Aevin Dugas is Naturally Glamorous

Guess what? I got to interview the beautiful, Aevin Dugas! :)

I'm guessing most of you know who she is, but I'll still tell you who she is: Aevin Dugas is a Guiness World Record holder. Now, what's that record for? THE WORLD'S LARGEST AFRO! How big is her afro? Well, when last I read something about her (the article had been posted in 2011), it said over 4ft. WOW! :) I want hair like that :) I'll be SammyWithTheBIGHair no longer SammyWithTheBigHair, if you know what I mean ;)

Anyways, here's my little interview with Aevin Dugas:

(Sammy: "ohmigosh! ohmigosh! I still can't believe I got to do this!" *Sam stops jumping and tries to act cool, calm and collected ..... so hard to do*)

When did you and what made you decide to go natural?
I went natural 13 years ago

Did you big chop or transition?
Well, back then there was no name for it! Lol, but I guess you can say I transitioned because I let it grow for a year before I decided to chop my ends off!

How did you manage your hair while going natural?
I had a friend who's sister would cornrow it for me, I'd rod it, or find any style wher I didn't have to mess with it too much.

When did you BC?
It was the month of May during Maymester at Southern University. Thank goodness, because I probably wouldn't have remembered it.

What was the initial reaction to your natural hair?
Some loved it but others weren't too happy about it. I'm from a small town so there were a lot of closed minded ppl at that time. Natural wasn't the "in" thing to do! We laugh now but my little sister got bullied about me cutting my hair short! Weird!

How did your family and friends react to the new you?
They all loved it, it was a shock bc I went from hair to a low fro but they were very supportive. Eventually they almost all went natural!

What was your response to them?
For the ones with questions, I'd give them my reasons why I went natural and explained why they should too:-)

(Sammy: haha, I did that too :) )

What does this journey mean to you?
It means a lot, I love seeing more And more naturals! I love seeing the little girls loving their hair and I'm happy to see the commercials with natural hair women.

What is your daily regimen (including your night-time routine)?
Well.........I think because I've been doing it for so long I've gotten lazy. I shampoo and condition once to twice a week. Then I usually add argan oil and mix a bunch of conditioners and slap it in a bun!

What are your go-to hairstyles, which is your fav. and how do you achieve it?
Lol, honestly it's my bun, and my newest is my braid out. I shampoo/condition then part my hair into 4 sections and braid it. Once it's dry, I take them loose and that's it!

How do you deal with hair issues such as: breakage, shrinkage, length retention and moisture?
Honestly I've been blessed to not have to deal with breakage and length retention. As far as shrinkage I usually stretch my braids or twists with ponytail holders. But, it'll shrink after a while anyway so...... For moisture, I add a little argan oil before my conditioners and that's about it.

What products do you currently use, and how are they working for you?
I'm very simple for products, I use Pantene, Garnier Fruictis, Tressemme, Shea Moisture and KoilsbyNature

(Sammy: "I love this picture!" :) )

Hand-In-Hair syndrome an issue I have now only that....it's not my hand (okay! sometimes it is my hand :) ). Do you have this issue?Yes, I love to feel my waves! Silly, I know!

Do people ask before touching your hair or they just randomly reach out and touch (or grab) it?
Some ask...............but most just grab

How does this make you feel? What is your reaction to this?
It's uncomfortable. I used to let ppl touch IF they asked bc they always thought it was fake so I'd let them feel for themselves. But now I realize they should just take my word for it! Now when they grab aka pull my hair........ That's a whole other situation! Not a good one either:-)

What was your reaction when you found out you had made a world record?
I was shocked bc I never win or get anything! Even now, I'll see myself somewhere and just stare in disbelief.

What have you learned throughout your journey?
I've learned that I do what makes me and my hair happy!

Any advice for those who are considering going natural, are currently transitioning, are newly naturals or "Nana" naturals?
Yes, I always say find what works for you. You can watch all the you tube product videos you want. Until you use it in your hair, you just don't know. Also, if you are thinking about going natural, you do not have to cut your hair bald. I hear a lot say that we hold onto our hair and how it's just hair and will grow back. Yes that is true, but lets be real, going bald is a hairstyle and SOME may not be comfortable with it. I say take your time, and when YOU are ready...........chop it off and enjoy your natural hair!!! It's so worth it once you do!!

><>

Yay! So, I did it! *fan girl scream!* :)

~SammyWithTheBigHair

A Plea to My Readers

Dear readers,

I know some of you have bookmarked this blog and a bunch of you check it out every now and then (and I’m really grateful for that), but honestly, sometimes, I feel a little disappointed or like, “people don’t really read my blog,” or “my blog’s not good enough” when I go through it, post something new and every single day, I see just three followers. In 3 months, SammyWithTheBigHair (the blog) will be a year old (and SammyWithTheBigHair would be celebrating the second year since she started transitioning back to natural). I’m like, almost a year and just three followers? I know some people don’t even get up to those three and indeed, I am grateful that I have those three and some of you “invincible” readers.

So, here’s my plea, that all of you who have clicked on the “follow” button do. It’ll really encourage me. It’ll give me a reason to post something because there’s proof that you’re most likely reading.

Please, please could you do this for me?

Please and thank you.

~Sammy

I'm Back

Hey!

