Traveling Haircare: Naptural85

Name:
My name’s Whitney, but I go by Naptural85 on YouTube, or Nap85 on Twitter.

Where are you from:
I was born in Rhode Island, but Massachusetts is where I grew up, so to me, that’s my home.

How long have you been natural?:
I’ve been natural for 3 years now!

1. Let’s talk about one of your most recent trips and your haircare regimen during! ( feel free to name some of your favorite products)

Up until recently, I was traveling a lot! I’ve finally settled down and am enjoying a calmer life at home. While I’m traveling, I try to keep my hair regimen simple. If I’m wearing my hair out, I’ll do it the night before I hop on the plane or in the car so it’ll be nice and fresh when I need it. If I have somewhere to be the same day I’m traveling, I’ll take my twists out that morning before leaving the house (I mostly do twist-outs). If I don’t have anywhere to be the day I’m traveling, I’ll leave them in and travel with a beanie hat, scarf, or with my twists clipped up into a style, until I’m ready to take them out.

If I’m going on a week long vacation for “Fun in the Sun,” I’ll usually travel with mini twists because they allow me to enjoy my vacation. I don’t have to style everyday and night, just wrap and go to bed.
I always pack my silk scarf, my silk scrunchy, an empty water bottle, my shea butter, a comb, some bobby pins, and some ponytail holders. I like to keep it simple on a daily basis, but even more so when I’m traveling. I only pack the bare necessities… just enough to last me the duration of my stay. And I make sure I have some essential styling tools, such as bobby pins and a comb just in case…

Naptural85

2. Did you have to do anything differently for your regimen while traveling 3. What about your nighttime regimen?

My regimen stays exactly the same as I travel. I will usually just do a simple twist out that can be maintained on a nightly basis with my hair in a bun, using my silk scrunchy and a spritz of water to hydrate.
In the morning, I take the bun out and can leave it as is, or style using my bobby pins and ponytail holders.

4. Have you been out swimming at all? If so how did you prepare your hair?

If I go swimming while traveling, I usually won’t put my hair under the water. I’ll just clip it up really high on my head and make sure it doesn’t fall into the water.
If I decide that I want to go under, I’ll just do my thing, then as soon as I get home, shower and cleanse the chlorine (or salt) out of my hair. Sometimes I have the energy to re-twist, but other times I don’t so I’ll just leave it as a wash and go. If my hair is in mini twists, all I have to do is let my hair dry after showering and re-wrap it!

5. How do you wear your hair while you are on a plane ride?

Lol! I made the mistake of wearing my hair in a wash and go on a plane ride ONCE and that never happened again! Lol, talk about helmet head, sheesh!!
On the plane, I wear twists, and I pin or clip them up. That is the easiest way I’ve found to travel, otherwise, you’re sleeping on your hair, squishing one side, knotting up the other… it’s just a mess. If you wear twists, they’re not affected by you sleeping and you actually get to relax!!
I’ll wear the twists pinned up, or with my satin scarf and another scarf wrapped around it in a style similar to my “Conditioning On The Go” video. It’s stylish and comfortable.

6. What are some complements you get on your hair while traveling ( and around town)?
I usually don’t get too many compliments about my hair while traveling, unless I’m at a special event where I’m dressed up or something, or have made a special effort to make my hair look good.

7. What do you love about being natural? What annoys you?
I love the fact that my hair is just… simple; I LOVE that. There’s no rituals that I need to do, no having to wait on someone else to style my hair. It’s awesome to be in control of your own hair for once in your life!
The only thing that annoys be about my hair is (… and this is my own fault…) when I wait too long to re-twist it, or get lazy and it gets tangled so easily! That part is annoying, but I can’t blame my hair, lol, I just need to stay on top of it… other than that, it’s fun!

Naptural85

8. I have been convinced by your videos to try the Terressentials hair wash, you really should be their spokesperson! Did you have any reservations in the beginning when you decided to skip the detox phase for the hair wash?
Lol! Thank you, I wish! Oh no, I had no reservations about skipping the detox… Actually, when I first decided to buy it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I started reading about the detox and all that, and was like “Pshhh… who has time for that!?” Lol, so I threw the paper to the floor and just used it how I wanted to. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to like it, but i decided to try something different. The moment I put it in my hair, I was hooked, and I couldn’t WAIT to share it with the YouTube community!

9. I admired the simplicity of your haircare that you share with your YouTube viewers, what is one product you can’t live without?

One product I cannot live without is shea butter. I love shea butter. It is like three styling tools in one. It helps lock in moisture, acts as a styling/holding paste, and also helps to detangle, in my opinion. So no matter what I decide to wash my hair with, I think it’s what you do out of the shower when the water’s gone, that determines your hair health… shea butter definitely helps me on a day to day basis.

10. I started my natural hair journey in 2005 and there were some (but not a lot) ladies on my campus in Boston that were natural and a Salon in Cambridge called Simply Erinns was really the only place that also catered to natural hair. What was your experience like in MA?

Yeaah Boston, Lol! My experience was probably alot like yours. There aren’t too many natural ladies in my area… and if they are natural, they’re not wearing it in a big afro, lol! So it was a little weird going from fitting in and disappearing into the background to feeling like a walking sideshow everywhere I went. But that only lasted for a short while, and I began to start settling into the new me and actually started enjoying answering questions about my hair. It was different!
It’s funny because I moved to Maryland for a couple of months, and they have a much BIGGER natural scene there. I was SO surprised when I first got there, I had never seen that much natural hair in my ENTIRE life. So it was interesting to just feel like I had once again dissapeared into the background… it wasn’t until I moved back to Massachusetts that I was remembered the feeling… “Oh yea, I forgot I had natural hair..” Lol, maybe we’ll see more naturals start to pop out in Massachusetts… literally, lol.