💫 My Natural Hair Journey 💫

I’ve been on this natural hair journey my entire life and it’s been full of happy moments and times that weren’t so satisfying. I absolutely love my natural hair! I’ve done a tremendous amount of experimenting with different products and styles. If I had a dollar for every time, I would be rich. Although natural hair is an amazing thing, it takes so much to manage. I often hear people say, “this is too much” or “I need a protective style” and I will admit that I’ve said both statements before.

Having natural hair is a blessing but if the style you’re going for doesn’t come out the way you imagined, then it could seem like a curse. I distinctly remember trying a new style one day and quickly taking it down because it didn’t look like it did on the picture and although it took hours to finish, I was already thinking of something new I could try.

It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t list some of the products that make my natural hair journey enjoyable. My favorites consist of Mielle Organics especially the rice water collection. I also use Curls styling gel and EDEN. These products have assisted me in styling my hair successfully and they are ALL owned by amazing black women! Not only do I love these products but I am also inspired daily by the overwhelming success of black women. It proves to young ladies across the world who are full of ideas that they too can be successful if they are diligent and consistent with their dreams and aspirations.

Embracing my natural hair has been a lifelong journey. I use to wonder, “why can’t my hair be like that” or “I wish my hair was that length” but I had to learn to love who I am regardless of what I think I need. While learning to love and embrace myself, I won the title of Miss Black Illinois Talented Teen in 2017 and I went to Washington D.C. to compete for the title of Miss Black USA Talented Teen. Although I didn’t win the ultimate title, I was crowned Miss Congeniality which was such an honor that was granted to me by my peers.

I was blessed to be able to be in the Miss Black USA Talented Teen pageant because not only did I meet some amazing people, I was also able to create a platform which I now consider a lifestyle, Embrace Y.O.U. It stands for Embrace yourself, Embrace your Origin and Embrace your Uniqueness. Only you can be you. Although we all were required to have a platform, because of how important I believe self love and awareness is, I decided to make it more than just a topic that I talked about for the pageant.

Due to my passion for embracing yourself, I’ve written a book and diary about self love entitled Embrace Y.O.U. which includes topics such as bullying, suicide, peer pressure and self esteem. It’s very important to embrace who you are in the midst of a society that tells us we should like or do certain things and that’s unfair.

I stand for believing in the person God created you to be. I stand for a fair justice system. I stand for knowing that although we all come from different backgrounds, we are beautiful in every way. You may think that embracing your hair isn’t important but to me, it’s everything. Maybe you can’t embrace it right now because you’re still learning. That’s fine. We are in this together and I believe that you are beautifully and wonderfully made. God makes no mistakes so embrace who you are! You look so much better when you love yourself.

-Kaylin Strahan