Natural Hair Spotlight: Meet Kelley and Krystal!

Hey y'all!

So as promised, the month of November will be "Natural Hair Spotlight" month on my blog! I gathered some friends and family and asked them to answer some questions for y'all, and each week in the month of November, I will post the interviews of two of my guest bloggers! This way you can have new references from people on all different walks in their hair journey and they get a chance to share and inspire! I hope y'all enjoy and that you gain some insight from these amazingly amazing naturals :) So let's get started!

To kick things off, here are my interviews from my sisters, Kelley and Krystal!

                                                                       Meet Kelley!!
                                                                 

Name: Kelley  

Age: 25
Describe your “pre-natural hair”: My hair was actually not bad when it was relaxed. It was short, shoulder length but it never grew past that point.
How long have you been natural: I have been natural 3 years this month! :)
What made you decide to return to your curls: My sister encouraged me to go natural after I had stopped getting relaxers due to pure frustration of harsh chemicals and a burning scalp.
Did you transition or big chop: I transitioned for 15 months before I big chopped.
What made you choose one over the other: Honestly, I was afraid to have a TWA. I work in DC and I wasn’t sure if people would find it professional.
How long has it been since your big chop: 1 year and 9 months
How did your friends/significant other/family react to your decision: Everyone seemed to love it! I actually got a lot of great feedback and encouragement.
How do they feel now: They are still amazed at how much my hair has grown, and how fast it grew! My co-workers and friends love seeing my curls stretched out!
How is your natural hair viewed in the workplace/at school/among friends: My natural hair is perceived really well. In fact, I love the excitement when I do something different with my hair. It's fun to see other people enjoy something that makes me unique :)
How do you normally style your hair/what are your go-to styles: My new go to style is wash, cool blow dry and quick chunky twist out. It’s the fastest style I have found so far. I learned the hard way that my 4b natural hair does not like wash and goes.
Are you a “I want to experiment with my hair weekly” kind of natural, or a “Put it in some braids or twists for a few months at a time and call it a day" kind of natural: I am a “put it in a twist out and hope and pray it lasts 2 weeks” type of girl! The less time I spend on my hair the better for everyone haha! The longer my hair grows, the thicker it gets and maintaining it gets even harder. So the quicker the better when it comes to styling. I got micro mini twists and I somehow made them last 3 months. Take down was an epic disaster but it was worth the break.
If you could do whatever you wanted to your hair, what would you do (funky cut, color, etc.): I wouldn’t do a thing haha! I’m too nervous! Besides straightening once a year, experimenting with different styles and cautiously trimming my ends, that’s the most adventures I will be for a while.
What are your must-have staple products/oils: I’ve just discovered Carol’s Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey. It smells wonderful and my hair loves it for twists. It gets a little greasy but by day 2 or 3 its perfectly moisturized and soft. I will always live by my Eco styler gel. My hair does not like creams, hair lotions or leave ins. It, literally, only likes oils, light gels or pomades.
What is the biggest life lesson you have learned on your natural hair journey: That the natural me is the best me. I used to straighten my hair until my whole house or dorm room smelled like burning hair and filled the air with more smoke than a Snoop Dogg concert. It feels great that I can be myself and face the world with the hair I was always intended to embrace. 

If you could change one thing about your journey thus far, what would you change: Absolutely nothing. Every bad hair day was a lesson learned and another chance to change it up! I got to experience transitioned hair, short hair, and all natural hair. It’s been a delightful, journey filled with ups and downs and a lot of hard work.
What has been your biggest personal gain since the start of your journey: I have gained a wonderful sense of sincerity. I feel sincere when I face the world, like “hey world, this is me, love it or hate. But if you hate it who cares because I love it! :)
Any advice for anyone considering taking the leap into returning to their curls: Oh my grace, jump! Leap! Do it! It’s an amazing journey and if you keep your eye on the prize, on your goals and hair dreams you will make it! Please trust me, it is sooo worth it! :)

Meet Krystal!

