by Bre Scullark
Before it was trendy, before it became this “new phenomenon”, my natural hair was and still is, who I am. My natural hair is so much more than a break from chemically processed and damaged hair. It is so much more than a liberation from the monotony of long body wave weaves and sleek flat ironed hair. My natural hair signifies my life’s journey and my redefinition of spiritual beauty.
For many, the process of becoming natural is new and exciting. There are so many communities that are ready and willing to embrace these newbies.
Having been natural almost my entire life, it was just as much a part of me as the pigment of my skin. There was no separation between the texture of my hair and the skin on my bones. We just were. It wasn’t until I underwent two big chops involuntarily that I hit an emotional bottom. I can clearly remember looking at myself in the mirror and feeling so displeased with my reflection. I was no longer a beautiful conventional commercial/print model. I had absolutely no idea how to view myself. I spent three years repairing my thoughts on beauty and my spiritual connection to authentic happiness. It was in this bottom that many young men and women with relatable testimonies carried me. I received emails, text messages, and phone calls from people who had walked this journey of finding joy from deep down in an untouchable place called soul. This small community saved me from drowning in the world’s -and my own- ancient perception of beauty. I cannot thank them enough.
Mainstream media is recognizing the vast ideals of beauty. We no longer have to suffer in front of our television as hundreds of unrelatable characters prance in front of us. Now more than ever, people with stories similar to ours are accessible. In the midst of this enormous change, it is so important to distinguish evolution from fickle trends. Trends come as quickly as they go. It would be counterproductive to have educated and dissected our transformation in front of so many just to have it floating in the wind two years from now. In honor of all the young men and women who were isolated and made fun of back in the day because their hair swiveled and swirled from their scalp, we must enlighten others on how beautiful and self satisfying it is to enjoy one’s authentic being. The journey of becoming natural without ulterior motives is something like a spiritual awakening; it is a remarkable discovery without a destination. When the media is on to the next, I encourage you to stay strong and remember why you started in the first place.
With pure hearts and open mindedness, I am beyond grateful of the times we are living in. May we protect and nurture this evolution to the next.
Enjoy your natural journey!
86 Responses
I just love Bree. She is enchanting. I was loving her hair before I even realized there was a natural movement going on! Now I’m transitioning, 15 months post.
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truly agree. I have been natural my entire life. its not a trend. only within last year stopped straightening. i would wear hair curly during monsoon season. for me this is my life. my curly locks will remain long after the trend is over. so will my organic and green friendly life style.
wow she said exactly what I said about natural hair being a trend, natural hair to me is not a trend it’s who I am, it’s who we are. It’s a part of us like how Straight hair is a part of white people. Trends come and go this won’t come and go this is who we are this this shouldn’t be a Trend to us. I have no problem with people straightening their hair or putting weaves in but to me those are trends not wearing your natural god given hair.
not all white people have straight hair though.
Your natural hair is gorgeous girl, Keep it moisturize with the pro naturals argan oil leave-in treatment!
I sort of understand where Bre is coming from, but I don’t understand this statement “My natural hair signifies my life’s journey and my redefinition of spiritual beauty.” My perspective is that when you were given the gift of life, that is when you claim “I am”, and everything that came with your physical package (body) is as it is. I have also been natural most of my life, except for 1 year when I thought a relaxer would make my hair easier to manage. Talk about being wrong. That is what I call the “year of pain”, because I was miserable and my hair was miserable, and my hair taught me a very valuable lesson to not use caustic chemicals on my scalp and hair. I too went for the big chop, but more than once because I just don’t like doing my hair. Some of my friends told me I am lazy, but spending 1/2 hour in the morning and night doing hair is not fun to me, so I told them to buzz off. The first time I cut all my hair off to about an inch, I thought I looked like a boy, and maybe that is what Bre is talking about. The boy look had nothing to do with my hair being natural though. I also realized that I now had no hair style options because there’s not much you can do with 1 inch hair. My hair now averages 15 inches, which gives me versatility in style options. Now, I spend 1 hour per week on my hair to wash and prepare it to dry, and every other day is hair care free.
