India is Naturally Glamorous!

I have been natural my whole life. When I was little, I BEGGED my mom for a relaxer. BEGGED. I am thankful that she didn’t give into those tantrums and crying when getting my hair combed. Thinking back, man, that was BRUTAL. But I got through it and it brought me to where I am now. I did do the Big Chop, although it wasn’t cutting off perm or relaxer, it was cutting off all of my dead ends. In 2007, I chopped my mid back length hair to my ears. It was a really cute style and I loved it, not to mention all the dead ends were gone. I felt brand new. It wasn’t until I entered the Huetiful Hair Idol contest and was selected as a finalist when I really got into caring for my hair in a natural state (no sulfates, no heat, etc), so really I’ve been mentally natural for about 6 or so months. So newly natural girl here 🙂

What is your current regimen?

I stopped flat ironing my hair back in April. And stopped using combs around about the same time. It’s been rough! I always kept my hair straight just because it was so easy to manage but since I’ve been on my natural quest for length and strength it’s been easier. So that’s the first thing, the second is using (mostly) natural products. I do a lot of co-washing with my JoiCo moisture recovery conditioner that I mixed some tea tree and rosemary into, probably every two to fours days in the summer (winter – not so much). I wash once a week with Revita Hair Growth shampoo (last summer I grew about 2 inches using this stuff on and off), then I condition with my JoiCo mix. When I get out of the shower, if I’m in a hurry, I’ll do a wash and go using Kinky Curly Knot Today with a little bit of olive oil on that problem spot I’ve got in the middle 😉 and seal my ends with castor oil. Whenever I can after washing, I deep treat with whatever I can get my hands on but most often a mix of castor, coconut, and olive oil that I mix up myself (1:2:1 ratio). I usually do that and sit under my hair steamer for about 20 minutes, or just leave it on over night. Before I twist up my hair for bed (or wear another protective style) I massage a homemade mixture of coconut oil, castor oil, olive oil, rosemary, and tea tree oil into my scalp. I sleep with a silk wrap (that always slips off) and a silk pillow case as well.

How to you maintain length? Moisture?

To maintain length , I take good care of my ends, cutting them when necessary (split ends, knots, etc.) To retain moisture I use a good mix of oils and protective styles.

What has been the worst/most damaging thing you have done to your hair?

COLORING it. I get so bored with my hair SO fast. I love myself blonde and black so I would continuously go from blonde to black and black to blonde. It was killing my hair. Just recently I went this auburn reddish color and I think it’s my new favorite … for now 😉 but I’m doing my best to use rinses and things without ammonia and peroxide, but it is hard since I’ve been coloring my hair since I was 16. So that’s definitely the most damaging thing that I’ve done!

The best thing about being a naturally glamourous girl ?

The comments and stares, people always have something to say, good and bad. It’s motivation to keep going and to get my hair as long as possible. Also being able to do a bunch of different hair styles with natural curls is fun too , especially when by standers are like “wow how did you get your hair like that?” or “what kind of hair is that.” That’s probably the best thing. Another thing that is GREAT is the SUPPORT. I have never seen so much love and support for the black , or women in general , community and I absolutely love it! I love all my natural girls and they love me back, it’s a good feeling

Anything else?

I don’t have a lot of time to do videos and blog posts as I would like to but I do have a beautyBlog call Beauty Baked, if you are interested in keeping up with me the link is www.beautyBaked.tumblr.com 🙂

2007, 2009, 2011!

early 2011

Sept 2011