Natural Queen of the WEEK: Annastazia

Hello Beautiful Readers!

Here is the NNQ of the week

Enjoy her story!

Tell me about YOU:

Well...I'm Annastazia Mendez. I'm a Wife and a Mommy and I'm learning to get better at both. I'm a freelance Makeup artist and i consider myself to be a fairly artistic person. I like fashion, music, and makeup. I also love people and being out and about, though I rarely get to go out and meet new people, let only the people I already know.

My ultimate goal is to be successful at whatever I put my mind to. I want to be a makeup artist at The New York Fashion Week, so that's what I'm striving for. Now i do work for Fashion and Editorial Shoots. I love the work that I do.

 I especially hate when people put you down or look you over because your not super popular or I the right crowd. Ya know what I say to that "You can sleep on my now, but you'll be lookin for me real soon!"

follow me:

www.twitter.com/eleveemaquillage

www.thepeanutbutternjelly.blogspot.com

or Book me at:

www.eleveemaquillage.carbonmade.com

 Tell me your hair care regimen:

Right now my hair is short, so it's not a lot of fuss. I start my day off with a conditioner wash and I follow up Taliah Waajid's Protective Mist Bodifier and Body Shop's Coconut hair oil. I mostly wear comb twists in my hair, then throughout the week I separate them till I end up with a curly TWA.

 Tell me your texture and what works best on your hair type:

I have a tight curl to my hair, so I mostly use anything that will moisturize and soften my hair, like Miss Jessie's Buttercreme.

 Tell me the reaction you got when first going natural:

I've been natural before for a year, but when I decided to move to NY I got a relaxer and cut it short to have, what I considered, a more conservative look. But when I had my twins my husband and I decided to grow our hair so that our kids would both have a positive image of natural hair. Our children our Bi-racial and we wanted them to be proud of they're uniqueness. 

Did you BC or transition:

The first time I went natural i transitioned... That took to long. I'm not scared of cutting my hair so the second time around I chopped that joint. My mother is a hairstylist and she taught my not to be so protective over my hair. She told me, "Anna your hair is really waste and proteins. Don't be to vain, because God forbid something happens to you and you lose your hair you'd be devastated." So I didn't. There are women with cancer who can't grow an inch of hair.

 What makes you a natural hair queen:

For one I'm proud of my blackness and my uniqueness, so I wear my curls with pride. Plus I want my little girl to wear her curls proudly too.

My BLOW OUT AND STYLE!

BEAUTIFUL READERS!!!

HOLA!

I got my hair done today and I am very pleased.

My stylist has been taking care of my hair for the past year and a half...

SHE DID MY BIG CHOP!

:-)

When I want to rock straight funky hair she is who I go to.

I have had NO HEAT DAMAGE or breakage from using heat.

I am LUCKY and my stylist KNOWS what she's doing.

*thank God*

Here is the outcome of today's salon visit...

My VERY first TWIST OUT!

Here are the results of my FIRST twist out:

*I made this hair pin myself!!*

How do ya'll think it came out?

Kinda frizzy to me BUT I am STILLL very PROUD of it.

LOL.

xoxoxo

Coconut Cream Deep Conditioner!

Hola Beautiful Readers-

Today was my wash day so I decided to try something new

on my hair.

I wanted to try a Coconut Cream Deep conditioner and I did just that.

Here is what I used:

Plain Yogart

Coconut Milk

Coconut Oil

Mixed it ALLLLL UP and then applied...

I covered my hair for 30 minutes with a plastic cap

then I washed with

Jason's Biotin Shampoo...

My little ringlets POPPED after this treatment.

They loved every inch of Coconut Goodness

:-)

After my hair was all clean and coniditoned

I did my first set of 2 strand twists...

I twisted with my hair with these products:

*Darcy Botanicals Moisture Whip

*Greg Juice

* My Avocado Shea Butter

I will take pictures of my twist out for you folks tomorrow!

I am very excited that this is month 4 of my NATURAL HAIR JOURNEY!

xoxox

Natural Queen of the WEEK:Dawnyele

Beautiful People!

Here is my NNQ of the week.

I LOVE her story and I hope you will too.

Check it out below...

