Issue 10 / My Hair Journey: Learning To Embrace My Natural Hair

by Rosemina Nazarali

My Hair Journey: Learning To Embrace My Natural Hair

Aug 13, 2015

Natural hair, don't care? Our Beauty Editor confesses her struggle to just let it go.

My hair and I have been on a tumultuous journey. In the last 20 years, I’ve gone from hating my hair and hiding it in ponytails to completely embracing the curls, the thickness and the frizz. If this journey has taught me one thing, it’s that all women should embrace their natural hair.

As I’ve gotten older, my hair has actually gotten bigger — a completely unique phenomenon, I know. When I was younger, my hair was the cause of so much grief. I was the only one in my entire extended family with hair that looked like mine. I had aunts with thick hair and cousins with beautiful, natural waves, but none of them had hair that closely resembled mine. I had to embark on my hair journey alone. For young teens, the simplest and smallest things can make you feel alienated.

As I grew up and learned more about myself, I learned more about my hair. I figured out the importance of great, well-made products. I learned that coarse hair needs regular deep conditioning. I learned the magic that is the diffuser. And I learned that no matter what I did to my hair or put in it, it would always be big, it would always command attention and it would likely be the first thing people saw when they looked at me. The very idea of this was terrifying.

For years, my hair straightener and I were on very good terms. At school, I would wear my hair naturally, but it was usually in some sort of a ponytail that kept it out of my face and mostly hidden from the world. When I got dressed up or went out with friends, I almost always styled my hair straight. This made me feel glamorous. I could finally run my fingers through my long locks, even if it did take more than an hour to get it that way. People would compliment me, telling me how great I looked when my hair was straight. They rarely said the same of my natural hair.

Then one day, I realized just how much time I was wasting trying to make myself look like someone else, how much damage my hair was incurring and how much I actually liked the way I looked when my bouncy curls framed my face.

^{Beauty Editor Rosemina Nazarali embraces her curls}
^{Photo Credit: Courtesy of Rosemina Nazarali}

Nowadays, I wear my hair proudly. It’s a part of me that I love. My hair might be big, it might be curly and it is definitely frizzy, but it is mine and I love it. My hair is just as beautiful as hair that is long and flowing, or short hair that perfectly frames the face. It is just as beautiful has thin hair, thick hair, straight hair, curly hair, wavy hair, grey hair, black hair — hair of all lengths, shapes and textures. And I feel like my truest self when my hair is in its natural form. Sure, I still like to play dress-up with my hair every once in a while (I am a beauty editor, after all!), but this is the exception and no longer the rule.

There’s something amazing happening in the world right now. Women are going on social media websites to show off their natural beauty. They are posting photos of themselves free of makeup and proudly showing the world that beauty doesn’t always come at the bottom of a liquid foundation bottle. Even celebrities are getting on board with the movement. Demi Lovato, for example, posts a selfie of herself without wearing any makeup every Monday on Instagram. She encourages her followers to do the same with the hashtag #NoMakeupMonday.

^{Demi Lovato's calls to embrace your natural beauty.}

^{Photo Credit: Courtesy of Instagram}

I love this movement, and I love how many people have embraced the no-makeup selfie and how many people are opting to show off their natural beauty. And I think it is time to bring that same self-love to our hair.

To all the women out there who feel the need to always curl their straight hair or straighten their curly hair and who are simply afraid to wear their natural hair, I urge you to take a step back and examine why. Because I can bet that there is someone out there that will look at you and say, “I wish I had hair like yours.”

2015
^{Beauty Editor Rosemina Nazarali Embraces Her Curls}
^{Photo Credit: Courtesy of Rosemina Nazarali}

This is my challenge to you: spend just one day wearing your natural hair. Do nothing to manipulate it, except using some product after washing it. Then go outside. Step out into the world and show off your natural hair. Take a picture and share it on social media. I assure you, it will change your life (and save you a whole lot of time in the morning!).

^{Main Image Photo Credit: Keystone Press Agency}

Rosemina Nazarali

Author

Rosemina (@RoseminaN) is a writer and content strategist who has a special place in her heart for beauty. She’s always on the pulse of current trends and loves trying new products -- especially if they are brown-skin worthy! When she’s not playing with makeup, she’s travelling, going to concer...