To Kate: you may kill me for this…Your interview got lost in the midst of my email, but netter late than never!
P.S: I love your interview, its in my top 5 loves! lol
Introduce Yourself.(Your name, interest, hobbies etc)
my name is kate. i am a student, taking bachelor of commerce as my first degree then later on taking medicine for my second degree.. i’m twenty years of age. i love making myself happy and not having to be tied down to any man…lol, thats in other words translated to mean that am single and loving it 🙂
i have a great interest in medicine, thats why i want to take it as a second degree. i also like experimenting on natural products like putting egg into my hair and letting it sit under a shower cap for about two hours then later washing it out…i find that fun. i also love to play the piano but havent gotten a chance to ever since i finished high school. when i was in high school i had a really good book that would teach me how to play piano cuz it was numbered and not drawn those crotchetted symbols for music. i am a first aider by profession too so i tend to always be on the look out for anyone needing my assistance. my hobbies are writing…not books but my blog or journal… i love watching movies on a laptop..i find movies on the television screen abit boring so ad prefer to have them in dvd format and watch on the lappy.
Why did you decide to let the Creamy Crack go or were you Natural All Your life?
haha, creamy crack is a really funny term…am literally dying of laughter here…lol, nwa, i decided to let it go when i realized just how much damage it had caused me. my hair was so dead and broken and brittle and … horrible i was not even able to rock my own hair. i always had to hide it beneath weaves, wigs, braid extensions and all those sort of things. i wasnt happy that i wasnt being myself with all the fake things on my head. so i finally decided on 12-12-2010 to go to the salon and get my big chop. to show you just how much i hated that relaxed hair is that i have looked all over and i cant seem to find a picture of me with the relaxed hair…i couldnt rock it on its own. i am now 24 days natural and i will not go back the relaxed route again…never!!
What was the hardest part of going Natural for you?
the hardest part is that i have always had a problem with my self esteem. i tend to always care about what other people think about me than what i myself thinks about myself. like now, i went and had the haircut and what other people thought of it is what could have kept me going. its something horrible and i need to change that asap!! its a new year, new hairstyle and definitely, new attitude… complete 2011 package… another hard part was that due to all the braiding and lack of maintenance of my relaxed hair, my ends broke horribly horribly horribly so having had my hair cut, the ends are really visible right now so it kinda makes me abit scared to rock the natural hair but am trying to outgrow that fear.
the other part was finding the products that i had seen people on youtube, twitter, blogs suggested. i wasnt really sure if i would get them cuz am currently in africa and i have never cared for my hair so i was abit scared that i wouldnt know how to use the products well and such.
Once You BC’ed what were the reactions and your support system like?
haha, when i bc’d, i loved the look so so so much that the first thing i did was to upload a photo onto my facebook page and shock on myself, everyone was like, wow you look amazing, your hair rocks, the haircut is definitely the new hot, bla bla bla, so i was so so happy that some people loved the cut.
my youngest brother though, haha, he was really against me cutting my hair. i dont even know if he wanted me to stay with my patches of hair when it was relaxed or what. he was so against me cutting it that he would always go like, “dont even walk with me, now why did you cut your hair….” lol. so i decided to go visit my nana and spend about a month…boy oh boy, didnt my brother miss me, he kept calling to tell me of how much he misses me, how much he loves me,,,,lol, anyway, babies are like that.
my grandmother on the other hand was so amazed, she was so so happy that i had chosen the nappyroute and every day, she would tell me of how beautiful my hair was… i was very happy and it instilled some little confidence in me that this days i walk out and when am halfway gone, i realize, oh, am walking with my twa and somehow, i get so much strength that when i see people stare at me, its because the twa looks too amazing 🙂
Do you ever feel less than Beautiful with your Low cut? How do You deal with it?
yes i do sometimes feel less beautiful with my twa. i am used to people complimenting my braided hair and all that and really, my twa is very much braid-able with extensions but i want to avoid that because of my broken edges for now…later, i will braid my own natural hair and be able to rock twist outs and flat twists and etc.
how i deal with that is by always talking with people who are natural like me. they may have long natural hair and when they tell me of their journeys, i realize that they sure did go through the twa phase and now they are where they are and with determination, i will also reach there and probably past them 🙂 lol. i also tend to frequently use the products that i love and they boost my esteem so when i feel that my hair feels great, i definitely will feel good about myself and my low cut
i am newly natural so am experimenting on products to see which one works best for me and i think natural products that you can DIY are the best… i bought so many hair products that i decided, once am done with them, i will just stick to the natural foods that we eat and drink like eggs, yogurt, honey, tea, coffee and the likes 🙂
What Motivates You to stay Natural? Do you Join Forums, blog, create items etc…
what motivates me to stay natural is the fruits of it. when i look at relaxed hair, to me it looks dead. you cant really style it other than by putting more and more chemicals to make it look amazing but still, with hair that is sticking on each other and has no life is just dead to me. actually, i love a full head, and relaxer does not look or feel full to me. with being natural, it is how God intended you and i to be. you know when he created us, he didnt put any relaxers on our heads to thereby call us beautiful, he called you beautiful with your natural hair. God does not lie so i figured that if he called me beautiful then i was beautiful indeed. relaxers now are going against God and if i look ugly because of relaxers, i shouldnt blame it on God cuz really, he called me beautiful when i didnt have relaxers so why should i try make myself more beautiful than how God already made me? such questions are what motivate me. i also see that natural hair grows really long and healthy and with relaxed hair, its rather hard to have such great lengths. i just joined kinky curly coily me’s forum on natural hair and am yet to look for others so that i can join and get to learn more about natural hair. yeah i do have a blog and i read many of the blogs on natural hair too…every day. i also create for myself items like hair smoothies mostly 🙂 but i dont sell…. they are just for me..naturally selfish huh?! i want to test them on me then if they do good, i can sell…maybe,
Going Natural has impacted your life by….