I remember looking at her hair on that show and I was like in Awe of it. Especially when they did passports she had her hair in a ponytail and it was all curly and puffy in back and I literally thought, why would Tyra want to change that?! But she didn’t change it all that much in the show. Even with the BC she is stunning.
Yeah that’s what I’m talking about bai-c-nbye work!
Sigh…maybe it’s just me, but it annoys me that women who have been natural for a specific amount of time have to throw shade by saying their hair is not “a trend” as if the rest of us who have gone natural after them are subject to trends and not simply making a decision for ourselves! Come on, folks. Lighten up! Be happy for yourself and your personal journey, without feeling the need to denegrate anyone else!
Bre is an ethereally stunning beauty. Her face and hair are flawless and I personally love the symbolic way she expressed the way she embraces her natural hair. Thanks @Jax for taking the obviously “negative nancy” @gapch to school! LOL She should at least capitalize “I” when she writes! Kettle mean pot…SMH!
I know I will get a thumbs down, but Bree has curly hair. I wonder if she had hair with more type 4 strands than type 3 would she have chosen never to relax. I get that her natural hair is not a fad thing..and am glad she feels that way. I think that we need to be honest when saying that when people see a head of curls vs tighter coils that the reaction in the past has been very different. I am very glad that she is natural & there are so many naturals..so that people with hair that have coiled & drier looking strands are not even looked at twice anymore(only if the hair is fabulous or fabulously styled..lol)
I gave you a thumbs up because I thought something similar. Whenever I see/hear someone say “I’ve always been natural,” I’ve noticed that it’s most often coming from folks with looser patterns. Not to say that those with looser curl patterns don’t suffer any pressure to straighten or don’t have a journey to share, but I think it’s fair to say that there are a lot of Black women from the US with kinky hair who never even knew being natural was an option before the movement began….looser curls are much more accepted here.
The UK is the same and I would hazard a guess that this is Drew of the whole diaspora.
This is a blog post from her personal blog, not really “an article”. Secondly, I totally get what she’s trying to say in the first couple of paragraphs. She has always been comfortable with her natural hair. Its who she is. Its like her smile or her skin, its something she inherently loved. It wasn’t until her big chop that she began to doubt her looks and felt insecure. Then she goes on to say indirectly, that the new community of naturals supported and helped to rebuild her sense of self. People are taking her first few paragraphs out of context. Read the entire article as one body of work instead of disecting one or two sentences and casting judgement.
THANK YOU for this…I read it the exact same way.
Perhaps if it were written by a “regular person” the comments would be different? Heaven knows there have been far more convoluted and poorly-written articles on this site than this one.
Perhaps if it were the type of article that’s more common on this site, one in which Bre shared her journey, her tips, etc. in a Q&A format, the comments would be different?
Just speculating…
Well said. I thought something was wrong with me and I consider my self educated. Any who….I been natural(currently rocking locs) since 2002 and where I live it was not popular ad well. So I totally get Bre’s point on not letting natural hair be a trend for the newbies. Luv her journey!
Heaven, THANK YOU FOR THIS! When I read that some commenters thought this article was poorly written, my first reaction was, “THIS is what they deem poorly written? On THIS site?!” Really, many articles on this site can hardly get an “A” for proper grammar/punctuation. In fact, many articles on this site could use a good lesson in English 101. But be that as it may, I’d hardly say that her writing style detracts from her message. Some seem to take issue with her writing style, others the content, & others just seem to be speaking from a place of insecurity; though we’re all entitled to think what we’d like. I just wish that some would recognize that BGLH hardly showcases cutting edge journalism or peer-reviewed articles. Hence, why the shade throwing? *shruggs shoulders*
I don’t see why this article is considered to be ‘poorly written’. She’s talking about her experience in an intelligent manner, we’re not in a psychological magazine so I don’t expect in-depth analysis. I wonder if relentlessness of the critics doesn’t only suggest that someone just wants to be right and see the article as poor no matter what.
