Maybe it's because I don't have any of my own (although my cousins and galpals are great substitutes), I'm always really fascinated by sister acts. So of course I was really excited to finally get this post up. 5 beautiful sisters and cousins (Chioma, Enyioma, Ezinne, Ihuoma & Ogechi), all natural, started a Facebook page called Nigerian Natural Hair, which I happened to run across. Of course I had to feature them on the blog. I did consider doing them individually, but decided to get them all up at the same time, so this is a loooooong one!
Just think of it
as your Christmas bumper edition.
 |
| The "Nigerian Natural Hair" sisters |
...
EZINNE
 |
| Ezinne |
Me and my journey
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ezinne |
I'm a Nigerian
American, and I live in Ohio, USA. I have been
natural for 4 years. I decided to go natural because my hair was extra
scanty with relaxers and I really didn't like that. I just wanted to be
different from the norm, and I like being edgy so I went natural.
I'm a student, my
hair doesn't always affect me, meaning my hair is very unique
that I get lots of stares as I walk down the street. Most people are amazed at
what I can do to my hair, I get a lot of compliments, as well as criticism
because its different.
My natural hair challenges
My challenge is
having the motivation to do my hair, because I always want the easy way out of
just wearing my weaves. So I often have to motivate myself to do my natural
hair and I usually come up with amazing styles.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ezinne |
My routine
My routine is very
simple. I pre-condition my hair with my Herbal Essence Hello Hydration
Conditioner to detangle it, then I wash my hair with warm water, and shampoo and
conditioner with organic products like Trader Joe's Tea-Tree Shampoo and Yes to
carrots conditioner that I buy from target. Then I put my hair into Bantu Knots
using shea butter mixed with castor, jojoba, argan and coconut oils.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ezinne |
My natural
hair idols
My idols are my
cousins, Ihuoma, Enyioma, Ogechi and my sister Chioma. They are very bold with
their hair styles and I'm a very bold person, so I like to watch their styles
and creations and make it my own.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ezinne |
…
 | |
| Ezinne and Chioma |
|
...
Chioma
 |
| Chioma |
Me and my journey
 |
| Photo courtesy of Chioma |
My name is
Chioma. I'm a Nigerian born and raised Igbo (Ngwa) girl, and I currently live
in Washington, DC. I've been natural
for 1 year now.
Ever since I can
remember, I've always had relaxed hair. I decided to go natural 'cos the
relaxers and the recurrent weaves and braids weren't just working out. My
hair line was slowly but surely wearing off after several years of back-to-back
sew-in's & braids. Besides, the relaxer chemical can be carcinogenic, a
chemical that can melt a soda can, can't possibly be good for the human hair. I
never knew how to properly care for my own natural hair either and I wanted a
healthier alternative.
Initially, I was inspired by my younger sister, Ezinne,
who stopped relaxing her hair a few years ago, then my wonderful cousins
(Ihuoma, Ogechi & Enyioma) gave me a few concrete tips and most importantly
introduced me to the right side of YouTube - the Natural Hair World, and it has
clearly changed my life, no be small thing o.
My hair journey began, I big
chopped November 2011 and here I am a year later, living and loving my natural
tresses. I'm loving every moment of it and can't wait to see it grow.
My work and my natural hair
I work as a
Registered Nurse and my hair doesn't affect my job, it's pretty convenient and
versatile. My co-workers mostly want to touch my hair, one of them labeled it
"cauliflower"and I thought, "Yap!" Pretty much sums it
up.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Chioma |
Natural hair and Nigeria
I haven't been
back to Nigeria since I went natural. I've been able to influence one of my
Naija girlfriends to go natural, though many others who clearly don't get
it, repeatedly ask "how do you comb it?" or tell me
to go and get my hair done, relax it, fix it or braid it. I
find it pretty hilarious 'cos our people have been so brain-washed into loving
everything foreign/western/european and distance oneself from anything African
or Nigerian. They say, Natural Hair is "unmanageable" and it's for
little girls, while Artificial Hair (weaves, braids, relaxers etc) is for
grown-ups.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Chioma |
I expected this kind of reaction from my friends in Naija 'cos
that's the perception of our people, which is quite unfortunate. That's
what we see in the media, that's what's mainstream, and it's pretty
disappointing 'cos it wasn't always like this. Hence, my enthusiasm to continue
to re-educate us women (African/Nigerian, etc) to love and care for our truly
beautiful natural bodies - Hair to Toe - as created by God.
