Featured Curlie - Tamara

Name: Tamara a Canadian makeup guru. She can also be found at her website Beauty Thesis

Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario

First year of curlieness: I did a full transition; which started in 2006 and ran through 2009.

Why I went curlie: Relaxers weren't offering me much more than the hassle and burns.

Regime and products: I don't have a formal routine, I simply pay attention to the condition of my hair rather than enforce a strict schedule.

Generally, I co-wash (Organix nourishing coconut milk) my hair every few days and shampoo (Organix nourishing coconut milk) once a week. I de-tangle my hair while it's wet and soaked with conditioner using a classic Denman brush. Co-washes are followed up with leave-in conditioner. If I've used shampoo or I'm twisting my hair, I seal the ends with a blend of oils (extra virgin olive, grapeseed & sweet almond).

I trim my ends as needed, and it's always while I'm putting my hair into twists.

The best part of being curlie for me is: Finally understanding what my hair needs. I always liked my hair, but it was frustrating because nothing ever worked and it was just always a struggle. Learning about it's preferences and how to work with it to create the styles I wanted was a major achievement; as nobody ever seemed to know what to do with it. Now I can love it without reserve and that's a great feeling.

Spousal Hair Support

The subject heading sounds like a court order I know, but there is no other way to say it. I need to be truthful, I am receiving voluntary Spousal Hair Support.

The fact of the matter is when I first told my husband that I was going natural, he was unsure about my decision and was against me cutting my straight shoulder length hair off. So part of my reason of transitioning was not only for me to get to know my hair, but also to let him have the opportunity to see it's truth potential. With that said he, knew what I was about to do was not going to be easy for either of us and he supported me anyway, because he loves all of me not just my hair.

He seen the love I was developing for my curls and the special time I would give them, especially when it came down to detangling my transitioning tress, roller setting and sitting under the hood dryer every weekend or during the week. It became my other job, but I was dedicated.He also noticed how much healthier my hair and scalp was and that was important to him as well.

Soon enough he began to feel the love for my curls too. When I finally cut my hair it was a shock to the entire household, they didn't know what to expect. Yet, when I walked through the door he was there and he gave me a kiss, saying "it looks cute." That made me happy.

As the days turned into months, he loves it even more and so do I. He is even at the point where he does not find straight hair on black women attractive anymore. This makes me smile inside. He is now totally converted.

What has your experience been like with your husband or significant other? Do you have any tips for other Canadian Curlies out there?

Blessings and Curls,
B-Curlie

Curls Crave Moisture

When I first went natural, I had a hard time figuring out what Curlies meant by
sealing moisture. It’s not as simple as putting a moisturizer on your hair. Now that the colder is approaching, it’s imperative for you to maintain a healthy level of moisture in your hair, if not more than usual.

The definition of sealing is: A substance, especially an adhesive agent such as wax or putty, used to close or secure something or to prevent seepage of moisture or air, courtesy of The Free Dictionary, by Farlex.

To translate that into nourishing our hair, it means we need to seal in the moisture (ie: water or a water based-moisturizer) Please note that oil does not moisturize your hair but, certain types are great to use as a sealer. I enjoy using a few different oils such as almond, avocado, castor, extra virgin coconut oil is one of my favourites and I’ve just discovered apricot oil, which I am also starting to love.

It’s also important to mention that mineral oil or petroleum based products are not good for our hair, since they suffocate our scalp and hair. This stops our pores from breathing and also attracts dirt and lint which urns into build-up. Some Curlies are OK with this fact and still use mineral oil and petroleum based products, but I’m hesitant since my scalp often gives me an attitude and is super sensitive.

So as a rule of thumb, after washing your hair, applying a leave-in conditioner and moisturizer, it’s a good idea to seal in the moisture on your hair with oil. Depending on your hair type some oils may add shine or seem too heavy. So I’d advise you to play around and find out what sealer works best for you.

Blessings and Curls,
B-Curlie

Featured Curlie - Añya

Name: Añya of http://iheartmyhair.com or https://www.facebook.com/iheartmyhair

Hometown: Tdot O dot (currently) but raised in Ajax

First year of Curlieness: Well the first time I came out of my mamas womb. Then I desperately relaxed my hair as soon as I hit age 13. I wore a relaxer until my first year of university in 2003.

Why I went Curlie: I decided to wear my hair in a curlie style because I HATED the burns, the scabs, the dependency of altering my hair texture every 2 months, I could not deal with the over shedding of hair that would end up all over the bathroom floor. Then after a while of noticing that my hair would not grow pass a certain length, I knew that I had to stop.

Regime and products:
I wash, condition, detangle and protective style my hair once every two weeks so in 1 year I do this 104 times a time. I also deep condition my hair once a month.

As for products I'm really big on Natural ingredient, water soluble products from product line such as Jane Carter Solutions, Black Earth - Mist Bodifier as a moisturizer. I like Koils by Nature foam shampoo and Curl Gel and Curls products. These are my staple products that keep my hair looking fly.

The best part of being curlie for me is: VERSATILITY! I can go sooo many things to my hair. My Natural hair makes me feel more beautiful and more confident. When I get look in the mirror I see a open free beauty and not beauty that was once hidden by hair weaves and person. Being a curlista makes me feel and appreciate ME!

