If you’ve never heard of Chary-Jay you’ve got to be living under a rock! From being the first guru to grace the boxes of the Huetiful Hair Steamer to appearances at the nearest natural hair meetup, Chary-Jay’s style and flair stand out from the rest!She’s on the brink of re-branding herself and launching new product lines, all while continuing to give us her fabulous hairstyles! Read more to find out how she says no to haters while building her Big Bold and Funky empire.
Introduce yourself!
Hey guys! My name is Chary-Jay and I have a natural hair and beauty channel on YouTube.
In December I’ll be re-launching my blog, Chary-Jay.com to showcase new beauty, fashion and lifestyle related content so my readers can get a closer look into my world.
They’ll be able to come along with me as I launch a new business venture (Big Bold and Funky”> and stay up to date with me in-between my video posts on YouTube.
How long have you been natural?
I went natural in 2009. I transitioned for one year before doing the big chop in 2010.
What’s your daily hair routine?
Daily? Hmm, I don’t really have one etched in stone. What I do to my hair daily depends on the style of my hair.
Usually during the week I’ll rock a twist-out. Once I wake up, I fluff, add some oil for shine and voila, I’m done!
What are your favorite products?
How long can this list be? LOL! Ok, I’ll name what I’m currently loving at this time or else you’ll be reading forever.
Right now I am consistently being mesmerized by the results of the Aloe-Berry Styling Gel by Alikay Naturals. No matter what style I do, my hair comes out marvelous!
An oldie, but goodie that never lets me down is the Moringa Tree Conditioning Ghee by Qhemet Biologics. I can use this as a leave-in conditioner, heat protectant or just as a moisturizer and my hair just soaks this stuff up. It’s amazing!
What’s your nighttime routine?
I don’t have one. I’m probably the laziest natural because I don’t have time (or the desire”> to re-twist my hair at night and pineappling my hair doesn’t work. It just stretches my definition in the back of my hair causing me to have undefined curls in the back of my head while curls are poppin’ everywhere else. No bueno.
How did you get your hair color, how do you maintain it?
I got my color professionally done because while I like to experiment with different styles, I don’t mess with the chemicals. I leave that to the professionals!
I’ve worked far too hard on caring for my hair just to do some horrid D.I.Y. color job and have it all fall out. After I got it done at the salon, I paid extra attention to my hair and kept it moisturized with extra deep conditioning sessions and checking the moisture levels daily.
I became great friends with a water based moisturizer soon after I got color.
Do you ever get tired of curly hair?
Sometimes I get annoyed with the amount of time it takes to do my hair. But if I don’t do it, I have to either wear a puff (which can cause stress to my edges, and I’d love to keep mine, praise Jesus!”>, or looking like raggedy-Ann.
But I’d never get tired of curly hair enough to actually go back to the creamy-crack. Curly hair is so much better than straight hair any day–my opinion only. Don’t come for me!
When did you start vlogging?
During my transitioning days in 2009.
How did you become a successful vlogger?
This is a tricky question because everyone’s definition of success is different.
I’ll answer the question like this: I think I became somewhat popular because of my protective hairstyles. In a time when a lot of people I was watching on YouTube were fixated on having the perfect curls (and I only had kinks”>, I decided to play around with different updos and people starting liking them.
It was great because it forced me to challenge my creativity. It was and still is a lot of fun.
What do you like most about vlogging?
The interaction. I communicate with people all over the world. It’s insane! Something that started out just about hair has led me to make new friends in different cities, states and even countries. I also get to travel a lot which is really the icing on this delicious, multi-tiered cake.
What do you want to do beyond YouTube?
Next month I’m launching my new tee and hair accessory line called Big Bold and Funky.
For so long I wanted to create this brand that would give fun options when it came to hair accessories. I thought a lot of what was sold in the store was either too small for my big head of hair or too plain and blah for my personal style.
I created this line for girls like me who wanted a statement piece to rock in their hair or a funky tee to complete an already bold look. I’m excited to launch this line and see where Big, Bold and Funky takes me!
Do you have any advice for new natural hair vloggers?
Don’t let the negative comments get to you!
When your audience grows, all the sweet and positive comments start to get over shadowed by a few trolls and you may feel the need to respond to defend yourself. One or two responses are fine, but not when it becomes a back and forth battle. Especially if someone is being disrespectful towards you or making comments unrelated to the video or blog post at hand.
A good blogger friend once told me to “block and delete” when it came to those comments that aren’t providing constructive criticism, but just being hateful.
Just focus your attention to the positive viewers/readers because that’s the audience that truly matters.