Name: Krystal Nicole Butler
Age: 25
Describe your “pre-natural hair”: Relaxed (Thin, weak, damaged)
How long have you been natural: My last relaxer was February of 2012, so I have been without a relaxer for 2 years and 9 months.
What made you decide to return to your curls: After my last relaxer, I noticed that my shoulder length hair was slowing becoming extremely thin and starting to fall out. One day, my (then) boyfriend, Keith, came to my apartment to pick me up for dinner and I opened the door and started crying. As I stood in the doorway, holding strands of my fallen hair in my hands, I explained to him that there was something wrong and I didn’t know how to fix it. He calmed me down and asked me a series of questions: “What do you want your hair to look like?” In between tears I said, “Thick and long and healthy.” “Ok. What can you do to get it that way,” he asked. I thought about what it took for me to style me hair: get it relaxed, wash and condition every week, flat iron (with retouches almost daily) and “moisturizing” my scalp with hair grease. I thought about the burns I would get each and every time I got a relaxer. “What if I stopped getting my hair relaxed?” I asked him. “I think that would be a good idea,” he said. That night I Googled something like, “What if I stopped relaxing my hair?” Since I had chemically straightened hair since before I could remember, I had no idea what my hair would look like without one. A few Youtube videos popped up about “Natural Hair” and the rest was history.
Did you transition or big chop: I transitioned before I did my big chop.
What made you choose one over the other: I chose to transition my hair only because I did not quite know what I was doing. After watching a bazillion Youtube videos of women styling their beautiful TWA’s (tennie-wennie afros) I was ready to start my journey too.
How long did you transition before your big chop: After transitioning for 9 months, I decided to do a big chop.
How did your friends/significant other/family react to your decision: In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving (in 2012) I told my little sisters, Kelley and Kimie, that I was going to big chop. They were extremely hesitant and tried to convince me to “stick it out” and let my hair grow out and then cut it once it was long enough. My boyfriend, Keith, was really supportive. I kept telling him that my hair would be really short and super thick and curly. “You won’t be able to run your fingers through my hair anymore,” I warned. “I always thought it was weird that I could run my fingers through your hair,” he replied. (Since his mother and sister had been natural for quite some time, he was used natural hair and TWA’s.) My Grandmother, or ‘Mema’ as we called her, was my biggest fan. I would call her weekly and tell her about my new growth and how I couldn’t wait for it to be long and healthy. My Mema never liked relaxers so she was thrilled to know that I wouldn’t be getting them anymore. After Thanksgiving dinner, I pulled away from the table, went to the bedroom and starting cutting away! When I went to work the next day, some of my coworkers were not impressed. Throughout the day I heard a mix of positive and not so positive comments like, “What did you do?” and “I liked it better the other way” ; “it’ll look better once it grows out a little” and “you could always put a hot comb to it.” Some of them (those who understood the natural hair movement) had such nice things to say “you look beautiful, girly” and “I love it!”
How do they feel now: Keith and I are married now and he is still a fan of my natural hair. My twin sister, older sister and mother are all natural now! Though my little sister Kimie was already natural, I taught her about natural hair, how to take care of it, and introduced her to lots of styles. I no longer work with the same coworkers I did when I big chopped, but some of them follow my hair journey on social media and ‘like’ my pictures and post really nice comments. Before she passed my Mema would always express how much she loved my hair. “It’s so healthy and full!” she would say every time I did a twist out. Her favorite hair style I had ever done was when I cut my own bangs a few years back when I was relaxed. She would always ask me to cut them again, but I told her I wasn’t going to cut my hair again for a while. I just recently cut my bangs and now I see why she loved them on me so much. I wish she was here to see them now.
How is your natural hair viewed in the workplace/at school/among friends: At work, I get a lot of positive feedback about my hair. I have realized that two strand twist and twist outs are much more appreciated than a stretched out Afro. Almost all my friends love my natural hair and enjoy seeing its versatility just as much as I do.
How do you normally style your hair/what are your go-to styles: I almost always have some sort of twist out or two strand twist. As it gets longer it takes more time to style it this way however it last for as long as I need it to and requires no up-keep throughout the week.