AGAIN one sideways comment throws off the whole message behind the article. if you dont like how the article was written from jump , chances are you put a mental block up against it. with that said she is sayin that natural hair should not be a trend but an EVOLUTION she is not dwelling on the fact that she had 2 big chops , and so did not go into detail. additionally for all of u criticizing her writing style ( poetic license girlies!!!) because url app know all the rules of grammar, url shud kno that the last paragraph of any wrk is sup to summarize the writers msg , so move down to the last para. she wants women to stick wit it (natural hair) even after/ if the hype dies down
I’m sorry but I thought this article was very well written. Was it written perfectly & without errors? No. But was it written nicely, with the author’s views & points coming across concisely & accurately? Yes!
I enjoyed reading about her journey, the missteps she made, the self-doubt, & maybe even fear that she felt when she had to redefine her definition of beauty. I was encouraged by the community of people who became her support group of sorts, encouraging her to keep going. Yes, she shared that she was natural long before now & how, for her, being natural was never about being trendy. But I don’t see that she was knocking those who’ve been natural for shorter periods of time, or humble-bragging to set herself above others. On the contrary, I see someone, a supermodel at that, who exposed her vulnerabilities & insecurities with going back to her roots in an industry that’s kinda plastic & promotes super synthetic Barbie dolls. And I think she’s to be commended for sharing her thoughts & for using her platform to champion a cause which I’m sure matters to most of us- natural beauty. You may not be able to please all people all the time but I hope that never silences your voice. Bravo, Bre!
Thank you Bre. Beautiful. The article is honest.
To my fellow readers, its expected to want more of our contributors on a sight like bglh and there are ways of expressing that without being diminishing and using exaggerated language which when used as an insult is only an insult to one’s own character. Furthermore, the opening line “Before it was trendy, before it became this “new phenomenon”, my natural hair was and still is, who I am…” I believe echoes voices which have appropriated this era of “mass return” for black women and tried to redefine it as something that is fleeting and not tied to our identity.
Bre’s, recognizing herself as a natural her entire life and the significance of that to her black womanhood, is an experience that is important and different from some other narratives we hear about in which some people transition to natural without any memory of their organic texture. Yes there are MAJOR “texture politics” at play, but in conversation with that, I agree that hers and many like her come from a perspective deserving of distinction.
*site
I agree that my natural hair isn’t a trend and I don’t desire to straighten my hair either. I just look better with it in it’s natural state. It’s a way of life for me.
Yes she was natural on the show. She was on a second all stars version of ANTM also, and I believe her hair was cut prior to or as part of the show (can’t remember). She was part of an agency at the time, so I would figure it was due to the modeling industry that her hair was cut.
^^This was in reply to Nappy Headed black girls comment…I thought I hit the reply button but someone it ended up down here..
To start off by saying natural hair is not a trend, and then move on to mentioning your journey to loving your natural hair after having not one, but two involuntary big chops as you put it, hmm…i dunno. Bre, not knocking you at all sis, and I too hate to see people jumping on the natural hair bandwagon as if it is a trend. Meanwhile, the same could be said about any of us. Initially, it might seem as if someone’s following a trend, but let’s play catch up with a few of them in a couple of years, and if they’re still rocking their natural hair, then I bet you any money, they might have the same testimony as you.
I thought this was a well written article. It is CLEARLY about HER journey, and how she grew from the experience. She emphasized growing up natural to further emphasize it not being a fad for her. It was and is a part of her being. I feel like if people are going to dissect the article at least try to understand what the author is saying instead of looking for a reason to attack. She wasn’t attacking anyone because natural hair is now popular. She’s telling her experience and encouraging others to see the evolution of natural hair beyond this era to the point that it is the norm for us all. Gosh!!!
I’m grutfeal you made the post. It’s cleared the air for me.
I didn’t watch ANTM…was she natural on the show? Does she model her natural hair? I couldn’t follow the timeline of the post.
And I’m confused about the two big chops. She said she felt bad afterward. Was she chopping off heat damage? Did the industry/gigs force her?
Anyway, her testimony was beautiful. It’s nice to see someone in Hollywood speak about rocking their natural texture.