1.  First and foremost I'm a mom which is one of the greatest experiences and role in life anyone can have!  I love everything natural especially my hair.  Going natural was not an easy decision for me having been relaxed for over 15 years but once my hair started to shed tremendously and break off from all the damage, it was time for a major change.  Its the best decision I have ever made and I'll never look back...

2.  My hair regimen has been the same ever since I started transitioning:
* Co-wash every 7-10 days with V05 conditioner
* I deep condition for 1 hour using avocado, mayo, olive oil, coconut oil, and some essential oils
* I rinse then use Lekair and my homemade shea butter mix for overnight conditioning
* The next morning I rinse and detangle using Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner and a Denman brush
* My final rinse is using cold water leaving a little conditioner in and then for my leave-in conditioner I use Qhemet Biologics Cocoa Ghee Detangling Tree and Giovanni Deepest Moisture leave-in with a dab of oil
* My staple and protective style is two strand twists and twist outs
Sounds like a lot but it works very well for me and my hair loves it!

3.  My hair is definitely 4a-4b very kinky and some curls but not a lot without product so heavy cremes, thick conditioners, and oils work best for me.

4.  My friends were very supportive of me going natural, my family on the other hand had to get used to the idea.  When I first chopped my friends loved it and my family was like "Oh ok, well if that's what you want", didn't really care what they thought because I loved it and that's all that mattered.

5.  I transitioned for 10 months, I tried to go 1 year and planned to BC on my anniversary but I couldn't take the two textures anymore!  I just co-washed, picked up a pair of scissors and started cutting away.  My natural stylist finished the rest and I felt so free and beautiful :)

6.  I don't know if I consider myself a natural Queen only having been all natural for 7 months now but I've learned quite a bit about my hair and myself through this journey.  I stick to my regime, my staple products, I do not manipulate my hair too much, I keep my ends trimmed and my hair moisturized, and I take care of my health which plays a huge role in growing and retaining natural hair.  My goal is to have beautiful natural healthy hair and so far I'm very happy with the results :)  

Natural Queen of the WEEK: Celeste

NAME:  Celeste

TIME NATURAL:  A little over 2.5 years

WHY DID YOU GO NATURAL:  I begged my hair stylist to switch my brand of perm for months in 2005 then against her better judgment, she finally granted my wishes.  My hair ended up coming out from the root which resulted in a short hair cut.  After a year and a half of rocking the short cut I decided to have my last perm in February 2007.

DID YOU BC, TRANSITION OR BOTH:  April 2007 I began a braid TRANSITION then that summer I did a SEMI BC so I wouldnt chicken out.

WHAT RESPONSE DID YOU GET ONCE YOU BC'd:  I still kept my hair in braids so no one really saw the results of my BC.  After a year of braids I finally decided to even the hair out and MOST people LOVED my fro.  Those that didnt were those that forgot that "IT'S ONLY HAIR"!

WHAT IS YOUR HAIR CARE REGIMEN:  I wash and condition my hair every week unless I am wearing a braided style, then it's every 3 weeks.  Recently I have been wearing my hair braid-free and do more TWIST OUTS and the CURLY FRO.  I also NEVER go to bed without a satin scarf or satin bonnet on my hair to protect from the damage of cotton pillow cases.

WHAT IS YOUR HAIR TYPE:  I THINK my hair is 4a with a few 4b sections

WHAT WORKS BEST ON YOUR CURLS: My 2 favorite products are AVOCADO SHEA HAIR BUTTER by SAFI NATURAL HAIR CARE (for moisture) and HAIR MILK by CAROL'S DAUGHTER (for curl definition).  These products are very light when everything else seems to weigh down my hair.

WHAT MAKES YOU A NATURAL QUEEN:  What makes me a NATURAL QUEEN is that I went from saying I would NEVER go natural to EMBRACING & LOVING what GOD has given me and to ROCK RUFF & STUFF WITH MY AFRO PUFF! I INDEED ROCK ON WITH MY BAD SELF!  :)

My TWA- Month THREE

Hello beautiful people...

I have some goodies for you all to see.

It's been 3 months since my BC and HERE are my most recent hair pictures..

I am impressed with my growth and I am looking forward to MORE, MORE, MORE!!

xoxoxo