Natural Hair Spotlight: Ro

Natural Hair Spotlight: Ro

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Our "Natural Spotlight" comes from none other than Ro, a sassy Virginia-native who is going natural for the second time around without a care in the world. Despite what others may say, she is boldly rocking her natural hair and dares anyone to questions her about it. 






1. Introduce yourself to us (are you: loc'ed, newly natural, natural-n-pressed, etc.)
My name is Ro, I'm in Richmond, VA born and raised (on the playground is where I spent most of my days...), I am a newly natural lady, I transitioned for 15 months before chopping off the permed ends not yet a whole month ago.


2. How long have you been natural and why did you decide to embark on this journey?
My last relaxer was in April of 2009. This was my second attempt at going natural. I can remember going to beauty salons for touch ups and them saying how "good" my hair was and how I should wear it natural.  I tried in 2005 but didn't have a wealth of knowledge (like I do now) to go forth with it so 4 months or so later I relaxed it again.  Last year I realized I never wear my hair out anyway so what purpose does it serve? I saw that being natural doesn't mean being "nappy"...so I let my hair grow out a bit and I loved the little waves in my new growth so I just kept going, and here we are.


3. How did people react to the changes you made to your hair? Were they supportive or against it?
All women LOVE IT! I get compliments from women of all ages and races. They ask me a million questions which I answer as best I can (I'm still new to this so I'm no expert) and I've even made some consider going natural themselves. Men however (which I found to be funny) aren't very supportive at all. I found it funny because they are always talking about how black women should wear their hair out and not wear a weave.  When I wore my hair in its curly state, men didn't look my way and my guy friends all stated how they liked wigs on me better. When I flat ironed it, however, they thought my hair looked great.


4. What's the one thing you've noticed about yourself since going natural?
I take better care of my hair.  I notice things about my hair (like how many gray hairs I have) or how it reacts to certain things (wind/rain/humidity), I know I (and I think alot of black women do too) see a relaxer as a "magic cream" you don't have to do anything extra to your hair because the relaxer solves all the issues you have. My hair has never, and I mean never been healthier than it is right now.


5. What's your hair regimen?
I'm still working out the kinks so to speak. I am trying to see what works but I deep condition for a few hours (usually 2-3) once a week with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration and a couple drops of carrot oil, put on two plastic caps and wrap my head in a towel (I try to avoid heat on my head as much as possible) and then air dry.  Once every two weeks I'll use a mix of apple cider vinegar and water as my mock shampoo, then condition with Organix Vanilla Silk (smells like birthday cake) and let air dry. I rub tea tree oil on my scalp because it's really dry around my edges in the front and a tiny bit of carrot oil on my hair. Throughout the week to rehydrate my hair (every other day) I'll spray this 'moisture concoction' I came up with (Water, Glycerin, Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla leave in conditioner, and Shea Butter).

6. Do you have any hair goals?
I don't really have any hair goals as far as length goes, I just want my hair to be as healthy as it can be. That's all I'm concerned about.


7. Natural hair: trend or lifestyle change?
It was definitely a lifestyle change for me. After seeing both sides of the fence (relaxed/natural) I can't see myself going back to that...especially since I looooooathe the hair salon.  LOL


8. What's one piece of advice you want to leave readers with?
Patience! Be patient with your hair. Rome wasn't built in a day and your hair is going to take some time to get it to where you want it to be, slow and steady wins the race.


9. Is there a blog or website we can follow you at? 
www.complexsimplicity-mythoughts.blogspot.com and on twitter my name is BeigeBunnie
Monique

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