#FroFriday Spotlight: Boits of Boits Natural Lifestyle

My week of guests continues with this gorgeous natural. Boits is also a believer in hair health over length and big chopped again just last year. She shares how she’s regrown her hair, along with her experience and thoughts on texture discrimination.

Hey Boits, please introduce yourself!

Hello guys, my name is Boitumelo Nxumalo. I am a natural hair & beauty blogger. In my daily profession, I am a Media Marketing Planner. My guilty pleasure I’d have to say is waking up at 1 am most of the time and indulging in my cheesecake ice cream. My favourite quote is a corny one: “Live today as if it were your last”.

Why are you natural?

I’ve been natural since 2013, I transitioned for eight months then big chopped. I was experimenting a lot with my hair from colour to blowouts, to twist outs, but then my hair started breaking and I had less volume than normal. I then decided to big chop again in April 2017. I learned to take care of my hair properly, deep conditioning weekly or every second week, moisturising, and protective styling and it’s been flourishing since. I love the state of the health it’s in now. I went natural because I was so tired of relaxers, but it went beyond that. I wanted to embrace my natural self without any chemicals or creamy crack. When my coils started growing, I was in love for life.

What’s your current routine and ride or die products?

Ooooh well that’s a tough one. There are so many amazing products that have been so good to me. My current routine is: I spritz my hair daily in the morning and at night time. My spritz consists of sweet almond oil, African black castor oil, avocado oil, peppermint oil, a little bit of Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk leave in conditioner and water of course! Then seal with my raw shea butter. Weekly, I pre-poo using avocado oil, I leave it overnight and then wash in the morning using Braggs apple cider vinegar to rinse off build up. Then I deep condition using either the Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Cleansing Conditioner or the Dark and Lovely Au Naturale Deep Conditioner and leave it for about 20 minutes. I then section my hair and rinse off with cool water, dry it off with an old t-shirt. After washing, I moisturise my hair using my spritz and seal with shea butter. Then I do Bantu knots then unravel later in the day, or twist outs or sometimes a high bun, that’s my go to. Monthly, I definitely mask my hair, either with Carol’s Daughter Rhassoul Clay Mask or Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Hair Mask. I’m also liking the Cantu Beauty hair treatment mask or the My Natural Hair Mask. I love the fact that it’s so cheap and good as well. Those are mostly my holy grails of products.

You big chopped not so long ago, please share three tips on how you re-grew your hair.

1. Moisture! I can’t stress this enough, our coils love moisture.
2. Protective styling and styles that are gentle on your hairline
3. Deep conditioning weekly or every second week, nothing amazing than a clean scalp with no build up clogging your pores. Oh, and drink lots of water 🙂

Do you ever miss straight hair?

I do not miss straight hair at all! I am totally loving my curly kinks. They are so unique, so real, so full of life.

What are you planning on teaching your daughter about hair?

In future, I plan on teaching my daughter that her hair is beautiful. Her hair is her crown and a beautiful creation that defies gravity, that is beautifully unique and that she must embrace it no matter what and to walk proudly wearing it out natural wherever she goes.

What’s your take on texture discrimination?

It really is sad when some women look down on other textures. It’s like there’s almost a hierarchy in the natural hair community and it really saddens me. We all have beautiful textures whether it’s curly or kinky. We need to learn to love and appreciate each other’s textures and including brands as well. I know a lot of brands that have preferred other textures than mine and it shouldn’t be that way. I have never been personally discriminated against, but I was once told that I can’t say anything on more of a kinkier texture because my texture looks mixed, I was a bit upset by that. Just because we have different textures, that doesn’t mean that we have to look down on each other. Instead, we should embrace and encourage each other to just simply love our crowns – simple. There are so many beautiful fros out there that I’ve seen and it truly makes me proud that SA women are learning to embrace their natural selves but let’s stop this thing of “my texture is better than yours”. It’s uncalled for.

What’s next for the natural hair community?

EVERYTHING! Gracing more magazine covers instead of straight hair, rocking the runway in high fashion, little girls owning and loving their coils. Just simply loving and owning our unique natural beauty.

You’ve got 3 minutes to leave your house, how do you style your hair?

Side Puff or High Puff always does the trick!

Thanks Boits! How cute is she? Follow Boits and her hair on her blog, Instagram and Twitter and show some love.

Leave a comment below to let me know what you thought of her feature!