I first came across this South African beauty on an online natural hair support group. I’ll admit that for a brief moment I doubted her nationality because conventional wisdom states that our sistren from down south have hair that doesn’t grow. Read on to find out why this notion is garbage. BlackBeauty Kween, welcome to the ZedHair Natural Spotlight.
Braid Out – Another favourite style of mine is the braid out- I achieve this style on freshly washed hair, moisturise, comb on damp hair then I braid my hair in 10-14 medium size braids and allow them to air dry overnight and unravel once hair is completely dry. I maintain this hairstyle by keeping my hair in a high bun when going to bed.
Where in Africa are you from?
I am from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Where are you currently based?
I am currently based in London, United Kingdom.
When did you decide to go natural?
I decided to go natural in 2009 when I realised that I was pregnant, I didn’t plan to stay natural- I just wanted to stay away from relaxers/ perms for a short time just to be all healthy for my baby-little did I know, it would be a life changing decision.
What has been your experience having natural hair so far?
My natural hair experience so far has been overwhelming.I have had extremely high and low moments with my natural hair, it’s amazing how hair can take you through so many emotions- there are times when I want to relax my hair or times when I just want to cut all my hair off and also times when I’m in love with my hair and just want it to keep growing longer.
What is your hair regimen?
My hair regime is very simple. I co-wash( conditioner wash)and deep condition my hair once a week, I co-wash with TRESemme naturals conditioner and I use a home made deep conditioner which consist of TRESemme naturals conditioner, plain yogurt, honey and Extra virgin olive oil, I mix all the ingredients together and apply it to my hair and wear a plastic cap for an hour then wash it out- I really love this deep conditioner because the more conditioned my hair is the more manageable it becomes, I also do a final rinse with apple cider vinegar to keep my hair clean since I do not use shampoo! I then apply my leave in conditioner and seal with my home made hair butter cream and twist my hair and allow it to air dry then style.
How did you achieve the hairstyle in these pictures?
My favourite hairstyles are buns, twist outs and braid outs because they are low manipulation hairstyles, they keep my hair stretched and very easy to achieve.
Band Stretching – I wear this style most of the time to keep my hair stretched- I achieved this style by starting off with freshly washed hair, moisturise, comb and I use a few hair bands to secure my hair leaving an inch space in between each hair band.
Twist Out – To achieve this twist out style I started off with freshly washed hair moisturised and twisted my hair in 10-14 twists and allowed them to air dry- once completely dry I unraveled the twists and fluffed them out and wore my hair in a high bun to stretch my hair further.
Banana-Clip Ponytail – To achieve this style I start off with stretched hair and gather my hair in a ponytail and secure it with a banana clip holder.
Big Afro – I achieved this style by moisturising and finger de-tangling to get the big fro.
Twist and Curl – I achieved this curly style by starting off with freshly washed hair, moisturised and comb then created 22 medium size twists and secured each twist with a perm rod, allow them to air dry overnight and took down the perm rods once hair was completely dry. I maintained this hairstyle by gathering my hair in a high ponytail when going to bed.
Afro-puff Ponytail – This Afro puff ponytail was achieved on stretched hair by securing my hair in a ponytail using a big hair band- I used gel to sleek down my edges and used a hair band to accessorise and flatten my thick hair.
Any future plans/dreams for your hair?
My future dreams and plans concerning hair is to write an easy, simple step to step guide book on natural hair, and to have my own natural hair product line-i am also striving to achieve hip length hair hopefully in the next two years.
Any advice to those considering going natural?
My advice to those considering going natural is to do as much research as possible before going natural, join natural hair social networks, forums and watch YouTube videos-there is so much good advice out there to help make your natural hair journey a successful one.
About BBK Super Natural:
What prompted you to start vlogging and blogging?
I decided to start my Facebook hair page BBK Super Natural to help inspire and motivate women to grow long natural hair.
What has the response been like so far?
The response has been awesome! I’m literally on Facebook everyday answering questions and sharing my experience. It makes me so happy to see how eager and motivated the ladies out there are about growing long natural hair.
What are the plans for the future of your channel and blog?
The future plans I have for my hair page is to help as many women with their hair journey as much as I can, to show case my two year old daughter’s hair journey- she also has thick kinky hair like mine, so I would like her to motivate and inspire young little girls with natural hair, I also plan to post my hair videos and lots more pictorials.
Do you have any advice for aspiring vloggers and bloggers?
My advice to aspiring bloggers is go ahead and showcase yourself because we all have different gifts, qualities and creativity- you just never know who you may encourage, help and inspire, there are so many lives out there to impact and influence, every one of us have an important role to play.
Big Bun – I achieved this big bun protective style by starting off with stretched hair then lightly moisturised with a leave in conditioner and my BBK hair butter cream then I gathered my hair together and tied it with a hair band into a ponytail and tucked in the loose hair on each side using another hair band holder- I wore a few colourful hair bands to accessories and to achieve a sleek look.
You can follow BlackBeauty Kween online here:
Facebook Page - BBK Super Natural