I'm back. Didn't tell y'all, but I was away at a sort of camp thingy for about 3 days. It was fun! We line danced for over an hour at night on Sunday (we did the ELECTRIC SLIDE! :) ).

So, so, let's talk hair!
I rocked my signature style - the puff - every day and oh my days, did I look good! :) I have to say, I did have a bit of an issue with:

1. Shrinkage,
2. Hand In Hair Syndrome (HIHS) <---- not my hand, and
3. Tangles

Shrinkage: It rained during an activity and well, the boys didn't want to give me their shirts (said they were protecting their hair (stubble) and one wiped off some dirt of his hand on his shirt that had been hanging on his belt hole then was like, "oh, I'm using it") and the other girls (mainly the curly haired) had their scarves over their hair to keep the shrinkage to a minimum.

HIHS: Like I said, it was not my hand. People were like, "can I touch your hair?" or their hands just went straight into my hair which led to....

....Tangles: All the hair touching and pulling and shrinkage caused A WHOLE LOTTA TANGLES! Like I couldn't get my fingers through my hair easily (finger combing) or do anything with my hair.

What'd I take with me:

1. A shower comb,
2. An afro pick,
3. A slack head band (for the puff)
4. 2 gorgeous looking head bands (I have on in right now) to hold down the front (actually, to spice things up a bit!) <----- ended up not using them
5. A claw clip (which I also didn't use), and
6. Ouchless Hairbands. (I don't remember using these either)

So, during my first night there, a friend helped me braid up my hair at night to stretch it out a bit. During my second night, my hair had shrunk so bad 'cause it had rained and you know the story, anyways, so that and the hair touching gave me terribly shrunken and tangled hair. All the girls in my room were scared to touch my hair apart from one who's got lovely kinky hair. She sat me down on the floor by her bed and helped detangle my hair and braid it up before I got some sleep. By the next morning, I got some help taking out the braids 'cause we had to be out before 7am. So, when I combed my hair out into an afro and held it up, it was big and curly and gorgeous. People stared at my hair, some were like, "is that actually your hair?" and I was like, "noooooooo," (heavy sarcasm there). People touched my hair, my room mates said that my hair was alive and well, some said the annoying bit, "you've got the second longest hair  here apart from Enem (the kinky haired girl) and we didn't even know that till your hair was pulled. You should TOTALLY get your hair (......wait for it......) relaxed. It'll look so nice!" Oh my days! Anyways, pushing that aside, people L.O.V.E.D my hair! Yesterday, Wendii was like, "I love you hair! I want you hair! and I am going to get your hair!" and then her hands went in my hair! Someone was like, "you should be scared" when they heard that Wendii said she was going to get my hair.

I totally felt like some sort of celebrity. :)

So, yesterday night, I slept with my hair wrapped up in a satin scarf, I was way too tired that I couldn't be bothered with detangling and stretching over night (rained yesterday....). So, today, I mixed up some conditioner (Tresemme Naturals), bottled water and some oils (real lil) and worked the mix into sections of my hair (totally dissolved those tangles. From the comb practically breaking to get through my hair, it just slid through. Then I braided and twisted my hair till I had to head out (didn't wash out the condish I should add). My hair wasn't thoroughly dry, but it was okay when I took down the braids and twists. I got some coconut oil onto my hair, combed it out into an afro then held it up in my signature style before heading out. My hair feels so moisturised!

I love my hair! I love my hair! And Wendii wants my hair! haha :)

I'm glad I'm not getting so many hands in my hair now that I'm home, but I sorta miss all the attention (if you know what I mean). I was like the girl with the gorgeous hair back there and now, at home, my parents don't give a care about my hair!

Haha!

Anyways, the whole camping thing was fun!

A couple of featured posts coming up in a bit,

~Sammy....WITHTHEBIGBEAUTIFULGORGEOUSHAIRTHATWENDIIWANTS!

(I should totally change the name of this blog to that!)

:)

Goody Ouchless Bands Review

What are Goody Ouchless Bands?

Basically, Goody Ouchless Bands are hair bands/elastics that don't have metal connectors. Now, as some of you may know, I've been using hair bands without metal connectors for some time now, but this one, the Goody Ouchless Bands are....different. They're a whole lot better.


Where did your purchase your Ouchless Bands?

At Boots, in Eastleigh, Southampton (England). That's the only place I've seen it. Oh! and a lil advertising (wasn't asked to do this, but I will), if you're in England and happen to be in Eastleigh or any part of England, but at a Boots store, they've got Denman brushes (practically all the types), Tangle Teezers, Tangle Tamers, Afro Picks, etc, all the curly hair accessories and styling tools! :)


How strong are the bands?

They are really strong and don't stretch out too fast. I hate having hair bands that get so slack easily. Also, they don't snap. The metal-free hair bands I used to use, well, they snapped like a toothpick (for some of them, toothpicks were actually harder to snap than they were).


How is it with your hair? (does it pull it out, hurt, etc)

These bands, unlike the others, don't pull out my hair and they most definitely don't hurt. They just hold my hair in place how I'd want them to. They also don't leave white rubbery things in my hair like my previous hair bands have done after a while.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is totally awful and 10 is totally amazing/perfect), what would you rate this?

9

So, I'm guessing you'll be recommending this, right?

Right.



By the way, for anyone that's in England, these ouchless bands are sold at Boots for £3.25 :)