When she first got there she had this beautiful head of poofy goodness. Then Tyra always does make overs and a lot of the time the girls get the opposite of what they originally came in with. Very few models got small makeovers. Any who I believe they gave her a weave. I’m sure she did go through the BC twice due to damage. My Cousin is IN THE BELLY OF FASHION and she was telling me about how models have to basically let whomever is hiring them do to their hair what they want. Most designers will do wigs and little tricks to give the elusion, but she said that there are some A-Holes out there that will literally buzz your hair off then later say, they don’t like it and slap a wig on you instead. So I’m sure she that’s what happened. You know your hair is your crowning glory, so when its gone, its a little startling. Especially if you had it for so long. She’s human we all have moments that we have had a change in our looks and don’t have that confidence that we normally would have.
The parts of the article where she talks about her own beauty and self-image are ok, but the beginning of the article was off-putting. It’s annoying when people try to humble-brag that they were natural before it became “a thing.” Why bother distinguishing herself from those of us who are recent naturals? Honestly, it doesn’t matter how or when we got here…let’s just celebrate that we are together now on the natural journey!
preach…
Right? Not all of us were blessed with caregivers that understood how damaging and unnecessary chemical hair treatments are, and we had to wait until we were on our own before we could embrace our natural beauty. I’m still trying to deprogram my mom from that “straight hair is neater/better” way of thinking….and she’s (finally) transitioning after watching my journey for the past 4 years.
I couldn’t agree more Joy. As someone who has been natural all my life and not fully seen the growth potential because of poor practices and down right hair-icide – not moisturising, using products with moisture-blocking ingredients, flat iron abuse (using it while my hair was soaking wet to get it bone dry every WEEK) etc.
I wholeheartedly owe the newfound HEALTH, shine, manageability on wash days as I now section off, DC every wash with coconut oil etc, ways to stretch hair without heat, new and innovative hairstyles and most importantly (for me) my drastic length retention to those girls on the internet, on youtube on BGLH for helping me!
i was a lil different. I was natural growing up til i made the decision myself at 12, against my dear mother’s wishes, to relax my hair. funny thing was that she herself was relaxed until chemo took her hair, and her strength, away. But in any case, my parents knew how to care for my hair, but in a way, i was still in the dark. My parents were of the old school way of thinking, that “Braids make your hair grow”, so owing to staying confined to braids and cornrows for all of my childhood, i made it to the “relaxer stage” with thick, roots-to-ends thick MBL hair- but if you’d asked me how to take care of it i would have just said “grease your scalp, blow dry it after you wash it once a week or once per two weeks, and throw it in some braids.” lol
Wish things could go back to that simplicity, because it worked, damnit! now i’ve complicated things on my own but i can honestly say that being exposed to the natural hair community online is what actually taught me about hair care and why it was that my parent’s hair “regimen” of sorts worked for me growing up. and why it would work again if i’d let it. So i’m with you in that just because you grow up chemical-free it doesn’t mean you know jack about doing your hair or caring for it. Natural hair still is a learning curve whether you grew up natural or not. It was for me. I was always most comfortable with natural hair, but i didn’t realize how quirky it was until after i became aware of all these websites and blogs that prompted me to do something other than just wash and blow dry, and actually experiment with my curl pattern with all these fancy creams and smoothies and slurpies and crap lol that’s when things got hectic, but it was educational too!
So now stating your truth and it makes others feel uncomfortable or insecure it’s humble bragging…good to know
Smh. We wonder why young sisters go about chanting “I don’t mess with females.” Grown woman lessin for the day: Sometimes…it really isn’t about you or “a shot at” you.
*lesson
It may be her truth, but she could have stated it in a way that is less condescending: “Before it was trendy, before it became this “new phenomenon”, my natural hair was and still is, who I am. My natural hair is so much more than a break from chemically processed and damaged hair. It is so much more than a liberation from the monotony of long body wave weaves and sleek flat ironed hair. My natural hair signifies my life’s journey and my redefinition of spiritual beauty.”
While I get the sentiment she’s trying to give, the wording of this paragraph implies that women who returned to natural hair because of damage/straight hair boredom are less than her, and it also implies that their journey is less spiritual than hers because their journey had an aesthetic trigger. That may have not been what she meant to imply, but words are funny things….
and the use of the word newbie is condescending. that’s the give away.
I hate my life but at least this makes it bearebla.
