What Inspired Teyonnah Parris To Go Natural

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Season's greetings!

After Solange, Teyonnah is another major natural hair icon in the natural hair community. Her luscious mane is constantly a source of envy and 'natural hair goals'. Sometimes, we even wonder if she added extensions but we have come to learn that's it's all her hair and we can only appreciate it.

I'm sure you're just as curious as I am to find out what exactly inspired her natural hair journey which she began in 2010. Well, in a chat with New African Woman, she reveals how and why she ditched relaxers to embrace her gorgeous natural hair.

 

Read excerpts below.

On how she manages her big hair: 

I mean, it’s the hair that came out of my head, so it’s literally learning how to style it, how to love it, how to care for it. I’ve had the pleasure to work with Felicia Leatherwood, who has taught me so much about my hair. It’s all about learning, it’s a learning process.

On her exact reason for going natural:

Hair can be an accessory like anything else, you don’t have to be natural. For me, it was really about self-acceptance. And from that point, if I can wake up as God made me and then decide if I want to have straight hair or put on a wig today, that’s fine. It’s a choice. But it wasn’t a choice for me before, I felt like I had to look a certain way, and I would like young women to know that you don’t have to look like anything or what anybody says you should look like. You can look like yourself just like God made you. You’re unique! You don’t have to bend, lighten and straighten to look like somebody else. You’re beautiful just the way you are. It’s only right, to learn to love and accept that.

On accepting her natural hair:

There was a moment when I realized, I am manipulating myself to look like something else. What do I actually look like? And I really wanted to know. So that began, a year of figuring out the transitioning process, and how to love and accept myself as I am.

Head over to NewAfricanWoman to read the rest of the interview.