My natural hair challenges
My constant
dilemma is with people who do not understand Natural Hair, or why/how I care
for my hair like I've described with my Naija girlfriends; my guy friends, on
the other, think it's plain HOT. Touché! Personally, I have not had any
significant challenges, maybe 'cos I keep it pretty straight-forward.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Chioma |
My routine
My hair care
regimen is pretty simple: I pre-poo with a conditioner (Herbal Essence's Hello
Hydration) or an oil (usually olive oil), then I section and wash using a
sulfate free shampoo (Shea Moisture - Moisture Retention Shampoo) and
conditioner (YesToCarrots) every 7-10days, add my leave-in conditioner (the
infamous KimmayTube recipe made with Giovanni's Direct Leave-In Conditioner)
and use my shea butter mix (Shea butter + Olive/Jojoba/Coconut/Castor/Tea
Tree/Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oils) to style - usually bantu knots (my
favorite). I mostly wear Bantu Knot-Outs and Puffs. I re-moisturize every other
day.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Chioma |
My natural hair idols
The people who've
helped me understand my natural hair are of course, my sister and cousins. Many
thanks to YouTube's KimmayTube, Naptural85, NikkiMae2003, FusionofCultures, JoStylin, GirlsLoveYourCurls, and so many more; and
several natural hair blogs including NaturalChica.com, CurlyNikki.com. I can't help but notice the Natural Hair Curlies of
Nollywood. I must say I'm so impressed: Dakore Egbuson, Asa, Nneka Egbuna, Nse
Etim, Basket Mouth...
Why I started "Nigerian Natural Hair"
I started the
"Nigerian Natural Hair" facebook page with my sister and cousins,
where we share images and natural hair care tips. We need more positive images
out there inspiring us Africans, Nigerians, every woman to completely love our
Natural selves and it all starts with the hair. You change people's perception of
you by becoming the change you want to see in the world.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Chioma |
…
 |
| Photo courtesy of "Nigerian Natural Hair" |
...
 |
| Ihuoma |
Me and my journey
My name is Ihuoma, from the
Isi-ala Ngwa in Ngwaland, Abia State, Nigeria. I currently reside in Sunny
California.
I've been natural for about four
years. Also, the years I've been natural and the length of my hair don't add up
because I have a bad habit chopping off inches at random (Hehe! It's hair. it
grows back).
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ihuoma |
Natural hair was
never quite a strange phenomenon to me because I was fortunate to have a mother
who was pretty much a genius at haircare. My sisters and I used to be known as
the girls with the long hair because my Mom knew how to handle our curls with
care. In fact, much of what I see taught on hair blogs or YouTube, I remember
my Mother already practiced on our hair. So I grew up with long, full
hair. But like most Nigerian teenage girls, at 16, I got a perm. After a couple
years, I'd notice that my hair was thinning and brittle, so I'd trim and
continue. At one point I even got a jerricurl and then went back to perms. But
despite how well I cared for it, my hair was limp, thin, lackluster, and worst
of all, I was beginning to acquire bald spots in the middle and at the nape of
my head from relaxer burns. I distinctly remember putting my hair in a ponytail
once and thinking how much I resembled a sad, bald potato. Needless to say, I
didn't like that look and so I began to wear braids to grow out my hair. But
one morning, while we were visiting a friend out of state, I spontaneously
decided to chop it off (refer to aforementioned habit of chopping off hair
lol!) much to the shock and surprise of my sisters and friends.
