Gahl Inspiration corner with Christine!!
March 27, 2015 |
| October 2012 |
Hi ladies, I am so excited about Gahl´s first Inspiration of 2015! I actually know Christine since we met in form one at St George´s girls secondary school in Nairobi :) I have been stalking her hair on facebook and I just loved her progress! Her hair is so healthy! I would like you to note that she has type 4C hair. Most ladies I have met with 4C hair literally have a phobia of wearing their hair natural. I hope this feature helps you to realise that whatever your hairtype it is BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you Christine for being an inspiration for us today!
1. First
of all I love your hair!! How long have you been natural?
Thank you J.
It took a while to understand and appreciate it. I have been natural since
December 2011.
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| December 2011 |
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| February 2013 |
2. Were
you relaxed at some point? If yes when and for how long?
Yes I was relaxed for as long as I can remember,
primary school maybe? I don’t remember the year but clearly too long haha.
3. What
made you go natural? How did you go about it?
It was a barrage of things but let me give you some
background. When I moved to the States back in 2007 the change in climate,
food, everything wreaked havoc on my body! I broke out like crazy, skin was
perpetually dry, my hair was thinning and shedding like mad. I believe my body
was rebelling against me. I figured if this went on without making some changes
I would end up looking like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. So I started eating
healthier, changed my hair products to natural ones where I could and even
changed my hair practices like incorporating moisturizing and sealing. Oh! I
also went for long periods without relaxing. My hair thrived! It got close to bra
strap length and then…I decided to relax it…myself. I did NOT want to spend
$120 for someone to do my hair. I had done it before but I think that day I was
lazy with no energy and I did a sloppy job. A LOT of hair at the back of head
and some other odd points fell out I kid you not from over processing. I
couldn’t believe what I had done! It was at that point that I decided once I
grew out my hair a bit more I would never relax my hair ever again. I was
traumatized haha! I started doing research on natural hair and was so amazed by
it all. I wanted big ass hair, and besides, it looked really unique.
I initially tried to transition but after three months
I could not handle the two textures so I made the appointment to cut all my
hair off. I went with my best friend and up until that point I was super
excited…until it was all chopped off, and it shrunk, and I panicked HAHA. I
thought I had made the biggest mistake ever! After a couple of weeks it grew on
me but honestly I tried to mask the slightly low esteem with makeup, jewellery,
you know, to draw attention away from my hair. Thing is SO many people loved
it, except me. I guess I thought my hair would look one way but it turned out
another.
5. Is
your natural hair much easier to deal with than when it was relaxed? What
differences have you noted.
In terms of time my natural hair takes SO much more
than when it was relaxed. The detangling, sectioning into twists before
shampooing, removing and redoing each twist for conditioning, air
drying then moisturizing and styling wololos. At least as the years have gone
by I have gone from an all-day hair day (since I didn’t know what I was doing)
to about 3 hours. That may seem like a lot of time but it is not continuous.
Some of that time involves me resting and watching TV.
6. Do
you have a regular hair care routine? Please tell us more about that.
I wash my hair every weekend and that involves
shampooing, conditioning (I rarely deep condition anymore) and then
moisturizing/styling. During the week I will moisturize my hair once more. Also
I like to steam my hair in the mornings as I shower for about a minute to add some
moisture.
7. How
do you style your hair?
After cleaning hair that initial styling involves
braiding hair for braid outs or hanging bantu knots. After those have worn out
I will wear my hair in a super loose puff until the next time I moisturize or
even next wash day. I have tried intricate styles before but my hair is so fine
I felt like they were doing more harm than good. For instance, I tried pin and
tuck styles and the matting of my ends when taking the style down??!?!?! Nope.
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| Add caption |
8. Where
do you get your hair products? Which one is your favorite and why?
I have tried sooo many products so I can just tell you
what I have been using lately. I use the shampoo and conditioner from the Thank
God I’m Natural online store and they soften the hair so well.
I dampen hair with rose water (plain water wasn’t
cutting it for me and I gave up on leave ins) and then use a shea butter mix
that I concocted and love. The mix has shea butter, safflower oil and aloe vera
gelly (not the gel) and also softens the hair well J.
9. Do
you have any hair goals for this year?
I don’t want it to break off haha. I have been getting
lazy and my ends are starting to suffer. You know when you separate your hair
and the ends stick together? Yeah..shame on me.
10. Does
your natural hair fit well with your professional life?
Yes it does. Sometimes it feels like my coworkers are
more vested in my hair than I am. Oh the stories I can tell of people coming
and touching my hair without asking, even in the bathrooms by people who work
in other offices. *cringe*
11. Do
you get regular trims? Yes/No and why?
I TRY to trim my own hair with the change in seasons. I
do it myself because I am not about to pay $100+ just to trim.
12. Have
you faced any negativity towards your natural hair at any point of your hair
journey?
In the beginning, yes, from some family members.
Making fun of how I “looked like a crazy person” because it was “unkempt”. I
will admit that sometimes it did but in my defense I really did not know what I
was doing, and with super short hair there are limited styling options. But
now? As my hair has grown those same peeps just love it. *side eye*
13. Do you
know your hair type? (How would you describe your curls? Are they
uniform or would you say you had different textures all over your head?)and how
does that affect how you style your hair?
I am a 4c and the front of my head is a bit looser but
I still consider it 4c. I do need to make sure it’s properly moisturized
because the coils are so tight that sebum can barely reach the ends of the
strands.
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| November 2013 |
14. Do
you think the curl pattern determines how fast hair grows or what kind of
styles can be done on the hair? What hairstyles do not work with your curl
pattern?
Growth is a genetic thing, has nothing to do with curl
pattern. Ofcourse looser curls will “seem” like they are growing longer in
comparison to tighter coils but that’s in the same manner as your hair looking
longer when you straighten hair. Make sense? Lol.
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| November 2014 wash and Go! I find the shrinkage amazing! |
I definitely do not do wash and
go’s, I have tried and my hair shrunk up so much that trying to stretch it out
was a disaster.
15. What
advice would you give the newbie naturals about being natural and going
natural?
Despite the taking more time and the learning curve, I
LOVE my natural hair, and I wish I had gone natural eons ago. It feels like me. There is A LOT of information out
there about natural hair care and you may have to try out a lot of it to find
what works.
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| December 2014 |
6. What
do you think makes up a perfect healthy hair care journey?
I don’t think there is a perfect one, it can always
change. As long as you properly moisturize your hair and take care of it
without it consuming your life you are good!
Welcome to Grow African Hair Long (GAHL)
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