Naturally Fierce Feature: Alexis

I am Alexis V. Nottingham of Baltimore, MD. I’m 25 years old and my last relaxer was in December 2010. I decided to go natural maybe a year or so before then, but relaxed again and after seeing how thin it made my hair, decided that was it for me!!!!!

How long have you been natural?

I’ve been fully natural for 1 year and 20 months. I wish I would have made the decision to go natural sooner.

What motivated you to transition? Were you a transitioner or a Big Chopper & why?

I became curious around early 2009. My beautiful mother, Tia had been natural for a while, but she kept her hair braided. A coworker of mine at the time was natural and I always admired her fro’, but couldn’t muster up the courage. I didn’t think I could pull it off. But after my last relaxer in December 2010, YouTube became an addiction (still is) and I watched video after video of these fly naturalistas and soaked up tons of information. I woke up one Saturday morning in August of 2011 and went to the salon and told the stylist to cut off the relaxed ends. I was freaked out the entire time lol. But I wore my hair the same way for a really long time and I wanted something new and unexpected. And let’s be real. I wanted long and healthy hair.

What has been the most memorable part of your journey?  Has it been easy or difficult or both?!

The most memorable part was the reactions to me cutting my hair off. My sweetie James was livid lol!!! My mother was really supportive because like I said I wore my hair the same way for a really long time. She was thrilled that I was doing something different. It was hard seeing the reactions initially, but I had support from my mother and the more I learned, the more I wanted to continue my journey. YouTube (my addiction) was a major factor in inspiring and motivating me to stay natural.

What are (or were) some of your favorite transitioning hairstyles or current dos?’
During my transition, I actually flat ironed my hair often. Fortunately, I didn’t incur any damage. Once I gained the knowledge, I got micro-mini braids to lessen my frustration with the two textures. Currently, I am the twist-out queen lol. I have just started getting into experimenting with updos though.

I have gotten mixed reactions since being natural. Mostly positive, but as I said, my poor baby James was furious lol. He has come around though and loves it. My mother Tia and other naturals were elated. Now I always get compliments and questions about my hair. I feel like most of the negative reactions come from ignorance. We have kind of been trained to believe that our hair should be a certain way, that we can’t care for our own hair, etc.

I shampoo when needed, usually biweekly with co-washes in between. I deep condition weekly because I like to blow-dry my hair. The bigger the fro’, the better for me lol. Right now, I am loving some good ole’ Suave and V05 conditioners. I love Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, Eden Body Works Peppermint Oil. And I love my essential oils of peppermint and eucalyptus. I love the tingle. I moisturize and seal my ends nightly with the smoothie and an oil.

What are some of your favorite natural hair websites, YouTuber’s, or blogs?

I love MyNaturalSistas, FusionofCultures, XGoldn, Naptural85, MsVaughnTV, CurlyNikki… You name it, I love them all. They’ve all inspired me and they have all taught me something.

Anything you want the readers to know? Inspirational words?

I want readers to know that your hair is your choice!!! There is tons of information out there. You can rock it and rock it fabulously. Everybody doesn’t have to like or agree with it… Do YOU!!!!

Where can people find you for more information?

I am on Instagram mostly @justlex3, Facebook from time to time… I just got the gall to start up a YouTube channel AlexisN1203. Lol try not to laugh at me. It’s a process, but I really want to help inspire, motivate, and educate as others have done for me…

The natural hair journey affects the entire family (not really, lol)… How did your significant other react to your big chop or transition?  Leave comments below.