"As my hair grew out, I feel that my confidence also grew."
She has held the Guinness world record for largest afro and hope to inspire other women to embrace their natural hair too.
She has held the Guinness world record for largest afro and hope to inspire other women to embrace their natural hair too.
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00:00An Afro, to me, just represents my own individuality.
00:03As my hair grew out, I feel that my confidence also grew.
00:07So it's a personal journey of confidence for me and strength.
00:10When I was growing up, I feel like there
00:17wasn't a lot of natural hair.
00:19Now my inspirations for hair are way different.
00:31So growing up, I had natural hair.
00:34But as I transitioned into middle school,
00:36it's kind of like pre-teen age.
00:38You hit puberty, and you want to try new things.
00:40I convinced my mother to let me straighten my hair.
00:43Some of my biggest inspirations for wanting straight hair
00:45was the singer Aaliyah and the Morey sisters,
00:49Tia and Tamera Morey.
00:51I would watch their show all the time,
00:52and they always had the best hairstyles.
00:54On a monthly basis, I would spend anywhere from $50
00:58to $100 at the Dominican salon that I used to go to.
01:02And then it wasn't until after college
01:04that I decided to stop perming my hair.
01:06And I started to see the new growth,
01:08the different texture of my hair.
01:10I became curious, because I hadn't
01:12been familiar with that texture in over 10 years.
01:15So I just decided to keep growing it out.
01:18You're welcome.
01:19Thanks.
01:20A lot of the times, it's a simple, like, I like your hair,
01:23or a thumbs up, or like, you get the black power fist.
01:27And sometimes people are just like, oh my gosh,
01:30or I've been crossing the street,
01:32and I hear people honk the horn.
01:33And I'm like, wait, I have the light.
01:35But then I look at the driver, and they're just like,
01:37we love it.
01:38And I'm like, oh my gosh, I have the light.
01:40And I'm like, oh my gosh, I have the light.
01:42And I'm like, oh my gosh, I have the light.
01:44And I'm like, oh my gosh, I have the light.
01:46We love it.
01:47We love it.
01:55When I saw that there was a record, and I saw her hair,
01:57I was just amazed at how beautiful and voluminous
02:00it was.
02:01And then it gave me hope.
02:03At that time, I didn't think my hair was
02:05anywhere near the size of hers.
02:07It was kind of in my earlier stages.
02:09But just seeing her hair, like, it really motivated me.
02:12Growing up reading Guinness World Records,
02:15or the book at my grandma's house.
02:17Like, I don't remember ever seeing a record for Afro,
02:21so I was super excited and proud to see it.
02:24♪♪
02:32I had to have two licensed beauticians present.
02:35I had to have video evidence of the measurements,
02:38photo evidence of the measurements, witnesses,
02:42and I had to do all of the measurements three times.
02:45So it was a pretty lengthy process to certify the record.
02:49The circumference of my Afro is 4 feet 10 inches.
02:53♪♪
02:58The process for me to take care of my hair,
03:00it's fairly simple.
03:01A lot of people think it's complex.
03:02I wash my hair once a week, sometimes twice a week.
03:06In the shower, I use very little shampoo,
03:09and then it's mostly conditioner.
03:11I use a deep conditioner and normal conditioner,
03:14and then I use my detangling brush.
03:16So when I'm out of the shower, I put my hair into four twists
03:20just to help it stay detangled,
03:23and then I apply all the products that I'm using that day.
03:26I apply a little bit of oil, a little bit of gel,
03:29and then I have a curl-enhancing smoothie
03:31that helps to define the curls.
03:34And I twist it again, and I let it dry in the twists.
03:40And drying time varies, again, based on time of year.
03:43It could take 6 hours or 12 hours.
03:47♪♪
03:55I would say, first and foremost,
03:57you have to go into it with patience.
03:59There were times in the beginning
04:01where I was so confused about what to do.
04:04It was tangled all the time.
04:06I would watch YouTube hair tutorials and be so upset
04:08when I didn't get the same results that I saw.
04:11And after a while, I just understood
04:13that my hair has a mind of its own.
04:14Like, even today, I came out here,
04:16I shaped my fro perfectly, and the wind just took over.
04:19So you just have to let your hair do its thing,
04:22have a lot of patience, moisturize it,
04:24and understand that your hair is beautiful,
04:27despite what you might think.
04:29Like, it's such a symbol of beauty.
04:31And learn to love it.
04:33It's a process. It's going to be shaky at first,
04:35but I promise you that you're going to love it.