The 18th of May, it was International Natural Hair Day! I made a collage on my blog with about 10 pictures as a dedication to this day. The collage was similar to the one above, only with a few more celebs and a few different hairstyles. First of all I will introduce you to these beautiful ladies! From the first row going down: Teyonah Parris, Lianne La Havas and Viola Davis with her daughter Genesis. Second row going down: Keke Palmer and Beyoncé with her daughter Blue Ivy. Third row going down: Brandy, Christina Milian and Angela Simmons.
With this blog post I wanted to emphasize on the few celebs in black Hollywood that wear their hair in a natural state as opposed to having relaxed hair. And even though most of the young ladies above wear their hair in weaves and wigs most of the time, it still is a form of motivation or even support to see these pictures. There are a lot of girls out there that are struggling with the question whether they should do a big chop (BC) or just transition for a few months and then do the BC. I wanted to show a little support for my natural sistas, just to show the diversity, beauty and the possibilities of our hair. People usually assume that we don’t have any hair under our wigs and weaves, but we do.
Being a woman of colour, growing up in western society isn’t easy. The media is actually telling you that Barbie is perfect and there is no other beauty than Barbie. Straight hair and light eyes is the norm. Well, I have kinky hair and dark eyes, but does that make me ugly? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Anyways, I am not here to talk about being confident within yourself or self-love. Maybe one day.
So yeah, I am a natural sister myself and I really LOVE being natural and therefore I appreciate the diversity in this collage. For me being natural is not about being better than my relaxed sistas, or weave-wearing sistas, but it is just something I am used to and feel comfortable with. I have never had a relaxer, simply because my mom didn’t let me. The only time I would ever feel the urge to have a relaxer is to compensate for the hours of sitting and getting my hair done. That’s it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and also their own way of wearing their hair. I just want to tell all girls that want to BC: it is worth it! From waiting for the first inches of growth, the deep conditioning treatments blow-out sessions, protein masks to the big Afro you’ve always wanted. It is ALL worth it. My message to all of you is: Keep your hair healthy inside and out, make sure you eat healthy, drink enough and have the right products for your type of hair. All of you keep rocking your protective styles like box braids, Senegalese twists, Havana twists, weaves, wigs and most important: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! And of course a happy belated International Natural Hair Day.