My work and my natural hair
I'm a Registered
Nurse and I've really never had any negative reactions to my hair at work. In
fact it's been the opposite. My patients and co-workers are often fascinated by
my hair. I actually once had a co-worker once tell me that they looked forward
to what hair style I would wear every week! My hair also is at a length that I
can wear it in such a way that it is not in my face and does not impede my work
in any way. I believe that natural hair is just as professional as any other
kind of hair.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ihuoma |
My natural hair challenges
Most of my
challenges have been with my own hair care. Now I love playing in my hair
(although I've learned to play less), trying new routines, and experimenting
with making my own hair (and skin) products. But my one annoyance is dealing
with tangles and ssk's (single strand knots). I think ssk's are the bane of my
existence, however, I've learned that because of my hair texture, they cannot
be completely eliminated but I can greatly cut down on them. Also, the hair on
the top middle of my head is the driest, easiest-to-knot hair which means that
I have to give that part extra tlc, spend more time and practice more patience
with it. I still wish it would grow and behave like the rest of my hair but -
it is what it is...
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ihuoma |
My routine
First thing I want
to mention about my routine is that palm kernel oil (aka elu aku in Igbo) is an
excellent pre-poo. I spritz my hair with water and apply palm kernel oil overnight or even just prior to washing, cover with a shower cap for about 30
minutes, then I detangle my hair with my fingers and a denman brush, place in
twists, and prepare to wash. I currently wash my hair once a week. I never
wash my hair loose now, always in twists or braids - less tangles. Every other
week, I cowash my hair with Herbal Essences Hello
Hydration conditioner. On the alternate weeks I shampoo with Trader Joe's Tea
Tree Shampoo or Dr Bronner's liquid soap (diluted).
Twice a month, I
deep condition with a mix of full fat greek yogurt, honey, a teaspoon of ACV,
and olive oil (recipe from Naptural85 on YouTube). Sometimes I add Lavender and
Peppermint essential oils to the mix.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ihuoma |
For styling, I
wear my hair in whatever suits my fancy for the week. Usually it's two-strand
twists, but could be bantu knots, corn-rows (weaving) or flat twists, or even
thread which is an excellent protective style and a way to stretch the hair
without heat. A few times during the year, I wear synthetic braids to give my
hair a rest. Once a week (on Saturdays for church), I usually wear my hair in a
twist-out or some kind of puff or updo.
My natural hair idols
I really
appreciate the YouTube Naturalistas who teach us so much about our hair
especially the ones with textures closer to mine. My very first inspiration on
YouTube was RusticBeauty; a Nigerian young lady with long, healthy beautiful
hair. Others have been Nikkimae2003, Sera2544, UrbanBushBabes, Naptural85,
Longhairdontcare2011. My other hair idols who are bold and beautiful with their
hair are Nigerian actresses Uche Jumbo Rodriguez and Nse Ikpe Etim.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ihuoma |
Apart from the Nigerian Natural Hair Facebook page...
I have a fotki which I unfortunately have been neglecting, but I plan on updating more
frequently in the future.
 |
| Ihuoma, Ogechi & Enyioma |
...
 |
| Photo courtesy of "Nigerian Natural Hair" |
…
Ogechi
 |
| Ogechi |
Me and my journey
I was born in
Nigeria. I am an Ngwa girl from Abia state. I currently reside in Southern
California.
My journey really
began in 2009 when I decided to chop off all my hair and dye it red. I’ve had
several hairstyles and lengths along the way but decided to cut it again a
couple months ago and now I have barely any hair and I love it!
