By Kiara Ventura
Growing up, I thought there was always something wrong with my hair. My mother would style my hair in a tightly pinned-back, covered in gel, high pony tail every day during my elementary school years. I wore headbands and hair clips so much to the point where they didn’t give me headaches anymore!
This is how my natural curls look.
My mother and grandmother have thin, shiny, smooth/straight hair.Whereas my father and his mother have thick, rough, curly hair. So I got the best of both worlds by ending up with a blend of smooth-textured, thick, and curly hair.As a little girl, I always had the desire to leave my hair down and released from the regular updos I had to wear in order to look “tamed”. Every time I drew a picture of myself, I would draw a big curly ‘fro around my round face in black crayon.
When I entered middle school, I got the freedom to style my own hair. My mother got me my first flatiron for Christmas, and along with the influence of the prevailing trend towards “straight hair”, I wore my hair straight quite often until the 10th grade.
As my years in high school passed by, my hair got wilder and wilder. And I loved every second of it. Freshman year I used six products in my hair. Now, I use only two. With the help of YouTube videos on “How to Style Curly Hair”, I slowly discovered and learned about the potential of my natural curls …that I never knew I had!
The reason I am telling my story is because I have noticed that some girls my age are ashamed of their natural hair. I am not saying that not wearing your natural hair is a crime. Putting a perm on your hair is simply a choice, just as acceptable as choosing to wear, or not to wear, makeup. However, I believe that everyone should give their hair a chance to be free for once and embrace the difference.
As a way to embrace natural hair, I stopped a few students in the MCSM hallways and asked what they think about their hair.
Here are the responses:
“My personal taste regarding my hair is really weird. It fluctuates, every two to three years. I drastically change my hairstyle. I remember freshmen year, I had a flattop. I grew it out between freshmen, sophomore, and junior year. I`d get haircuts in between but they weren’t serious. Then junior year and I decided to get the main stream “Bruno Mars”-looking hair style. I like it; it’s just that it’s very hard to deal with sometimes. Before I used to have to blow-dry it every morning to get that “flip”. Now it naturally flips by itself and I love that. I`ve experimented with between ten different hair products, but it’s pretty cool at the end of the day when you find the right one.”
—Larry Castellanos
“My hair is naturally wavy and I find it really difficult to take care of. Every day I wake up in the morning and it’s just so messy. But sometimes it has its days where it’s really nice” –Tommy Nguyen
“See my hair…I grew it myself!” –Ruhel Alif
“I don’t love my natural hair… yet. I’m in the process since I went natural not too long ago. I am accepting it. Embracing my curly hair brings me one step closer to embracing my natural self. Plus, I don’t have to stress on rainy days!” -Aimee Capellan
“It’s quick and easy to style with no frills! I embrace my curls each time I wear my natural hair! “ -Ms.Villegas
“I like my long hair and it`s part of my style. And yes, it`s natural.” -Nelson Julca
“What I love about my hair is how versatile it is and how I can do so many things with it. I feel so comfortable with that. I couldn’t have asked for anything better! I used to have straight hair, but then I loved how my curls looked on me. It’s definitely more unique. It gives off more of a sense of character to me. Also, there may be a lot of people wearing their hair natural, but each person`s natural hair has something unique about it. And anyone with natural hair looks so comfortable with it too.” –Teresa Tufuor
“I love love love my curly hair because it gives me a sense of identity. Because it’s something not many people have and I feel blessed to have my curly hair. I feel like it also shows an aspect of my personality.” –Melanie Aquino
Here are others who are embracing their roots (literally):
Begin to Love your Natural Hair
We may rarely spot a celebrity wearing their natural locks on the red carpet or to see Beyonce without her weave and extentions. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t seize an opportunity to break the status quo. Believe it or not, but your natural hair is a part of who you are so why not flaunt it?