A Natural Story-Candace…and some great accessories!

This is a bit of a combo post. Candace  has been kind enough to be featured and introduce us to her site, Goddess Zuri, a place full of wonderful accessories and natural hair t-shirts. Her accessories range from chic to funky and the t-shirts are to die for. Thanks for sharing with us Candace!

The Lady:

Kcurly: When did you go natural and what inspired you to do so?

Candace: I’ve always have beautiful long hair, and I loved it…up until I was about a junior in college. Around this time, I developed strong feelings that a short natural crop would express the sassiness and flyness in me so much accurately. I thought about it for quite some time, but I messed up when I started sharing this idea with friends and family members. After talking to many of them, I was convinced to keep my long hair. Then my senior year hit and I was about to turn 21. Natural hair was still on my mind, so I decided that as a present to myself for my 21^st birthday, I would chop all of my hair off. And I did!

Kcurly: Have you faced opposition from your peers and/or family about your hair?

Candace:Before I even cut it, I had a bunch of people in my ear telling me not to do it. My friends told me I would surely miss my hair. My brother told me I would look like a boy and my parents’ feared that I wouldn’t be able to get a good job after college. I went along with them for a little while but made a decision about two years later to cut it off. A short time after I did, the very people who told me not to do it ended up digging it.

Kcurly: If so, what has been your method of handling it?

Candace: After cutting my hair, my sassiness and confidence grew. It didn’t matter what people thought about my hair because I loved it. And after people started seeing that I loved it and didn’t care about what anyone else thought, they started to love it on me too.

Kcurly: Your hair is beautiful! What is your current regimen to keep your tresses healthy?

Candace: Thanks lady! I use Cantu products (shampoo, conditioner and oil moisturizer). I’ve tried a million products, as most natural bellas do, and this is the product that works well with my hair. I wear my hair wild and free, so I braid it at night and take the braids out in the morning to give it a free, crinkly look. I wash my hair once a week and moisturize it every other day.

Kcurly: What do you love most about your hair?

Candace: Everything! I love that my hair gives me a unique look. I love that nobody can ever tell when I’m having a bad hair day. And I love the versatility of my hair. I can wear it wild and sassy or tamed and elegant.

Kcurly: What has been the hardest part of your natural hair journey?

Candace: Deciding whether I wanted to keep it short or grow it out. I absolutely loved my short crop because it looked great in the summer time with big hoop earrings and a tank top. I loved it because it was easy to maintain. But I have a friend who went natural around the same time I did, and she never cut her hair. Now hers is long and beautiful. I got a little jealous, so I decided to grow mine out.

Kcurly: What advice do you have for the newly natural ladies?

Candace: Love it and embrace it. People can sense when you’re not satisfied with yourself; any part of yourself. So, if you’re not 100% confident in your new do and you ask yourself daily, “why did I do this?” fake your confidence until you develop it. Or find a little bit of confidence from somewhere. The number 1 accessory that you MUST have with natural hair is confidence.

The Website:

Kcurly: What prompted you to start your own online business?

Candace: I had just gone natural, and I was confident about my natural hairdo, but still had a few reservations in the beginning. So, I wanted to outwardly express the confidence that I was building in the inside. I wanted a few tees that glorified natural hair. I diligently searched online to find some unique, funky tees that matched my new natural beauty identity, but couldn’t find one that I wanted to wear. So, I decided to design my own.

Now, the number 2 accessory that you MUST have with natural hair, in my opinion, is a pair of bold earrings. So, I decide to design some of those too.

Kcurly: What plans do you have for your site in the future?

Candace: I want to expand the site offerings to long sleeve tees and hoodies. I’ve also had numerous requests to make the tees in bigger sizes.

Kcurly: Where did the name “Goddess Zuri” originate?

Candace: I’ve been referring to myself as a goddess for a while, and I think all women are goddesses. So, I definitely wanted that word to be included in the name of my business. Zuri means beautiful in Swahili. So, I decided to create Goddess Zuri, goddess of natural beauty, to be the ambassador of my site. The woman in my logo is Goddess Zuri.

Kcurly: Is there anything else you’d like my readers to know about “Goddess Zuri”?

Candace: Of course I want them to check out www.goddesszuri.com and tell ten friends about the site. I also recently started a blog www.freethegoddess.com that (hopefully) encourages women to release their inner goddess.

And the last thing I want to share is, when you decided to go natural and cut your hair, you instantaneously became fly. Embrace the flyness.