Heat Free Hair Movement - Natural Hair Weaves

Hello ladies!

I hope you've had a great week and looking forward to a nice weekend. About a month ago or so, on Instagram, I came across a picture of a lady with a blown out BIG A$$ FRO. I was amazed at how long and pretty her hair was, so I decided to dig deeper and found out that it was actually a natural hair weave! I was shocked because it looked real enough to be her hair. I dug even deeper and found out that the lady in question was Ngozi Opara, and that she started the Heat Free Hair Movement, which produces natural hair weaves, wigs, clip ons, etc. I reached out to her, and she gracefully granted me an interview, which I shall now share with you.

• Hello Ngozi! You've been making waves on Instagram and in the natural hair world recently, with your company Heat Free Hair. But first, kindly tell us about yourself - as an African, and a Naturalista (country of origin and hair story).

I am of Nigerian decent, Igbo to be exact, and have been natural for 10 years now. My natural hair story really just dates back to my years of experimenting with protective styling and learning the growth benefits of weaves. One year I had a perm and one year later my hair was all natural and down my back. The permed ends just fell off and I eventually cut it and kept wearing weaves till it got long and big. Since then  Ive shaped a lot of my practices and teachings around protective styling and have never looked back at my permed days!

• What made you interested in becoming a hair stylist, and what part did that play in starting Heat Free Hair?

Hair initially started off as something I was just good at, and when I received my hair education it was to have as a side hustle while I pursued other things but then after a while I felt like I kept coming back to hair. Eventually it became something I truly enjoyed doing especially knowing that I was helping make someone feel better about themselves. My love for not just hair style but hair health played a huge role in starting Heat Free Hair because ultimately I was fulfilling a need for healthier protective style options for natural women.
*Ngozi owns a salon, N-ZO Hair Studios in Washington DC*

Source - Ngozi Opara

• Tell us more about the Heat Free Hair movement, for those of us who aren't familiar with the company. [you can talk about the different products - wigs, weaves, clip ins, hair types, etc)

Heat Free Hair is 100% virgin hair created to perfectly blend with the different types of natural textures. The Heat Free Hair Movement is a protective style initial that serves as an education platform for women who are natural or considering going natural to embrace the benefits of protective styling that doesn’t require you to Heat Straighten your real hair. Our products include wefted hair, closures, clip ins, and wigs and the hair types range from 3B-4C

• Is the hair human hair or synthetic or a blend? How should it be cared for? And what kind of hair styles can be achieved using your product?

-100% Virgin Hair
-Cared for like your own natural hair (we include very detailed instructions to assist)
-Puffs, Twist Outs, Different types of Curl Looks and any other style you would do with your natural hair.

• Is Heat Free Hair available in Africa? If not, is that something you are pursuing?

Not yet, but soon.

• There are those that say that if you have natural hair, you shouldn't wear weaves or wigs as they are not "authentic"... what would you say to them?

They have every right to have their opinions but don’t use your opinions to attack others. Being natural is a decision about the state of YOUR real hair, not a decision about how you style it or a boxed in lifestyle that people want you to live.

• How often/have you visited Nigeria? If yes, what reactions have you gotten to your hair? If not, when are you coming???

I just got back last month actually and the response was amazing! People loved it!

• Finally, what's your hair regimen like?

Right now I'm wearing long hair so I pineapple it at night and take it down in the shower to allow steam to hit it as I am styling. I also use an applicator bottle to get essential oils on my scalp every few days.

You can find out more about Heat Free Hair on the website and Youtube channel. Ngozi can be found on Instagram @ngozithestylist and @heatfreehair 

Source - Ngozi Opara

What do you guys think? I'm not the type to spend money on weaves, but this is the first time in a long time that I've seriously thought about investing in a weave. 

Berry Dakara