Are you a “I want to experiment with my hair weekly” kind of natural, or a “Put it in some braids or twists for a few months at a time and call it a day” kind of natural: I love to experiment with my hair but since I am very busy throughout the week, I try to do styles that are easily interchangeable. For example: I’ll wash and style my hair on Saturday in two-strand twist. For the weekend I may wear the twist in a half up half down style. On Monday and Tuesday I may wear then in a top knot. On Wednesday and Thursday I’ll unravel the twist and wear them down and on Friday I’ll pick the curls out for an extra large curly fro.
If you could do whatever you wanted to your hair, what would you do (funky cut, color, etc.): I have considered coloring my hair deep red using henna dye, but I really love my natural hair color so I always talk myself out of doing it. If I could make my hair grow to be waist length over night, I would! I can’t wait for it to be long already. I don’t like shrinkage, it drives me crazy, so I would get rid of it. I do really miss my hair length when I initially big chopped. Once I get tired of wearing it long, I will most likely cut it all off and start over again
What are your must-have staple products/oils: Eco styling gel. Although I do not use it as often as I used to, it is a staple in my bathroom cabinet! My hair texture is closer to 4B/C (tightly coiled) so without a little gel, my natural curls are not very defined once my hair dries. Eco does a great job of defining my curls and holding down my ‘baby’ hairs! I use Trader Joes Tea Tree Shampoo and Conditioner (mostly I co-wash and only shampoo if I’ve used a lot of gel or product). I also love the Trader Joes Jojoba oil. Those are basically the only products I’m currently using.
What is the biggest life lesson you have learned on your natural hair journey: The biggest life lesson I have learned is how freeing it is to be 100% natural. It’s crazy to think about when I used to go to the hair salon and hear the stylist complaining about how thick and ‘nappy’ my hair was and how it needed to be fixed. It hurts my heart that those words were used to describe hair that I now know is absolutely spectacular. Black hair, especially in its natural state and texture is amazing. Its ability to take any shape, hold any style, be any length, texture, color and display any mood or expression is something that is unique to men and women of African descent and is a trait that I am proud to posses. Through my natural hair journey I have developed a new found sense of pride in being women of color. It’s difficult to be a minority in almost all aspects of your life and not feel pressure to conform to the majority. As a result of my natural hair journey I have sought to celebrate (not eliminate) my differences and become as comfortable in myself as possible. I love that I have discovered this sense of freedom within my natural myself. It is because of it that if I choose to wear makeup or flat iron my curls, I now view it as an accessory or style verses an improvement or ‘fix.’
If you could change one thing about your journey thus far, what would you change: The only thing I would change about my journey is that I would have started it sooner! Much sooner!
What has been your biggest personal gain since the start of your journey: The biggest personal gain I’ve received as a result of my natural hair journey is the ability to not take negative comments to heart. One day at work, before I began transitioning, a white co-worker of mine said to me that she had always been told that she had “bad hair” much like “black people hair” which she described as coarse, nappy and dry. She then grabbed my hair, rubbed it and said “yep, just like that!” I was always confused by that exchange because at the time my hair was as straight as hers, and soft. I realized then, that no matter what we change about ourselves, sometimes people can’t see passed the stereotypes or assumptions they have engrained in their minds. When that comment was made, I instantly began thinking of more ways to improve myself. Now, when people make a negative comment about my hair, I don’t even get sad or offended anymore. What’s cool about being natural is that it can’t get any better. If people have a problem with my natural hair then they must take it up with God. I didn’t create my hair, I just simply maintain it.
Any advice for anyone considering taking the leap into returning to their curls: Take a deep breath. Do research. And go for it. Your hair is amazingly versatile so take time to figure out all that it can do. The old idea that “straight is the only acceptable/professional type of hair” is dead, so let it go. Dive all in and enjoy the ride! It really is a fun journey :)
Business/blog/social media inquiry info: Follow me on Instagram @KrystalNicoleButler

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Thanks so much for checking out my blog post this week! I hope you gained some insight from these lovely ladies and gained an understanding of the perspective of a fellow natural! Be sure to check out next week's post for two new spotlight features! And don't forget to cast your vote on my monthly poll! It's located on the left side right under "The Purpose". As always, thanks so much for the support!