We are in an age where people are offended over everything, so yes apparently so.
she’s a gorgeous girl. i believe she was feautured in some garnier fructise ads… idk about dark and lovely
She did their hair color I think.
Powerful article…it challenges us to sustain as individualists who are confident in who we are and in the hair and skin God gave us. There might come a time when being “natural” isn’t so mainstream and popular. I enjoyed Bre on ANTM and am delighted to see her mature into a posed and intelligent young lady.
powerful article? no, no, no
Lol! Your name made me laugh 😀
Wasn’t she featured on a box of Dark and Lovely relaxer?
LOOOOOL!!!!
I think he was, but either way it was her job and I guess she didn’t see a reason to say no to it. But in the end it got chopped and now its natural.
*She, not he good grief. My keyboard is old.
love Bre but this has to be one of the most poorly written articles that I’ve ever read. i was left with …. wth?
What’s wrong with it? Those are her thoughts and feelings and her reflection on her growth as a person, in HER words. You are entitled to your opinion but there’s no reason to be mean.
its simply not well written or well composed. well written has nothing to do with the feelings she attempted to convey….
I understand.
could you elaborate on why you think this article isn’t well written or composed please.
If this was a website for English composition, then, yeah, how well or poorly written the article is would matter. Considering this is a website for natural hair lovers, then the focus should be on the content of the article. I believe that most people pretty much understood what the young lady wrote. Why is it that everything has to be scrutinized to the point where the topic is changed to something totally irrelevant to the subject matter? If you don’t like how the story was written fine, you’re entitled to your opinion, but at least express it, move on, and let the rest of us just enjoy the article without having to get into why it is, or is not, a well written article.
if it were a forum between exclusively between users you would be correct. its not. its a website that posts articles with a comment section for users to respond. so i expect a higher quality of writing within the articles…. ijs….
i hope that the everyone commenting holds their children to a higher standard with their writings instead of getting so defensive…. its no wonder why Black have such low quality education……. anytime someone calls a Black person out and says there is room for improvement instead of saying “yes there is….” everyone gets made at the person for stating the truth…..
smh
@Gapch, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but if you’re going to critique an article on how well-written it is…please write well!
Well I thought it was well written. I mean I didn’t BC, but during transition I had the same reaction to my hair. I wanted to run and get a relaxer it looked so out of whack. When I went out I could have sworn everyone was staring and whispering at me. It literally took my cousin to call me and gave me a good talking to. In the end through her trials and tribulations she found her shine again and that’s all that matters.
Oh and gapch,
I agree that we should hold our writing a little higher. I find it crazy that they are no longer teaching children cursive. Actually its our entire education system that has taken a tumble for the worst. It so bad when I have a child I’m considering home schooling or sending them to Europe and live with my God parents to receive better education. With that being said maybe in the future you should offer your services to people when they compose their thoughts and experiences, so that you are not exasperated over the article. People aren’t just talking about black people’s poor use of the English language people are talking about how as a whole mainly the younger generation have appalling communication and grammatical errors due to laziness. You now like your SMH. You could have just typed Shaking My Head. I myself am not a scholar on English and grammar, but if you are going to talk like that then you need to make sure your own writing is spot on. You know how people love to get you when you have just 1 minute flaw.
I actually beg to differ. this coming from someone with an eye for poorly written articles- this comes nowhere close.
i would question your eyesight.
as i’ve every right to question yours.
umm, I had to read it again, to figure it out…umm, well yes *sigh* poorly written
thank you.
people are all in their feelings as if its against Brie. I like her. Shes one of my favs from ANTM. Her, Eva and Tacara are my top 3 but the article is just poorly written. Does that make her a bad person? – No it doesn’t…. Just not the best writer….
Such a gross exaggeration though: “one of the most poorly written articles I’ve ever read”?? Really? I don’t see the difference between how she wrote this and the way many other writers on BGLH have written? You say it so blatantly as if it’s obvious to everyone. Maybe it’s the CONTENT you don’t like, as there is nothing obviously “poor” about how it’s been composed…
its not the content if it were i would say so…. whenever i disagree with a topic i simply say so….
if someone doesn’t recognize how poorly written this article is then unfortunately he or she probably writes in the same manner….
