My Hair Story - Tia

Introduce yourself…

Hi! My name is Tia and I currently live in Texas. I transitioned for 18 months and my last relaxer was January 11, 2010. I have been natural since July 24, 2011.

Are you relaxed, natural, texturized or texlaxed?

Natural

What’s your story, how did you get to where you are?

I initially began my hair journey wanting to learn more about growing long and healthy relaxed hair after my relaxed hair started breaking. While I was looking up how to take care of my hair, I learned more about natural hair and the great experiences others had with their natural hair.

I saw the range of hairstyles that I could do with natural hair and its versatility, as well as how healthy and thick natural hair was. After reading lots of information on YouTube, forums and blogs about natural hair, I was convinced that that was what I wanted to do.

What is your typical weekly regimen?

I wash my hair in six sections every two weeks with Giovanni Tea Tree Shampoo or Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream. I like to focus the shampoo on my scalp and wash the rest of my hair with the suds.

Then, I deep condition with Jessicurl deep conditioning treatment and mix it with a cheapie condition like Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa for two hours or overnight. About once a month I deep condition my hair with a protein conditioner like Greek yogurt mix or Aubrey Organics GBP, which I mix with a cheapie conditioner.

After deep conditioning*, I then apply my leave-in conditioner* which is Darcy Botanicals Curl Smoothing Cream or Giovanni Direct Leave-in. I then seal with Shea butter*.

My hair does not normally dry within one day or night after washing it so I either let my hair air dry for a couple of hours then style or I will put my hair in a simple and quick protective style for a couple of days and then take it down.  I normally do a protective style with two flat twists in the front and two braids in the back and pin up the ends. I take this style down a couple of days later and it creates a braid out look when I take it down.

About one week after I wash my hair I will moisturize and style my hair in a braid out. I spray my hair with water, moisturize with Karen’s Body Beautiful Super Duper Hydrating Cream , seal in the moisture with Shea butter*, and put my hair in about 9 braids.

I leave the braids in overnight and take them down the next morning. I like to do braid outs instead of twist outs because it stretches my hair more.  I just tried doing a flat twist and curl and it came out great, so I will probably start doing this style in between washes.

Are you happy with your progress so far?

I am very happy with how my hair has progressed. When I first became natural at 18 months post relaxer, I was a little past shoulder length. Now I am mid back length reaching for waist length

What’s your signature style?

I like to do a hair roll or flat twist in the front with a side part and a pony tail in the back.  This style seems to be the easiest style I can do and gets rid of some of the bulkiness of hair at my crown.

How do you ensure that your ends are protected from the elements and your hands?

I don’t do protective styles regularly, but I do have a low manipulation routine. I only style/comb my hair once a week, in between styling I do not retwist, curl, or braid my hair.

Do you have a goal length or are you more concerned about the health of your hair?

I’m concerned about the health of my hair but I would eventually like my braid out to reach bra strap length. Which may be around hip length if my hair was straightened.

Is there anything that you hair hates?

I tried doing a wash n go once and my hair became a tangled mess. It took a long time to detangle my hair afterwards and I experienced some breakage.

Do you have any favorite hair products?

I’ve been using Shea butter consistently to seal in the moisture since I became natural. I like that is provides hold for my styles and seals in moisture. I also like Darcy Botanicals Curl Smoothing Cream as a moisturizer and leave-in. I like the thick consistency and the smell is great.

Where can we find you online?

You can find me on YouTube, my name is tiajonay. My channel page link is https://www.youtube.com/user/tiajonay