going natural has actually made me more spiritual. the thought of thinking i am beautiful naturally has just made me so glad that all i can do is give glory and honour unto my heavenly father. what i just said up there about how he created us really opened my eyes. i was actually angry with God because i would always wonder why is it that he gave me such bad hair, when relaxed, and going natural made me realize that he did not give me the relaxed hair but better yet, he gave me the natural hair that is beautiful so i shouldnt blame God (sudanese name for dont blame God, happens to be my close friend’s name, Chakuothbel)
What was the craziest remark you have received about Your New hairstyle?
haha, immediately i shaved my hair, the beautician that was doing that to me said it looked amazing but that i should put color the next weekend?!!!!?!?!?!! whaaat?!!!!!! i just shaved because of chemical damage and now she wants to put more chemicals on my hair…noooo!! i was watching black onyx videos and there is one she says that she had to shave again because of the color damage…. now that is not what i want, absolutely not!!
another comment i actually gave myself, i was wondering, wow, your edges are so broken that you look like your literally shaved your sides for a natural mohawk look…lol, i am always looking at my ends with tears in my eyes…but i hear castor oil helps them grow…av been massaging castor oil on the edges and really praying that they will grow back… i dont even know what kept me relaxed for so long…regrets 🙁
What products do you use currently on Your hair that you can not live without?
haha, like i said, i just big chopped my hair so am still experimenting on my products so for now you can call me a product junkie who is in pursuit of her staple products.
i use shampoos with SLS but i am looking for one without it.
i use protein conditioner for himalaya products that is just too amazing, this one al keep.
i have hair oils, olive hair oil with conditioner which i love and will definitely continue using because it moisturizes my hair and conditions it at the same time, making it coily and well moisturized.
i have a t-tree organics leave in conditioner and i like it but it only locks in the moisture for a while and before i know it, my hair is dry again….. what do i do about moisture?? its my hardest bit about being natural
Do You have any hair goals that you wish to achieve?
yeah i want long healthy…healthy… and, eermmm, did i say healthy,… yeah healthy hair. the length can be anywhere past shoulder length, preferably midback lenght.. when it gets here i will be so so so so so happy but am not saying that longer will be bad, but mid back length will surely be good and i guess managable
What has been the best piece of advice you have relieved thus far?
the best piece of advice was from curlynugrowth, where she advized me on washing my hair daily… not with a shampoo, just washing it daily because stimulating the scalp enhances growth. you can also put a conditioner in after washing the hair because those oils are good so i normally take my shower twice a day and i definitely do shower without a showercap because i wet and massage the scalp in circular motion.
another advice i got but cant remember from who was about putting lots of oils on your hair prior to shampooing it.
another was where i was told that if your shampoo has SLS, you can add water and olive oil in it to dilute the SLS..amazing right?! 🙂
What Would Be Your advice for those struggling with the Big Chop?
hmm, my advice would be that, “We Are Here Together.”..lol, cz am also struggling with my big chop…but i would ask them to get to talk to people who have gone down the same road and are reaping its benefits right now. also watching alot of the youtube videos is rather encouraging when you see that you arent the only one natural and there are some really great people that will help you. sometimes i know, one may feel like asking too many questions bugs someone, but the secret to that is to ask politely and not to argue when answered.. you know there are such kinds of people where when they ask you something, they start arguing with you until your left wondering, okaaaay, if you knew that then why did you ask?! yeah 🙂
Any Closing remarks?
hmm, i have written alot and i do hope its gonna be helpful to someone. there is plenty of advice out there on natural hair but you have to be choosy as to what to listen to and what not to. like me for example, my edges are broken. people tell me to braid my hair so that it grows, fine, that may be a possibility. then other people tell me that hair grows daily so i should just let it relax, it will grow on its own that i should just wash it daily and keep it moisturized. knowing that my edges are broken, of course i will listen to the one telling me to wash it and let it be. so, we can all think, its not wrong to ask questions when you dont understand something, but its also good when you weigh your options rationally. otherwise, i still have my twa, bought new earrings to compliment the look and am glad i chose the natural way. i assure you, no regrets what so ever when you have your hair moisturized 🙂
Where can we find you on the internet?
well, you can find me about anywhere on the internet when you look up ‘quarurii’ on the internet.
my email is quarurii@hotmail.com
twitter is @quarurii
youtube is quarurii
blogsite is quarurii.blogsite.com
livejournal is also quarurii
everything of mine is just quarurii