Featured Excerpt: Lias Forbes

1. Tell us a little about you……!   My name is L. I am an entrePOORneur meaning I have a lot of business ideas and ventures but as of yet none of them are paying off. I tell people all the time I still haven’t decided what I want to be when I grow up so for now I’m a nurse, Internet radio host, blogger, YouTuber, poet and artist manager. I also have degrees in Liberal Arts and PR/Marketing. I love to create but for a while I sort of forgot, so this year I've vowed to reconnect with my creative side and since I'm no longer a slave to the 9 to 5 looks like I have plenty of time! When I'm not working or creating I love to shop (that's an art right?).

2. When & why did you decide to go natural?   I had been natural all of my childhood up until my first or second year of high school. Back then my mother pressed my hair or one of the neighborhood teens would cornrow it. I decided to go back to natural in 2005 out of boredom and curiosity. My hair had been in every style you can imagine and back again. I even at one point had a Grace Jones buzz cut with Aztec designs shaved into my nape (yea young ins I had already done that way back when) and a bleached mohawk. I’ve worn my hair long and relaxed, short and relaxed, braided and weaved. The only things left for me to do were natural or bald…I chose natural.

3. Were your friends and family supportive of your decision?  If not, how were you able to move forward?    I can’t say they were either. I didn’t discuss it with anyone I just did it and they shook their heads as always. My dad was a bit disappointed not because I went natural but because I was once again cutting my hair off.

4. How long have you been natural for?  I went natural initially in 2005 and then had to start over again in 2006 following a brief moment of insanity involving a texturizer and a long strawberry blonde weave. We try not to talk about that.

5. What’s your regimen?   I don’t know if you can call what I do a regimen because it is really simple and basic. I only do what my hair needs when it needs it but if you really want to know : When my hair feels or looks dirty I wash it When my hair feels dry I moisturize with Hollywood Olive Cream and seal with argan oil. On a whim I deep condition overnight usually 1-2 times a month I spritz with water and usually some type of product mixed in almost daily. I usually use Suave conditioner but I may also use glycerin, aloe vera gel or tea tree oil. Sometimes I use all of the above. I rarely wear my hair out. My protective style of choice (for now) is bunning 4 to be exact.

6. What mistakes have you made with your hair that you’ve learned from?  Early in the process I didn’t know how much knowledge was readily available. My hair was growing but it lacked proper moisture I wasn’t conditioning nearly enough. Once I found the natural hair community on YouTube and joined forums like Nappturality I learned that I needed to do a little bit more to maintain my hair. In doing so I found my own technique for training my hair to maintain its curl pattern and definition. Now I am using this knowledge to inspire other women with the same texture to not limit themselves by what hair typing charts claim their hair is supposed to look like. If I had bought into that my hair would not be what it is today.

7. What has been your favourite product?   Hollywood Olive Cream is my absolute favorite product. If I could only have one hair product it would be this one. I’ve used it both as a deep conditioner and moisturizer. It’s very light and keeps my hair very soft without being heavy or oily. Sounds like I’m doing a commercial (holla at me Hollywood Beauty!).

8. Do you have any hair goals? What steps are you taking to achieve them?    My goal is to have waist length hair by 2014. I’ve joined Hairlista and KISS to share ideas with likeminded women and to gain inspiration. My routine has always been pretty low maintenance but I am paying more attention to protective styling and I am also documenting my progress as inspiration.

9. What has the biggest milestone you have faced in your hair journey? How did you overcome this milestone?   I can say my transition to natural has been fairly uneventful. When I started I didn’t have any clear goals, ideas or expectations about what I was going to achieve. All I knew was I wanted to be natural so anything that came after that was a bonus.

10. You love your hair because? Do you see it? What’s not to love?

BONUS Question!

Naturals have more fun because……..,?   We are self -aware. When you spend so much time learning about and caring for one part of yourself you become more aware of other aspects that make up you and being self- aware is SEXY!