When you are turning into a teen you start to be obsessed with the way you look and give a lot of importance to what’s cool and what isn’t.
At the time, I didn’t feel like curly hair was cool and trendy so I started straightening mine, investing way too much time in this process.
Memories make me realise how addicted I was to straightening, to the point that people who were very close to me didn’t even know I had curly hair.
In university, my boyfriend didn’t see me with my natural hair for at least 4 months. Not that I was hiding it, but I was altering my hair nature so much that he simply couldn’t know.
When you are younger your peer group is very important, you can’t imagine yourself being different, you have a desperate desire to fit in. However, I am lucky enough to have been raised by a very confident, encouraging woman who radiates energy.
My mother helped me to go through this hair-acceptance journey but I am conscious that society and the pressure of fitting into beauty standards can get you down easily if you are shy, if you lack confidence or if you don’t evolve and grow up in a supportive environment.
When I realised how good having my natural hair made me feel I became convinced that no beautifying tool or technique could make me feel any better than that.
My curly hair is part of my identity so why would I want to complicate everything and do something that is not meant to be?