Naturalista Files: Kimberly Elise

Actress Kimberly Elise stars in VH1’s new dance series Hit the Floor. Every time I see her, I think of the movie Set it Off or this episode of Girlfriends. I LOVE GIRLFRIENDS!!!! Prior to Toni’s departure but that’s besides the point. She and her natural hair are fab!~

See her pictures below!

Photo Credit: David Buchan/Zimbio

Photo Credit: Royce DeGrie/Zimbio

Around 2000, after years of color, relaxers, weaves, you name it, I had finally had enough. I had enough of the burning scalp and scabs on my ears. I stopped putting chemicals in my hair altogether and went back to wearing a press-and-curl and would add in extensions for different styles. One day, I saw a photo of myself on the red carpet wearing long, straight hair down my back and I realized that I didn’t even look like myself. I said to myself, “Who is that? That’s not me.” I thought to myself that there’s nothing wrong with my own hair and I started to feel like I no longer wanted to wear my hair in these long, straight styles.

Photo Credit: Michael Rowe/Essence

Photo Credit:Valerie Macon/Zimbio

Photo Credit:Kevin Winter/Zimbio

Photo Source: Zimbio

Protective Styles on deck!

Photo Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Zimbio

Photo Credit: Frederick M. Browne

Photo Credit: Angela Weiss/Zimbio

Photo Credit: Jesse Grant/Zimbio

Photo Credit: Frederick M. Browne/Zimbio

I decided to start embracing and wearing my natural hair but there was only one problem; I didn’t know what to do with it or how to style it. Growing up, all I knew was my relaxed, processed hair so I had to go through this learning phase. I remember going to hair stylists to help me with my hair and all they wanted to do was straighten it. Fed up, I decided to figure it out on my own. I went on YouTube, started reading all the natural hair blogs and just sat on the Internet for days soaking up all this newfound knowledge about my hair. These girls were loving their hair and caressing it gently with all kinds of butters and oils. I was amazed and knew I wanted to treat my hair like that, too.

You can read the rest of Kimberly’s Curly Commentary with ESSENCE here. You can also read her Healthy Natural Hair Care interview {from 2011} with Curly Nikki here.

BONUS: In this interview with Concrete Loop {2:11 mark}, Kimberly states that she’s an “internet natural hair junkie” {JOIN THE CLUB}. She also states that she goes onto anyone’s natural hair site. I hope she comes across mines one day {insert big grin here}. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by & God bless!!

~Amma Mama