Natural Spotlight: Jaimee

11:15:00 PM 1 Comments A+ a-

Meet, Jaimee, a newly natural that's still learning her hair and loving the journey. 


1. Introduce yourself to us (are you: loc'ed, newly natural, natural-n-pressed, etc.)
 Hi I’m Jaimee, I’m a Southern Girl through and through. i'm originally from New Orleans but have been residing in Houston for close to 5 years now. I’m newly natural and still getting the hang of my hair.

2. How long have you been natural and why did you decide to embark on this journey?
I have been natural since April 18, 2010, so for a little over 4 mos. I transitioned for close to 10 months until I could not take the 2 textures of hair any longer. I did my Big Chop on a Sunday evening with the help of my husband to shape it some. I decided to embark on this journey at the suggestion of my best friend who went natural. I saw how funky fresh her hair was as it grew. I was there with her struggles with the Teeny Weeny Afro to where she is now. I was like “I can do this and I think I have a decent enough grain of hair to make it happen.” LOL So she encouraged me and guided me through the process. And YouTube and hair blogs helped as well.

3. How did people react to the changes you made to your hair? Were they supportive or against it? 
Initially, I was shocked, confused and ready to retreat once I saw how much hair I cut off. But I embraced it and did my first attempt at a twist out. My husband had a look of “what have you done?” when I had finished cutting it. But he was like it’s just hair and helped me tackle the back to complete the cut. I had just started a new job, so no one there really had much to say. My mom was my biggest critic. She was totally against it. Kept telling me I was sooo beautiful with long, relaxed hair. At times, I let her words affect my mood about my hair. She lives away so I sent her pics and she wouldn’t have much to say except, “when are you gonna get a relaxer or at least a texturizer?” I think now she’s trying to accept that this is not a phase but how I want my hair to be. She still asks when I’m getting some chemical treatment. Now my friends were supportive, especially my lovely Twitter Friends. Gotta love them all for that support.

4. What's the one thing you've noticed that's changed about yourself since you started your journey?
I have honestly noticed everything about myself: My face (how naturally beautiful I am), my stride, my fashion sense. Everything is elevated when you’re nothing but face and little hair. So I guess this journey has gotten me to stop hiding behind my hair and face the world and myself. I’m more confident because I know it’s the real “ME” people see. I try to dress up my hair and myself a little more just because it makes me feel THAT much better about my choice to go natural. I have noticed that I don’t really care as much anymore about what others think of me. I used to be a stickler for what others thought. Now it’s all about how I feel and that’s all that matters. Even my husband has noticed that I’m more confident, even with my Thelma Evans afro…LOL

5. What's your hair regimen? 
I don’t have a real regimen as I’m trying to narrow down what works for me. I’m a proclaimed product junkie and like to try a little bit of everything.  What I try to keep consistent is my deep conditioning. I do it weekly, usually on a Saturday while I’m cleaning. I may co-wash once a week just to do a wash-n-go. But nightly, I spritz with a leave in and some oil, put my trusty bonnet on and take it to bed. I’m still working on my protective styles, like twists, braids and the like.  I will update you on that progress when I get there. Usually, I wear wash-n-go’s or a lazy girl puff.

6. Do you have any hair goals?
Short term: To practice and master protective styles fashionably. I would like to learn what my hair needs (I’m not the most attentive person) as opposed to what I want to give it. Also, I would like to pen down a simple regimen and rid myself of all the products under my cabinet.

7. What has been the most difficult thing for you during your transition? 
During my transition, the most difficult thing was maintaining my strength to actually fulfill my goal of going natural. There were days when I would dial my stylist and hang up cuz I knew she would try to talk me into relaxing.  

8. Is there a blog or website we can follow you at?
Not currently…




1 comments:

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Serenity3-0
AUTHOR
September 21, 2010 1:46 PM delete

Yeah Jaimee! I didn't know you were featured.

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