Amani Is Naturally Glam!

Were you a slow transitioner or a Big
Chopper & why? (tell us your natural hair journey)

I chose to slow transition through my hair
journey. I was not mentally strong enough to do a big chop so I was thankful
that there was another way to grow my hair. I started my natural journey seriously
around the end of 2011. By then I grew out my relaxer completely and decided to
wear weaves for about half a year. When I came out of my weaves I had this new
kinky coily texture I was not familiar with and not to mention a bunch of
straight ends. I took to YouTube to get some support and help on what to do. My
first natural hairstyle I tried was a Bantu Knot Out and I loved it, I wasn’t
used to that look but it camouflaged my straight ends. Slowly I learned about
products, and hair tools and how to take care of transitioning hair. I decided
to cut off my own straight ends once I grew my hair out a bit and I learned my
go to style, the twist out! Over a year later to now, I have fully transitioned
hair, significant growth and healthy texture!

Had you always embraced your texture?

At the beginning of my transition my hair
was in an awkward state and I was uncomfortable with the obvious straight ends
so. Once I trimmed them off and saw my true texture I honestly fell in love!

How did family and friends react to your
decision to go natural? How did they react to the new you? What was your
response to them?

I have an old school family that is not used
to the Natural look being an actual way of life. They are used to perms,
greasing scalps with Vaseline (lawd help ‘em) and using heat tools to keep hair
“manageable”. With that said, it took my family a while to truly accept it
because it is not societies definition of acceptable or professional, whatever!
I would always reassure them that this is MY hair, it is in amazing condition
& this is ME now! However, once they realized that this was a permanent
lifestyle change, they got used to it and now everyone LOVES my hair and how
it’s growing. Everyone is extremely
supportive now and always wants to touch it.

Describe your hair (fine or
coarse, thin or thick, highly porous, low, etc.)

My hair is every bit of COARSE, THICK,
KINKY, COILY, and has LOW POROUSITY!

What’s your current hair routine?
How often do you wash, condition, and style? favorite products! Deets!

My current hair routine is as simple as
possible. I try to wash my hair every week to two weeks depending on it’s
condition. I do shampoo my hair about twice a month and I co-wash in between. I
deep condition almost every time I wash my hair. After I wash my hair and it’s
clean, I usually use the LOC method and either two-strand twist or flat twist
it!

My favorite products at the moment are
Organic Coconut Oil, Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, Beautiful Textures
Moisture Butter, Olive Oil Eco Styler Gel, Aussie Moist Conditioner, Crème of
Nature Intensive Conditioner Treatment and Africa’s Pride Hair Mayonnaise!

How do you maintain your hair at
night?

At night, I either twist up my hair in flat
twists or two strand twists with water and butter and light oil if needed. Then
I tie up my hair with a satin scarf. Or, if my hair is in a puff or bun I will
spray a light mist of water then put on a scarf then go to bed.

How do you maintain healthy length?

I don’t do anything fancy I can tell you
that. All I do is make sure my hair is constant moisturized and my styles are
low manipulation such as twist outs, flat twists, buns and puffs.

What’s the best thing about being curly?

Oh my goodness there are sooo many great
things about being curly, but if I had to pick one, it would be the
versatility! One day I can have a big curly twist-out, then the next day an Afro,
then the next a slicked up top knot bun all in the same week!