I decided to go natural because honestly, when my
hair was relaxed I had a bomb haircut that I loved. I would drive over an hour
to my favorite hairdresser twice a month. I would color it and do
all sorts of fun things to it but it got too expensive and too tedious to
continue to drive that far so I decided I would have to do my hair myself to
save money. I originally cut it and wore it texturized for a while before I
decided to cut it all the way and go in the way of both of my sisters who had
both gone natural before me.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ogechi |
My work and my natural hair
I am a Registered
Nurse. My co-workers love the fact that my hair is always different and most
people at work say they’ve never seen hair like mine. I keep it
professional yet sexy and so far I’ve never had anything but compliments on it.
As for my job’s
effect on my hair, I have to wake up and be on the road before 6am most days in
order to get to work on time; I also work 12 hour shifts so I love the fact
that my hair is currently as low maintenance as possible.
 |
| Ogechi and her sisters |
My natural hair challenges
I honestly haven’t
had many bad experiences, comments or experienced unpleasant judgment from
people. Perhaps I just don’t pay attention to what people have to say about my
hair because even before I went natural I was always sort of a hair rebel –
sporting unconventional styles and colors. (Unconventional for a Nigerian: In reality, I’ve never done anything super crazy).
My biggest
challenges involve my own hair care. I have extremely dry scalp, a very tight
curl pattern and hair that does it’s own thing in my opinion. One of the
reasons why I cut my hair recently was because I didn’t really want to deal
with it. I struggled with making time to moisturize, do protective styles… I
must confess I’m not one to watch videos, read blogs/articles, browse through
pictures and all that. I just want(ed) hair that is easy to maintain. All the
other natural sisters I know do not share these feelings.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ogechi |
My routine
It’s extremely
simple. I get a haircut
from my friend John Nwosu (shoutout!!) every 3 weeks. I wash my hair
with a natural shampoo that has a lot of tea tree oil, I use a moisturizing
conditioner (whatever my sisters buy) 2-3 days a week. Then I use
whatever hair cream my sister Ihuoma has made. (Shoutout to Ihuoma. She is a
genius and I wouldn’t know what to do if she didn’t make hair products!) I know
certain oils to stay away from and which ones work best for me but I can’t say
I necessarily have one product or products that I always use.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Ogechi |
My natural hair idols
I just like people
with big hair! I don’t have any specific people that I study. I hope to
eventually grow out a large large ‘fro!
...
 |
| Photo courtesy of"Nigerian Natural Hair" |
…
Enyioma
 |
| Enyioma |
Me and my journey
Hello, my name is
Enyioma. I am an Igbo Nigerian (Naija) girl – born and raised - and
currently reside in the beautiful state of California. I have been natural since 2005, so for almost 8 years now.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Enyioma |
My journey
to natural is somewhat convoluted. As children, our lovely mom
took beautiful care of our natural tresses until my sister and I begged her to
perm our hair b/c we wanted to look more grown. After perming my hair, I
noticed increased breakage and thinning. I cut my hair once when I was
about 11 years old in Nigeria and restarted to grow it out
naturally. I permed it again and the same thing happened – increased
breakage and thinning and also a receding hair line.
