Asia // Natural Hair Style Icon

Where do you live?
A: I’m West Philly born and raised, and I’m a recent college graduate of Temple University. Shoutout to the class of 2010 and my Speech Pathology girls! 🙂

Why did you go natural?
A: I made the decision after I saw a picture of Mae (NaturalChica) with her bantu knot out. I instantly fell in love and made the decision to dye and style my hair naturally the very next day. I had the ‘Rihanna haircut’ last year, and decided I wanted to grow my hair out.

Going natural has made me more confident. I used to feel I wasn’t ‘cute’ with my natural hair. I had perms and weaves and added a lot of heat to my hair, but now I don’t need any of that and I feel absolutely beautiful.

What’s your regimen?
A: My signature look (because I fail at twist outs lol) is the bantu knot out. I wash and deep condition with a heating cap for 30 minutes every Saturday using Suave Humectress. I then rinse it out, and while its still damp I add leave in conditioner (Sunsilk Captivating Curls de-frizz leave in cream) part my hair in sections for the knots, and add Curls Curling Creme to each section and twist and knot. When its all knotted, I add castor oil to my scalp. I also spray my hair with my own concoction of water, glycerin, grapeseed oil, castor oil, and shea butter oil.

How do you retain length?
A: Right now my hair is in Senegalese twists because I just cannot leave my hair alone! So before I even start to notice my hair is breaking or not retaining length, I decided to get the twists put in. I’ll probably keep them in for a month or more. They’re a lifesaver! 🙂

What mistakes have you made with your hair that you’ve learned from?
A: With the constant sew-ins I obtained a lot of heat damage in the front. It actually looked permed and had no texture whatsoever, even when wet. When I went natural, I began to deep condition my hair with a heat cap (conditioner, extra virgin olive oil, mayonnaise, milk, and honey) and realized that it made my damaged hair wavy each time, almost like its trying to revert back. I do that every week, and absolutely avoid flat ironing my hair, and I now use a heat protectant (Elasta QP) while blow drying. So ladies, while transitioning with weaves, opt for the kinky as opposed to straight looks if your own hair is going to be left out!

What’s the best/most effective thing you do for your hair?
A: I wash it every week and deep condition with a heating cap. My hair LOVES it! Especially the hair that was heat damaged. I also use lots of castor oil which makes it incredibly soft! By the way, I cut all remaining perm from my ends as well as the damaged hair in the front before I got my Senegalese twists.

Is there a blog/webpage where we can find you?
A: You can find me on twitter @asia_shardae, facebook under asia.robinson, and on youtube at im1klassydiv