Actress, comedian, producer and writer Kim Wayans is On the Couch with CurlyNikki! A talented member of the famous Wayans clan, Kim shined on “A Different World,” and delivered uncanny impressions on Fox Network’s “In Living Color.” She’s also appeared on the big screen with roles in “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” “Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Juice in the Hood” and “Juwanna Man,” to name a few.
But today we’re here to take a closer look at them celebrity curls! Ladies, I present to you, Kim Wayans! Enjoy!
CN: It was so amazing to connect with you on Twitter! I’ve been a fan since Miss Benita!
Kim: Thanks Nikki! I love your website. I read your celebrity interviews and have learned so much about working my natural hair from CurlyNikki.com. It’s really a tremendous resource, and whenever I run into a sister with her natural hair, I’m always sure to tell her, “Be sure to go to CurlyNikki.com!”
I was just talking to a woman in New York that wants to transition, she’s scared, but she wants to, and I told her, “You need to get on CurlyNikki.com and read the stories of women who made the transition because it’s going to inspire you and give you the courage to go on and lop that off and start from scratch!”
CN:Wow! Thanks Kim! That’s such an amazing compliment. I’m happy that you find the info helpful and I’m very grateful for the free pub!
Kim: It’s an amazing website. My girlfriend Robin Robinson, a die hard CurlyNikki fan, turned me onto it. I had to mention her ’cause she’d be on me if I didn’t!
CN: Your natural hair is some of the most luscious I’ve ever seen atop a celebrity head. Give me your story!
Kim: I’ve never had a perm. My mom didn’t have that — we all wanted one of course, because everybody wanted the hair that swung, and this didn’t swing [Laughs]. She was very much about loving your natural hair and said to all of us girls that when you turn 18, you can do whatever you want with your hair, but right now, in this household, there’s gonna be no perming. So we just had to tie sweaters on our head and swing those from side to side [Laughs].
So I never got a perm and when I left home, I never really wanted one. I would hot comb my hair or wear braids because I really didn’t know what to do with my natural hair. I just knew that I didn’t want to put chemicals in it.
Like back in the day on “In Living Color” and “A Different World,” I wore it pressed and then I graduated to braided styles and wore that for many years. And when I got tired of the braids falling out in the swimming pool [Laughter] — you know, you’re thinking you’re all cute and everything, and then an extension falls out — I looked up and my hair was floating in the pool! A guy was like, “Excuse me miss, I think this is your hair!”
So that, plus I was just ready for a change. I didn’t want to be a slave to the braids anymore. I just got the urge. I wanted to rock my natural hair without the braids, without anything.
CN: What’s your current routine? How do you achieve that luxurious curly fro?
Kim: I do my hair once a week. I don’t use shampoo anymore, that’s something I learned from your website. I use DevaCurl No Poo and I find that to be really amazing because it doesn’t strip your natural moisture and oils. It works well because it keeps my hair feeling very moist. I also learned that I shouldn’t be yanking a comb through this bush and that I should be using my fingers as much as possible.
I’m so happy to be talking to you because I’ve benefited so greatly from your website. It’s just a gem. I can’t sing your praises enough. As a culture, we don’t learn how to do our hair and that’s why there’s such an aversion to wearing it. That’s why so many women are like, “I don’t know what to do with it and therefore I perm, or therefore I braid, because I don’t know what to do with my own hair.”
We don’t grow up learning how to do our hair, we grow up learning how to do somebody else’s hair — Caucasian hair. Those little combs and brushes don’t work on this. So you find yourself yanking out your hair and having such a difficult time, and when you learn, you learn that your hair is different and requires different treatment. And when you grasp that and get the proper tools to do YOUR hair, it become a breeze. It becomes fun and not a huge hassle.
CN: It’s a re-education.
Kim: It is! It’s a total re-education. So back to my routine, now I have a Ouidad Comb. I first use my fingers and go through my hair and separate it into about 5 large braids. And then I saturate my hair with a conditioner, put my little plastic cap on and let that sit in my hair for a couple of hours.
If I have errands to run, I’ll slap on baseball cap so I can run around. I let that percolate up there for a few hours and if I have the time, I’ll even leave it in over night and then the next day wash out each braid, cleanse with Deva NoPoo using luke warm water, and do a final cold water rinse — something else I learned from your site.
I pat dry each section with a towel and gently remove excess water. Then I take virgin coconut oil with some jojoba oil and a little raw Shea butter and mix that together and put that on each section, re-braid back into the big 5 braids, put on my satin cap and then I go to sleep to let it dry overnight.
I also sleep on a satin pillow case, which is something I didn’t know about growing up. It’s something else I learned from you, and it just makes such a difference. You wonder, “Why is my hair dry all the time? All the oils and moisture I put in it…” and then you realize the pillowcase is more moisturized than your hair and that’s crazy! So that satin pillow case really helps a lot.
The next day I let the braids out, lightly take my fingers and work it a little bit and let it do its thing for the rest of the week.
