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So today I'm going to be interviewing another 4B as she calls herself. I think I'm a 4B
too. And she lives in the Maryland area her name is Alexis.
And we just want to find out about your natural hair journey.
I have been natural now for 4 years and I have loved every minute of it! Sharon: Really?! Every minute? Alexis: Every minute! Sharon: So there was never a time when you
were like "this isn't going to work for me"? Alexis: Never! It had to work, it just had to work. I never thought about going back
I think maybe once I did, but I think it was just
because I was really frustrated at the amount of time it would take for me to get my hair
the way I wanted it to. But that was probably once in the four years. Sharon: Was that in the beginning?
Alexis: No, it was about a year or two ago. Just kind of a passing thought, like I think I'm gonna
do it. Sometimes I'll even have nightmares that I went to a shop and I got a perm and
I was devastated like all of my years of hard work is gone and I have to start all over.
Sharon: What do you think that stemmed from? Boredom? Alexis: I thinks its just because my lifestyle was
so busy it required a lot of time and because I like to have my hair a particular way it
just takes a lot of time for it to get there. Sharon: But now you're in it to win it? Alexis: Oh absolutely yeah!
When I first told him I was gonna go natural and cut my hair, we had just got married
a year before so we were newly married and he wasn't a huge fan of the natural hair thing.
But I think because he is just naturally supportive he did support me when I came home with a
short afro. He actually put color in my hair the first time! We had a nice bonding experience
then. During my whole journey he has just been really supportive and now he absolutely
loves it. So he went from not initially feeling natural hair to now he LOVES natural hair.
Even when my hair was long and I would get it pressed out he would say I prefer your
hair curly better. It's kind of interesting. Sharon: Very nice.
My family loved it and it's so funny you asked because I was the first person in my family to go natural. I think, or maybe
my sister, I don't remember but immediately after that my younger sister went natural,
my older sister went natural, my mom went natural, my niece was later born and she's
natural 8 years later so we're all doing the same thing.
It's definitely my "*** Curly Knot Today", I absolutely love this stuff and I've been using it since the day I got it
cut. This is definitely my go-to. Now that I've cut my hair, I actually grew it out really
long and I just cut my hair recently so one thing that I definitely need is Shea Butter.
I just get that from a local market here in Baltimore. A huge tub of it and I use that
when I'm twisting my hair with some water and that really keeps the definition really
nice. I really like "Jane Carter Solution Nourish and Shine" it smells really good and what I
use it for is after I twist my hair, when I'm taking it out and I separate my twists
or my curls, I use this, it adds shine, smells really good and helps it last long.
I have to wash my hair once a week. Because my scalp is really dry and even though my style may
last longer than that, I definitely have to wash it about once a week.
It's interesting, what I do with this is after I wash it and condition I use "Knot Today" and then my
"*** Curly Curling Custard" and I use that for the shortest part of my hair. The back and on
the sides just coiling my fingers through and twisting it. And then when I get to the
longer part that's when I do a two-strand twist and then I do a twist out the next day.
Typically I try to do it during the day because my twists will dry but interestingly enough
my shorter hair won't. It will still be wet and then with the "*** Curly" if I sleep on
it, it will mat itself down so I try and make sure that the shorter part of my hair is dry and I let my twists dry over night.
After I wash it, probably about 3 hours.
Sharon: Including the shampoo and conditioning? Alexis: That's just the actual styling because my shampoo and
conditioner actually only takes about 15 minutes. After that it's about 3 hours because it takes
an hour just to do the shorter part.
I start from one ear and work to the other section by section. I take it and with the "*** Curly" I do my fingers like this and to define each
coil section and I work my way around and that takes me about an hour. Sharon: For the back?
Alexis: Yes. Sharon: Wow. That is so cool! But it lasts! Exactly it lasts the entire week so even though it
may seem time consuming upfront it kind of works itself out if you think about over a
7 day course. In the morning I typically easily wake up, take my bonnet off and just run my fingers through it like that and go.
I actually wanted to have my entire hair this color and then go back through with some lighter highlights in the front but because I have really dark
features, my eyebrows are dark. I thought that it probably would clash so she just left
the shorter part of my hair in it's natural color and just added this color on top with
a few highlights in it. And I really like it. Sharon: Do you notice that your hair has a different
texture now that it's colored? Or did she use something that works well with natural
hair so that it wouldn't dry out? Alexis: Yeah it definitely works well with natural hair. I
can't remember exactly what she used but my hair hasn't broken off and its still really
healthy and it has retained its texture and its length. Sharon: Can we see the back? Fabulous!
My stylist's name is Rochelle she is amazing! She does almost 90 percent of her clients are natural so
I just brought her a picture that I found on Google and the style is called a "Tapered TWA"
I showed her a picture of what I wanted, I sent it to her through a text and she duplicated it in about 20 minutes. She is awesome.
I wanted something easier. Like I mentioned my lifestyle is really busy
so I wanted to remain natural but at the same time I wanted something that was a little
less maintenance. And I noticed that when my hair was longer it took me a lot of time
just to wash it it would take me about an hour. So with my hair short it only takes me about 15 minutes so that saves me 45 minutes right there.
I think one of the main things that I notice is my hair is healthier. When I was relaxed, I think at the age of, I started getting a
relaxer when I was 5. So by the age of 13 the back of my hair broke off and it refused
to grow and it refused to straighten. So that meant that I couldn't wear a lot of up styles
because my hair would be straight and the back would be "***". So I didn't really like
that I would always have to wear my hair down. So when I went natural I noticed that my hair
texture changed. It was much softer than I thought it would be. Much more manageable
and it actually grew. So I have hair places now that I didn't have when it was relaxed.
I think just enjoying my hair in it's natural state, that it's healthy, that it's different
it's interesting. I find it interesting that my hair grows up and it doesn't grow down
which is something unique to us. I really like it and I'm learning a lot about it.
I really appreciate it's DESIGN!