Tell us about yourself.
I consider myself a free spirit, I listen to my gut and take chances. I’m a friend, daughter, sister, niece, & (new)wife. I reside in Atlanta, Georgia, but I am first generation Canadian ( Toronto to be specific,) my immediate family comes from Barbados, England, & Monsteratt. I am a Fashion Marketing graduate and I’m an entrepreneur. I co-founded a socially conscious t-shirt lined called “Global Warming Tees,” we design shirts with messages addressing bullying, stereotypes, racism, sexuality, discrimination, positivity etc. We also partner with schools to have students design charity tees for our “Global Change” initiative where we donate $10 from each shirt sold to their charity of choice. Along with this I work as a sales and marketing coordinator for a corporate apparel agency based out of Toronto. I am also a new YouTuber : Miss Charmsie…my passion is fashion & style so that will probably be the focus as I continue, but you never know where life takes you! I could end up talking about gardening or planets in the future lol To add a cherry on top, I am also a curlygirl * insert cheesy grin * lol.
What is your current hair care regimen?
I use the “curly girl method,” I co-wash my hair every day that I feel like wearing it out (most of the time). Because my hair is fine I don’t achieve 2nd day hair very often even with a pineapple or satin bonnet etc. I use a leave in conditioner and very little styling product for my wash and go. I air dry my hair 90% of the time. I deep condition my hair twice a week typically…once with just an oil…and once with a deep conditioning product.
How would you describe your hair type?
Moody!! Lol…I would say it’s a mixture of curls and waves, on the fine side…probably a 3B, I suppose.
What products work best for your curls?
I’ve tried so many products but a lot of them have just been too heavy for my hair. My favourites right now are the Shea Moisture Reconstructive Conditioner, Giovanni Leave In Conditioner, Organix Coconut Milk weightless mousse, Vatika oil and good old coconut oil.
Have you been curly all your life or did you transition back to your curly hair at some point? Why?
I always had naturally curly hair…I just didn’t know how to make it look the way I make it look now…I used a lot of product that didn’t make sense for my texture because we really didn’t have many options in Canada.
Do you find that people treat you/react to you differently when you wear your hair straight vs curly?
I don’t wear my hair straight enough to truly know to be honest…if anything people say…”I miss your curly hair!” Lol
Have you ever struggled with insecurities about your curly hair? If so, what helped you to overcome that?
When I was younger I definitely did. I moved from a very multicultural city to a majority white city at that time. I remember having family members braid my hair into plaits with clips/boggles for picture day and I felt so embarrassed because nobody else had this sort of hair style in my school. As I got older I always tied my hair back because there was another mixed girl in my school and I heard students calling her hair “poofy” and I hated that word!!! So I slicked my hair back into a ponytail every day! When I finally started wearing it out as I got older I was obsessed with making it look wet all the time…again, afraid of the “poof” lol I lathered in gel and wet it constantly…towards the end of high school I started embracing my hair more but I really didn’t understand everything it could do and how I could make it look. It was always trial and error. I would say I have truly started to understand my hair within the last 3 or 4 years after YouTube searching the “mixed chicks” product line one day and stumbling across Taren916…I barely went on YouTube before that, and after seeing her channel and then discovering the natural hair community online I really started to learn about curly hair and truly embrace it. Ironically, the mixed chicks line did not work well with my hair.
What do you love about your naturally curly hair?
I think it matches my personality, a bit wild, adventurous and funny at times.
Where can we find you online?
My (new) youtube channel is “Miss Charmsie” Instagram: Charmsie and Twitter: @charmainejoseph
Anything else you want to share?
I am on the road to recovery with my hair right now. I love changing up my look and I’ve been bad in the past with colouring my hair too often and too many colours. I am in the process of just letting it grow out now and only getting it coloured by a professional if I choose to do so (not any time too soon though) I can already see that my curls are growing in healthier looking and my roots are thicker, which is major for me as I do not have thick hair (wish I did, but I’m content with what I have lol) Also, please check out my labour of love:
Global Warming Tees Website: www.global-warming.ca
instagram: Global Warming Tees
twitter:globalwarmtees
Facebook: Global Warming Tees
