Introduce yourself!
R: My name is Romona, I’m 16 years old. I was born in Jamaica, but raised New York. As any other city girl I’m deeply in love with fashion and standing out. Hair has always been my thing, I always styled my family’s hair since forever, it was always something I was naturally good at doing!!
Why did you make the decision to go natural?
R: Well I’ve been natural my entire life, thanks to my parents for banding me from getting a perm. But even though I was natural I never really cared for my hair’s health, it was always straightened so I could still feel like all the “cool” girls with perms. But when I realized my hair wasn’t growing as fast as it use too, I decided to completely stop straightening my hair and I slowly clipped my heat damaged ends. My journey is barley one year old so there’s a long way to go!! The naturals on YouTube also had a huge impact on my decision, I wasn’t aware of the potential my hair had, to be honest I never even knew my hair was so curly because it was so damaged from the heat to the point where even when it was wet it was still straight.
How would you describe your texture?
R: Well I think my hair type is 4a/4b, I love my curls!! My hair is more on the softer, fluffy side. When its straight or stretched its very fluffy and frizzy. My hair was never coarse or “nappy” as some people say, but it’s always easily affected by the weather since it’s so frizzy!
Describe your styling regimen over the course of the month.
R: Well I usually do a major protective style once a month that can last for at least two weeks, for the remainder of the month I love rocking wash n go’s or high buns/puffs. In terms of washing I only wash about once a month right before major protective styling and co-wash twice in between my wash n go’s. I’ll probably only oil my scalp once a month (after its washed) because my hair gets a bit oily on its own.
Describe your favorite go-to hairstyle for days when you don’t have a lot of time to style.
R: My favorite to go-to style would have to be my wash n go puff. Lol because wash n go’s don’t always turn out so well, sometimes it doesn’t dry fast enough and when it does it looks crazy !! But when I have no time I just throw it in a high puff and add a headband or something!
How do you combat shrinkage?
R: Ugh! My worst enemy. Well for a curly look I apply gel in the shower and when I get out about 10 mins later, I take small sections and I squeeze and stretch them like a sponge (not applying anymore gel). I find that since the hair is not wet but damp at this point it stays in place when you stretch it and by squeezing the section together the curls look more defined. If I’m stretching my hair to be straight I’ll do a twist out right after washing my hair, and wear high buns for a week and my hair would have a blow put look!
What are 2 do’s for your texture?
R: Hmm. Do #1 would have to be trimming because 4a/4b hair is a weird mix between curly and kinky so the hair gets knots more often than other textures, for me a good trim makes my curls bounce and gives my afros a lot of volume. Do #2 would be always protecting my hair at night, I see a major difference when I wear my silk scarf its much easier to handle in the morning and less detangling.
What are 2 don’ts for your texture?
R: Not detangling!! I think this is one of the most important things for me because it prevents further tangling which can lead to more hair loss and split ends in the process of trying to get the tangles out after so long. Don’t #2 would be over washing, when I wash my hair more than twice a month it gets really dry and starts to break, people need to realize that we produce our own natural oils but if you keep washing your hair too much you’ll never actually see it.
Is there a blog/webpage where we can find you?
R: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/romonat
Instagram: asaperi
Tumblr: http://perithecreator.tumblr.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleMePeri?feature=guide
You hair looks like Naptural85. Now that is a major compliment….lovely hair. I’m glad you mentioned how much damage the flat iron does to our hair. In my case, the flat iron did more damage in a shorter time on my strands than the relaxer. The combo of the two was utterly disastrous…
Love, love, love her and her hair! She’s adorable.
Loveee the hair. Can’t wait for mine to get that big ^.^
ROMONA!!!! YOUR HAIR IS GIVING ME EVERYTHING I NEED RIGHT NOW!!! I’m 4a/b also, but my hair will never look like yours (not thick enough), so I will keep staring and fantasizing!! Thank you for sharing! LOL!
Love her confidence and she is ONLY 16!!!! That is great!!!
Love your article and your hair is Awesome!!! <3
Oh my!! You are gorgeous with gorgeous hair!!
i absolutely LOVE wearing my fro out and I can not wait until it is that big!! it looks so luscious!
I love it!!!
My fro totally looks like that after I’ve washed and stretched it! …ok well half the size lol but definitely that shape and texture.
Beautiful wool, lovely young woman. I am growing mine too, it’s about 3-4 inches in length. I want it to get back to its glory days in Length, down on my shoulders and in my back.
I just love the Afrikan wool nothing beats it and nothing looks and styles like it…
Continue to keep your hair healthy my young sistah and continue to inspire us to do the same.
Lovely and vibrant…
lovely awesomeness. I also love your suggestion of a protective style once a mth. I can’t commit to an entire month or more, and I love to switch it up. But once a month is very doable. Thank you young sis!
Love it, so young and already so involved in her natural hair :)
Jamaica representing!
Gorgeous hair!
I love your hairrrr girl! And I just checked your FB (I’m not a stalker, LOL) and you’re sooo young! Class of 2013? I can see that you have great confidence! And very beautiful curls. Keep up the great work. (:
Ramona, if you don’t go on! Lovely hair. Appreciate the tip about stretching damp hair with gel for a stretched-out wash n go. Shrinkage is a pain for me as well.
regarding the “nappy” conversation, it doesn’t matter what the dictionary says, we all know that word has always had negative connotations. Not everyone has grown to embrace “nappy”.
I refer to my own hair as “nappy” but I know that people still use it negatively and that there are naturals out there that don’t like to use that word to refer to their own hair.
Well despite all this controversy , you guys should go like my fan page http://www.facebook.com/RomonaThomasFanPage , where I’ll give any advice about natural hair and answer all questions and post pictures !!!!!!!!!!!!
IMPORTANT DO NOT ADD ME ON THE FACEBOOK LINK THEY PROVIDED !!
HONEY LOOKING AT YOUR HAIR ITS NOT SILKY USUALLY THE OPPOSITE OF THAT IS NAPPY. WHEN YOU STATED IT ISN’T NAPPY WAS A SLAP IN THE FACE. WHAT WAS THE POINT IF EVEN GOING THERE. FURTHERMORE YOUR HAIR IS IN THE 4′S NO WHERE NEAR THE 3′S
Don’t care what her her type is….The hair is gorgeous!
Hair type!
Her hair is like a work of art. Honestly, do we see what natural hair can look lke with minimal tampering? Gosh it’s beautiful, needs it’s own zip code or talk show or something; it suits her so well!