She has the Guinness record for world's largest afro

Brut America

"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.

Transcript

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.

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