Candid Cinni: Candidly Speaking

I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my favorite bloggers Ev'Yan.

Enjoy =)

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Ev`Yan & I blog over at sexloveliberation.com. I live with my husband & dog-child in Portland, Oregon.

When & why did you decide to start blogging?

I started my first blog in 2002, before blogging was a household name. Then in 2008, I started Apricot Tea, my personal, public diary where I wrote about my life as a newly wed & the outfits I wore daily. I did that for three years until I started my newest endeavor, Sex, Love, Liberation, which is a website that I created to speak openly about sex & self-exploration.

With every blog, I wanted to share little pieces of myself with the world. SLL has taken that desire to another level, one that enables me to share & guide others in the process.

How has your blog affected you?

It's challenged me to become a stronger person & to maintain a sense of awareness that often gets lost in the mundaneness of life. I am teaching others lessons of love & sex, but I'm also learning those same lessons. This is the best thing about SLL.

What do you hope to achieve with your blog?

I hope to help liberate others & give them a safe space to come to to speak about private matters. I also hope to ignite a fire within people to love themselves fully & recognize their greatness as beautiful, sensual beings.

So let's talk about hair.. are you natural and if so why did you go natural?

I've been natural for over a year now. After years & years of chemically straightening my hair, I realized just last year that I had never seen what my natural hair looked like (not since my baby pictures). The reality of this saddened me, & within a day or two I made the decision to buzz all of my hair off & start anew.

It was the most liberating thing I've ever done.

4 words to describe your mane.

Soft. Bold. Delicate. Unapologetic.

Give us a lil bit about your hair regimen.

I just finally sealed a regimen that works for me, though I know it'll change once my hair gets longer. (Its length is currently at about 6 inches, though the shrinkage tells otherwise.)

I wash once a week with Dr Bronner's castile soap diluted with water; I co-wash with Trader Joe's Nourish Spa conditioner 2-3 times per week. I do my best to detangle my hair with my fingers in the shower while the conditioner is soaking. I find that my fingers are more forgiving than a wide-toothed comb.

After I rinse, I give my hair several shakes to get rid of access water (singing Shake it Up, by The Cars while I do) & apply my spritz mixture to my hair (aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, a tiny bit of vegetable glycerin, a dozen drops of lavender oil, & water).

Then I shake once more & apply a little of my homemade whipped shea butter mixture (by Naptural85) to seal.

I've recently discovered spray gel, which defines my curls & keeps the frizz tame. Right now, I'm using one by Tresemme, though I need to be careful not to use too much, as it dries my hair. That's the last thing I put on my hair before I walk out of the house.