Hey readers! This week for HerCampus, our theme was Beauty and Style. What better way to delve deeply into the subject than interview an organization that challenges the social norm of beauty and style in our society today? I had the honor of interviewing the lovely ladies of Knotted.Up, where their motto is, “Hair-Care is Self Care.” Kassia Pierre Louis is a fourth year Marketing Major, Kayla Waite is a fourth year Strategic Communications major, and Makayla Anderson is a fourth year out of the five-year MBA program. These beautiful women founded Knotted.Up in 2015, under the impression of helping those around them with questions about natural hair. Around this time growing up in Brooklyn, New York, these ladies were just starting out on learning how to do their own natural hair while everyone had perms. Let’s see what they have to say about having natural hair.
Q: What advice do you have for people who just started their natural hair journey?
Kayla: You need to have patience with your hair. It’s a long process and it’s not going to happen over night. My hair never turned out the same twice, I had to accept the fact and keep it going. It’ll get there eventually, don’t worry.
Kassia: Everyone has different hair, and it grows at different rates.
Makayla: It’s all about treating yourself right. As we say, “Hair Care is Self Care,” so it’s taking the time to love and care for your hair the best you can. Make sure to have the patience to figure it out.
Q: What does a typical wash day look like to you?
Kayla: Well, you see that I just cut my hair *laughs.* So now I just wash it real quick. I’m a product junkie so I don’t have a set product that I use. I intend to switch back and forth between Aunt Jackie and Creme of Nature.
Kassia: I deeply condition my hair weekly. It helps my hair retain moisture and restore it after a long week. My hair requires A LOT of moisture, so I shampoo my hair every two weeks.
Makayla: I’m actually in the process of doing my hair! (*holds up comb to the camera). I wash my hair once a month. To be honest, I’m more of a lazy naturalist (who isn’t?) and I do my hair when I feel like it. I only use natural products, avocados, bananas, aloe, even olive oil, you name it. I often use an ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse, with aztec healing clay.
Q: What are some tips for taking care of hair that is dyed?
Kayla: I dye my hair VERY often. It’s been every color i feel like. Coloring your hair is a freedom of expression. Make sure to condition weekly, because it can dry out extremely quickly. When you’re dying it I would say have confidence? I don’t know lol, it can go wrong very quickly so pay attention. Oh, and if you dye blonde hair black, it goes green!
Kassia: I can’t dye my hair because of my major. I did recently do a big chop to help my hair grow, and to try another color eventually.
Makayla: Well, my freshman year I decided to dye my hair red, AND then red on top of that. It caused my hair to be brittle, and to make matters worse I straightened it, and got heat damage. But my hair is normal now! I don’t like how it made my hair feel (Kayla: “now you know it was because you didn’t take care of it!). Ok whatever! I just know that dying it isn’t for me. Another tip, don’t use coconut oil on dyed hair, it takes away the color.
Q: What do you guys think about the Big Chop?
Kayla: I personally haven’t done it, because I just cut my hair when I feel like it. Transitioning is a good alternative if you don’t want to do the big chop. Yet, people’s hair can fall out during transitioning because their hair is not meant to have two textures at a time. It’s a sacrifice you have to make.
Kassia: I just did the big chop in August. Thankfully I have these braids in, because hair feels short. My thing is, I love to do ponytails, but my hair is too short for all of that. But it’s growing!
Makayla: It’s helpful for when you need your hair to grow.
Q: How often do you trim?
Makayla: I trim my hair every three-four months. I get it professionally trimmed. I’m big on length retention!
Kassia: I have no set time frame, and I don’t get it professionally done. I heard that your hair grows about half an inch a month so cutting it often would just take away from the new growth.
Kayla: Yeah I also have no set time.
Q: What protective styles do you recommend in the winter?
Makayla: KNOTLESS BRAIDS! At first, I wasn’t sure that they would last in my hair, but they did for two months. I booked Kayla for mine. Crochet isn’t too bad, there’s certain styles I can’t wear at school because of my major. Remember to regularly oil your hair, maybe with castor oil.
Kassia: I love faux locs and braids. I typically have braids all year round anyway. Use shea butter to seal in the moisture, and oil on your edges.
Kayla: I personally like twists. I change my hairstyle so often so I don’t have a set one for winter.
Q: Detangling tips?
Kayla: Get a good brush, denim brushes are good. I like to detangle my hair (when I have it) in the shower.
Makayla: I use a wide tooth comb. I also have a denim brush and I find that the less tension between bristles, the better the detangling will be.
Kassia: Finger-detangling gets the job done. Make sure not to detangle your hair when it’s dry, that’s where a lot of people fall short. My hair used to take a long time when it was longer, but i just put it in small sections so it’s easier.
Q: How do you learn to love your natural hair?
Kayla: It’s all a process honestly. Taking into account what people have been saying about African American hair for centuries. If it’s in its natural state, people think it’s unkempt. We definitely break a lot of beauty standards.
Makayla: You’re going to make people uncomfortable with your natural hair. I always embraced my shrinkage, the tight coils, the head warps, everything. It’s challenging when people make slick comments, eventually they’ll come around when they realize you aren’t going to change.
Kassia: I have come a long way when it comes to loving my hair. I started doing wash and go’s in 2019, before that you would never see me do that. I used to do mohawks and perm rod sets, and looking back at pictures, I see that I really looked crazy walking around school *laughs.* (Kayla and Makayla: girl we looked cute!)
And there you have it folks. There’s so much care that goes into taking care of natural hair. Everyone may go through a different process, but at the end of the day, it takes patience and having proper self care to get through it. I had an amazing time interviewing Kassia, Kayla, and Makayla; and I can’t wait to see where their hair journey takes them next! #StayKnottedUp
Please go follow their Instagram page @knotted.up