice weekly, but I am going to reduce this to once a week, just to see if my problem area (my crown) will catch up to the other sections of hair.*

Wash/Condition:

I wash my hair with Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Oil Shampoo and Conditioner. I comb my hair when it’s drenched and full of conditioner. Depending on how I feel, I section my hair in 5 parts and detangle. When I am just lazy, I only detangle in 3 parts. I rinse out the conditioner with warm or cool water.

Style:

I use Kinky Curly’s Knot Today once I finish washing my hair. I like this because I tend to wash my hair at night and this product is not oily or heavy and it provides my hair with what it needs. I can easily comb my hair with this product in it. If I am sleepy and just cannot wait to go to sleep, I don’t airdry but rather sit under my ConairPro standing dryer for 10-15 minutes.

In the next morning I have to ‘gwease’ my scalp, so I use Nature’s Blessing Pomade. I apply it to the tips of my fingers and massage my scalp with it. On my hair strands, I use My Asha’s Heavenly Hair Pudding to combat dryness.

CN: How do you maintain Length? Moisture?
In the morning when my hair’s dry, I can ‘unstiffen’ it with either the spritzing of water or my herbal tea mix. I then use the My Asha’s Heavenly Hair Pudding to help with sealing moisture in my hair.

CN: Night time routine?
However my hair’s styled that day is how my hair will be for bed. Of course, if my hair’s pinned up during the day, I will remove them from my hair. I sleep with both a satin pillowcase and bonnet.

CN: What would you tell a new natural, or transitioning diva?
Have fun!!! Don’t compare your hair and your hair’s abilities to others around you. Someone else may be able to splash water and an oil on their hair and ends up creating a wonderful style, but you may have to do more steps for that same style, and this is okay! Frustration is a part of the natural/transitioning process, but don’t allow the frustration to turn into fury for your hair.

CN: What’s the best thing about being naturally glamorous?
The best thing about being naturally glamorous is that people gravitate to me due to my natural hair and I try to use this as an opportunity to educate them on natural hair. With this comes some other unwanted experiences, though, ie, good hair vs bad hair comments, those who want to touch my hair without asking, etc, but I have learned to nip these incidences in the bud really quick, lol! I get a lot of ‘well, you have a different hair texture than I do’ comments and when these arise, I am able to direct these ladies to women who have natural hair textures similar to them.

CN: Anything else you want to add?
Stay humble during your natural quest because you’ll never know if you will have another strong urge to relax. It can be very embarrassing to be a natural hair advocate for a while only to resort back to relaxing- believe me, I know from experience! Check out my ‘youtubie’ channel!