Natural is Beautiful

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the 7th Annual Natural Hair and Beauty Show here in Toronto. I went last year as well and knew I had to go again.

Let me just say that all natural styles are beautiful. I seen so many curlies that my head was spinning. It was so refreshing! Not only did everyone look good, but they also carried themselves with so much pride. It was an amazing group to be around, you definitely felt a connection.

The show featured everything from informative workshops, fashion shows, vendors with products, accessories and t-shirts galore and the food was amazing as well. In general a really good scene to be apart of.

On another note, I seen that there is a real hunger out there for knowledge about afro-textured hair. It's time to soak up as much information as possible about our curls. It's a shame many of us were not exposed to these forums earlier, but we can definitely show the next generation that wearing your hair in it's natural state is not only a viable option, but also incredibly beautiful. Feel free to share your thoughts...

Blessing and Curls,
B-Curlie

Featured Curlie - Shellene

Name: Shellene aka The Accidental Natural

Hometown: Montreal, Quebec, but now I'm a proud Torontonian!

First year of curlieness: 2008

Why I went curlie: It was kind of by accident. My hair was permed STRAIGHT (like bone-straight, no kink, wave or curl to be found) for my wedding in September 2007. As the weather cooled down, I decided to go into braids as usual until the spring. When I took my hair out, I finally noticed my new growth and it was so coily and strong, I wanted to know what my hair would look like completely natural. I hadn't seen my natural texture in 20 years. On the other side of that was relaxing my hair was destroying my scalp. I had all manner of scalp issues that relaxing was just exacerbating. I am allergic to coconut and I learned, as I was researching product ingredients when I went natural that the majority -- almost all -- commercial shampoos use coconut-based ingredients as their foaming agents. That could have been a reason why my scalp was forever flaking off.

Going 'curlie' didn't stop the scalp problem, but deciding not to relax made the problems more manageable. By September 2008, I decided to cut off my permed ends and take it from there. I didn't have a real plan or I didn't make a decision at the beginning to become natural - it just sort of happened organically.

Regime and products: My regime and products started off very complex - I read every blog and watched every video online. From that, I was buying up things like I was a Trump and trying all types of methods. I'm much too lazy and busy for all of that. So now my regime is to the point and simple. I have a hair goal to get to BSL, but I was finding it hard to get past APL. I don't believe in terminal hair growth - I knew it was my regime (i.e. playing up in my hair too much) that was hindering me from reaching my goal.

Now, I'm doing a year of twists. I wash my hair every two to three weeks with either a Henna Sooq shampoo bar (Berhempsu is my favourite) or use my Shea Moisture shampoos (black soap for dandruff and shea butter for moisture). I detangle with lots of conditioner (Tresemme) and wash my hair in sections. I'm trying to deep condition more regularly - I was using Silk Elements Megasilk Olive Moisturizing Treatment, but I find that my hair reacts better to straight shea butter and a heat cap. Next, I do medium sized or mini twists using either shea butter (can you tell I like some shea butter! LOL!), a natural gel like Kinky Curly Curling Custard or Essential Wholesale Styling Jelly (when the weather was humid) or Shea Moisture's Deep Treatment Masque. I wear the twists for two weeks, try to rock a twist out for a week and do the whole thing over again. I started in June and I've already seen a major improvement in terms of length. When my hair needs it, I'll moisturize with a mixture of rosewater, aloe vera juice and a little glycerin and seal everything in with olive oil.

The best part of being curlie for me is: There are a couple of good parts of being curlie. The major one is learning to embrace me for me. I know for a lot of curlies, going natural isn't anything more than not relaxing their hair, but for me it was a kind of awakening. I was learning to love my hair the way it grows out of my head and without using a chemical to make it into something that it wasn't. I find it fascinating that Black women are the only women on the planet who don't know what their real hair texture is and don't know how to look after their own hair. I was so tired of depending on relaxers and hair dressers, that going natural was like being freed. I can do my hair when I want. I can figure out what it needs. I know my hair better than anyone else -- I don't have to depend on anything but some water, shea butter and my two strong hands.

My Curlie Mom

When I first told my mother that I was going to transition an grow my perm out, she didn’t know what to say. I could tell that she was not sure about the idea, only because she wasn’t sure about my motives.

I explained to her that I wanted to be free from relaxing, in essence putting myself through an intervention if you will. I explained to her that even though I was early in my transition that I was already seeing the benefits of not being exposed to harsh chemicals.

Little did I know that almost a year after I started my transition my mom big chopped from her curly perm. She told me that she noticed that her hair was thinning because of all the years of perming.

She said that she realized that we had been brain-washed to think pressing and perming was the only way for our hair to be styled to look good. She now knows that is not true since the hair that grows out of our heads is naturally curly.

Since her big chop, my mom loves her curls and loves the fact that I went natural too. For her me going natural gave her an incentive to do so too. She now wears her natural hair with pride and is happy she left the relaxing and perming days behind. She is now free.

Are you an inspiration for others in your family to go curlie?  

Mom and Me

Curls and Blessings,

B-Curlie