I then decided
to cut it all off and go natural right after high school – at a time when it
was quite unpopular to be an African with natural hair. I remembered
how long and full my hair was when it was natural as a child and even though I
had no idea how I would take care of it, I took the plunge and just decided to
see if I could recover its former glory. So in 2005, I started doing
braids to grow out my roots and in 2006, I did the BC. I continued
having loose natural curls up until November 2011 when I decided I wanted a new
experience and I locked my hair up! I now rock beautiful locs that I can’t wait
to see grow long and full.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Enyioma |
My work and my hair
I am a licensed
clinical pharmacist and also a credentialed EPIC
trainer/consultant. I have a somewhat interesting experience because
I lived in Montana (MT) for a year and it’s a mostly Caucasian
state. The people over there were very fascinated with the
hairstyles I would do so going to work was always a trip. They never
considered any hairstyle – whether it be bantu knots, or two-stand twists – to
be unprofessional. The ability to do so many different styles with
natural hair made me unique and different from everyone else in a good
way. Having locked hair in MT was also a very nice experience; when
people asked me questions, I would always tell them what I was doing with my
hair and explain to them different things about Black/African hair.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Enyioma |
Natural hair and Nigeria
Unfortunately, I
haven’t been to Nigeria since we relocated to the US. However, from
the attitudes of certain family members and friends back home, it is clear that
natural hair is not accepted in our culture and society and is viewed as a
village or childish hairstyle. Most adults don’t even know how to
comb and style their own hair. I remember one of my cousins telling
me how her husband didn’t even see her real hair for about a year after they
were married because she was always doing weaves. When he saw her
real hair for the first time, he was shocked because the strain of doing weaves
all the time had pulled her hairline to almost the middle of her
head! This is the case with many women in Nigeria and it is clear
the ignorance of what ‘good hair’ truly means persists. Even here in
the states, all my Nigerian and African friends discouraged me completely when
I first decided to go natural.
Blessedly, some of those individuals
have seen the light and have begun to grow their own hair naturally. We
can’t blame our sisters who feel unable to grasp the concept of going natural
because it seems that all the factors of the world – mainstream media, family,
friends, culture, society – are against us black women when it comes to
embracing our natural beauty. I know it will take time and patience
on the part of those of us who are natural, to show them that beautiful African
natural hair is achievable and desirable. The support of my own
family (sisters, cousins – Chioma and Ezinne, mother, and brother) has made my
journey much easier and brighter.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Enyioma |
My natural hair challenges
The biggest
challenge when I first went natural was of course, dealing with people that
thought I was stupid, but that soon passed. The second biggest
challenge I faced for years before I discovered the YouTube natural hair
channels, was how to take care of my hair. I wasted a lot of money on failed
products and also damaged my hair by excessive combing and
styling. Once I learned about natural oils and protective hairstyles,
I was golden! With locs, I was very well informed and knew what to
expect. I had also learned what worked best for my natural hair, so
I can’t really say that I had any serious challenges. Oh, except that my mom
STILL doesn’t know that I have locs, LOL. She might be cool with it, but we’ll
see how the rest of my older relatives handle it! I find that it’s
hard for Naija people to accept loose natural hair, but even harder for them to
comprehend why a professional, Christian woman would want to loc her
hair. Unfortunately for them, I am well past the point of caring
about other people’s opinions of my hair.
 |
| Enyioma and her sisters |
My
routine
With locs, I wash
(with Dr Bonner’s natural castile soap) and re-twist every two weeks – pretty
simple. Once every couple of months I do the ACV + Baking soda rinse
just to do a deep cleanse for my locs. I’ve also started something
new in which I rinse my hair with beer, club soda, cranberry juice, and lemon
juice, after washing. I hear those are supposed to enrich your hair
and add shine, so I’ll give it 6 months and see if there’s anything to report.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Enyioma |
My natural hair idols
Franchesca Ramsey,
aka Chescaleigh/Chescalocs on YouTube. I love, love, love her hair
tutorials; she always also has good tips on taking care of
locs. Watching her gives me the courage to be patient with my hair
and just let it grow at its own pace. My sisters and cousins are my
greatest inspiration for hair and skin care because we stand apart from a lot
of our family members and friends, by choosing to live a more natural and
holistic lifestyle. I also love going on sites like blackgirllonghair.com, blackwomennaturalhairstyles.com, livelaughlovelocs.tumblr.com for
style inspiration and hair care ideas.
Thank you so much
for giving my sisters and I the opportunity to share a bit of ourselves with
you and your readers!
 |
| Photo courtesy of "Nigerian Natural Hair" |
Thank you so much, ladies, for giving us a glimpse into your natural hair experiences.
Again for everyone reading, don't forget to check out and "like" their Facebook page. They share some awesome pictures on there!
