Hair
Meet Maya & Her Naturally Glamorous Curls!
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Please, Introduce yourself!
Hola! My name is Maya Washington aka Shamelessmaya and I’m a NYC based artist with a forte in photography and voice over acting. I began this social media experiment on myself on how to #beshameless back in April 2012 to annihilate my inhibitions and attitude towards self promotion. part of this experiment includes making YouTube videos. One particular video, The Ultimate Curly Hair tutorial has been a hit with the curlies hence this interview 
What is your current hair care regimen?
My current hair regimen? currently with this humid weather it’s wash less. My curls don’t stand a chance! I’ve resorted to buns and corn rows. I do wash with the Shea Moisture line and moisturize with Inter Cellular (IC) and Vatika coconut oil. When I plan on wearing it curly I use Shea Moisture’s Curl and Style milk.
What is your hair type and what works best for your texture?
I have uber thick hair with ringlets! I found the best for my curls is to deep condition at least once a month if not more with Parnevu Organics (my hair loves this stuff) and a heat cap. Once rinsed I MUST section and moisturize followed by a quick twist. If I don’t twist and let my hair dry it has way more frizz and way less definition. At the moment my hair is digging Shea Moisture.
Did you big chop or transition?
I’ve been natural forever! And because I’ve had the same hair forever I got bored and experimented with the whole Brazilian Blowout craze. Yes, I’ve done a keratin treatment back in Jan 2012. Mainly because my hair was super dry and splitting everywhere and I tried everything to revive it. I don’t know if it was my move to NYC, but my hair changed when I got here. The BB definitely gave my hair moisture and it loosened the curl pattern which I also wanted. Again I’ve had the same hair forever so the idea of a temporary change and condition appealed to me. But 7 months later my hair is finally back to it’s tight curls.
I’ve never really had to transition…I did dye my hair light brown with blonde highlights back in 2000. I got way too much attention! I felt my hair over shadowed me. Every time I stepped foot in public it was “your hair, your hair!” the compliments were awesome at first but then it got to be annoying! I’m more than my hair! So I chopped it all off in 2002. problem solved. But then I had to deal with all these comments like “don’t worry it’ll grow back”. Worry? I was happy to chop it off. Hair can be overrated. I think every woman should do a chop once in her life. And I plan on doing it again! Yes I’ve had insecurities with my curls. As a mixed kid being raised by my Filipina mother I was literally the “black” sheep in the family. Not only was I the darkest, but my hair was “nappy”. We didn’t even know my hair was curly really because my mom didn’t know how to style it she’d always brush my hair when dry. As a kid it was always short (1-2inches) and in braids or afro picked out. Everyone thought I was a boy. Man! I haven’t gone down this lane before….It wasn’t until I was able to grow my hair in high school that I started to learn how to style my hair curly. But even then my hair was always in a pony tail. Special thanks to Scary Spice! She really did inspire me to appreciate my curls. I remember wearing my hair out for the first time at school. Everyone was talking about it and giving me compliments. I was the only one with thick curly hair in my school wearing it all out and loud. These days kids have so much to choose from and inspiration everywhere.
What makes you love your curls?
I love God so he’s decided curls are for me so why fight it. Plus I’m too lazy to do anything else with it.
Where can we find you on the web?
instagram/twitter: mayasworld
Anything EXTRA you want us to know?
I am more than my hair!
Oh and my new YouTube channel is in the works but be first and subscribe: YouTube.com/shamelessmaya
Kat
July 25, 2012 at 10:11 am
My goodness reading your article I felt as though I could have written this story! I can totally relate to your “black sheep” of the family comment as I felt exactly that way growing up however as I got older I learned to embrace my curls, rock them and love me for me! Now there are so many products out there designed for curlies that it can be overwelming(in a good way)….