Oh my god, people grow up. So what if writing is not everyone’s strongest subject, they still have the right to speak their mind. So what if the article is not IMMACULATE to you. Black women can be so immature and nit picky, I swear.
@kaci your comment shows your immaturity and lack of ability to take criticism…
@gapch You have more than expressed your opinion about the writing. Please let it go so that we can focus on the content of the writing.
@gapch no it just shows your inability to give CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. People have different strengths, weaknesses and points of views, we’re not all destined to be good at EVERYTHING. Give her a break. I enjoyed her writing and find your comments HARD to get through. She is posting on her blog not as a journalist, I think she is free to express herself which ever way she comfortable.
I’m late but congrats on a great game on Tuesday almsot had your 1st career triple double. I hope you guys come out with the same kind of intensity on the road and don’t let the crowd get into your heads. You stole a game on the road in Miami last year so I know you can do it again this year.Good luck tomorrow and have a safe flight up to Milwaukee. Play hard and play together. Keep doing your thing and proving the critics wrong.
I must say I read a paragraph over. Then I stop reading it. I some understood what she was saying. I don’t want to look re-read the article. Seem she loved her natural self until her BC. Anyway, I understand both sides Brie and in regard to the bad writing.
I did not finish the article. Before reading the comments I thought I just got bored with it. Hmm.
Sry Bre for spelling your name wrong. : )
Well I’m sure she won’t go in on you for it. =)
It tells nothing she has been natural her whole life but had two big chops why not elaborate? She was introduced to then natural hair community how? Youtube blogs what? I like her though it was just missing important details
when she first came on the show she (like yaya decosta) had all of her real hair, natural. one of things i liked the most was that it was in its natural state. for modeling purposes they cut it to give her a less “girl next door” look bc she just looked like a pretty girl and not a versatile model
Gapch, if this is not a case of the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is. All of your comments here are infested with grammatical errors. You clearly don’t know that ellipses contain three, not four, series of dots. You incorrectly used ‘its’ several times. You couldn’t find a comma if it were hurling towards you, nor do you consistently punctuate the ends of your sentences or bother to properly end one thought before moving to another.
Normally I wouldn’t call out grammar in this type of forum, as it’s annoying and unnecessary, but pick up a grammar book before you rudely insult someone else’s writing capabilities. Or better yet, work on promoting the positive instead leading with negativity.
Finally someone said it! I thought I was going to lose my mind. Well put, brava!
as stated before i expect better writing quality within the articles not the informal comments section…. if this were strictly a user forum i would not have commented but is a professional site with “articles” followed by an informal reader comment section
clearly you’ve never read an article by CNN or the Huff post or any of those supposedly top dawgs in the writing world. I’ve caught plenty of errors in their writing. BGLH gets a pass from me because i can’t critique them in good conscience (unless they just post some utter crap we can ALL agree is complete hogwash) if sites that exist specifically for writing, or to promote the art/skill of honest-to-goodness journalism, let slip errors of grammatical and orthographic detail. Just sayin’, save it for somewhere else cuz the rest of us just ain’t checkin fuh all dat.
Ordinarily I would agree with you. However, in this case I cannot. Gapch didn’t write an article, just comments. Articles should be held to a much higher standard than comments. Blog posts that are found on sites like this one, instead of personal blogs, should be held to the same high standards as magazines and newspapers.
This article reads like stream of consciousness writing instead of a well thought-out piece. I appreciate what Bre is saying but I do think that it would be more effective with more thought and organization.
Gapch’s original comment could have been said better and certainly without the gross exaggeration. However, it is likely that it wouldn’t have mattered if it was. Even constructive criticism is viewed as negativity and gets attacked. Too many people think that positivity means praising everything whether it deserves it or not.
Would you have pointed this out if she was not referred to as a professional writer? I guess the issue some people may be having is that you publicly criticized her work and whether or not it was constructive criticism, some may see this as insulting and humiliating.
Actually gapch, growing up in with an Asian mother and a black father I noticed blacks were overly concerned with superficial and trivial things such as appearance and your problem with this article. It’s not attractive. You’re being an overbearing pain in the ass and not helping anything at all. Let people be themselves sometimes, it is not that serious.