NaturallyCurly: Please introduce yourself!
Rachel Asakome: Hello, my name is Rachel Asakome and I am from Nigeria.
NC: How and when did you start embracing your curls?
RA: I have been natural for about 5-6 years now. I started truly embracing my curls in August 2011. I went natural because suddenly, all the hair on the back of my head fell off! So in 2008, I decided to cut my hair and let it grow out, so I could relax it again! When I first went natural, I didn’t know what to do…I didn’t think that I needed to do anything special, and I treated my hair as if it were relaxed. Then I realized that my hair was growing really slowly and in a search for remedies, I stumbled across a video talking about how natural hair wasn’t considered beautiful. At that point, I decided it was my mission to show everyone just how beautiful kinky curly hair could be. I have fallen in love with my hair and it has responded to my love by growing like crazy!
NC: What’s your current routine?
RA: On a wash day, I wash my hair with my homemade rhassoul clay shampoo, then follow with a homemade deep conditioner. My deep conditioners usually consist of shea butter, coconut oil, honey, aloe vera gel, neem oil, argan oil and palm kernel oil. After mixing all the ingredients together, I cover my hair with a plastic cap and sit under the steamer for about 20 minutes.
I wash my hair every two weeks but in between washes, I condition my hair with pure coconut oil. I also spray it with water and aloe vera juice at least once every two days, depending on how my hair feels. Some days after spritzing my hair, I’ll add oil.
