Brettney~Natural Inspiration

Meet Brettney,she was lucky enough to have not been exposed to the relaxer,but was still in need of some knowledge on how to care for her natural hair properly.




How long have you been natural?

I've been natural since birth so that would be 21 years.



Have you ever had a relaxer? If so ,What's your story? What made you become natural?

Nope never had one.
I don't even know what a relaxer smells like.
My mom kept me natural. By doing this she made me appreciate my natural hair. I grew up with it so I know what I can do to it and what I can't.
By the time I started college, I started creating different natural hairstyles. It never occurred to me to get a relaxer even though I was practically an adult .
I saw my natural hair as a way to express my creativity and my unique personality. In addition, I got lots of compliments about my natural hair so that helped a lot too.


How would you describe your hair type?


My hair is thick and I stress on the thick ! Its suppose to be 4B . However, because I grew up with it, I know that in the middle,
there is a slightly different texture than the rest of my head. In that section it's softer and when wet, turns curly.
Also, my hair has a very high shrinkage level. I can have a big afro one minute, then if it rains, my hairs gets so short you would wonder if it
went into hiding on me lol.

What is your regimen? What products do you use to maintain the health of your hair?


The products I currently use is a result of me choosing to do a program in the north of France for a year.
Here's why:

Originally, I'm from Trinidad and Tobago but I was accepted to do a program in France for a year.

So when I left home for France in September 2009, I did not bring any products with me. I thought that its "France"
there should be an abundance of black hair care products too right...

If I could go back in time I would hit myself for thinking that

There were products , but hardly any that I knew and those that I knew like ORS Mayo were twice the price and very limited.

So I started researching hair products online cause that was my only method of acquiring information about my hair.

I could not go to french salons. Boucle' is the word that they would use to describe me hair. I'm like my hair is not curly!

I can't blame them though, since the majority of black women in France wear weaves and braids, so seeing my natural hair was shocking for these frenchies lol.

Fortunately I did pack an ORS Replenishing Conditioner Pack, after I tried it, I fell in love with it!

Then I started looking at homemade concoctions since hair products up here are not all that.

In December 2009 , I went to England. I was so happy cause I finally saw hair products catered for my hair.

So after 3 months of trial and error, I came up with this regimen:

I have two wash days per week. ( There isn't a fixed date, If I wash my hair on a Monday then the next day would be on Thursday.)

On the first wash day, I prepoo with ORS Mayo mixed with oils ( coconut, olive, grape-seed) and coconut milk.
I shampoo with Aphogee Deep Moisturizing Shampoo or ORS Creamy Olive Oil Shampoo,
Then I do a deep treatment with ORS Replenishing Conditioner, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner, some honey and oils added.

I like mixing honey, coconut milk and oils into my hair products cause they are a lot cheaper and more readily available in France.

Plus having done a lot of research online, they are very good for my hair.

On the second wash day, I incorporate a hot oil treatment. I started the Coconut Oil Challenge from Hairlista which I love!!!
Then follow up with my homemade concoction of ripe avocados, coconut milk, oils and honey blended in a blender and apply to my hair.
Rinse and that's it!

As a Leave in Conditioner, I use my oils, Aloe Vera Gel and Glycerin.

So without realizing it, I made my very own hair products.


Do you have any long term goals for you hair?

Tons! I must mention that just because I was natural all my life does not mean that I use to take care of it properly.
I used greases and I hardly ever did deep conditioning treatments.

So my hair would always look like it was stuck at one length,nonetheless, it was thick!

My short term goal would be simply to keep it healthy and well conditioned against these cold winter months in France.

My long term goals would be to retain length and see if I can grow my hair to a huge APL fro lol.


What tips would you give to all the newly natural ladies?

First of all, Congratulations for deciding to go natural. :-)


Tip# 1: Accept your natural hair!


When you do this, you exude inner confidence and pride about your hair in its natural state. This leads to your hair enhancing your features and people will get fascinated by you. This would then result in hearing some of the most creative compliments given to you.


PS: If there are haters, who cares! Let them hate! Soon they will realize that they secretly appreciate.

Tip # 2: Find something that works with your hair and stick with it!

For me, a hair product is like a makeup foundation. You'll do a bit of searching but once you find the perfect match... Heaven!
With hair products that are suited for your hair, you wont feel the need to keep trying new things, you'll know when something works! Thus you save tons of money.

Tip #3 : You are what you eat!

Eating healthy helps a lot but,some of the things that you eat can be used on your hair!
Honey,Water, Coconut Milk,Bananas, Avocados, Natural Oils, Garlic, Eggs, Mayo.
Sometimes I wonder If I'm cooking for myself or my hair lol.

Is there anywhere we can find you on the web?
Sure! Hairlista.com
Natural Sunshine.com