Teenage actress and activist Amandla Steinberg is wise beyond her years, especially while discussing what it means to be a young black woman in 2016.
A testament to the evolution of her personal growth and style, the pro-natural star recalls a time when she did everything to conceal her glorious mane, including “frying the front part “ of her hair to make it look straight.
“I’ve gone through so many different hair stages,” she recently shared with Glamour. “My first stage was when I was younger, and I thought my hair was too big, so I always kept it in this giant poof on top of my head.”
The actress also reflects on those awkward pre-teen years where she experimented with various methods to manipulate tamer strands. “I got Keratin treatments, and then I had bangs that I straightened every day. It was awful,” she admits. “It was like frying the front part of my hair off.”
Thankfully, the 17-year-old has since abandoned those hair-damaging methods and learned to embrace her hair in its natural state.
“Now I love it,” she continues, accrediting social media’s influence on her natural hair journey. “Seeing people on the Internet post pictures with their natural hair, I realized like, ‘Oh, wait, this is actually so cool. ‘Why have I been fighting this component of myself for so long?”
Straight hair reigns in the entertainment industry and Steinberg admits, “I still have moments once in a while where I feel the need to conform… you kind of feel the need to fit in, so it’s kind of a constant battle loving my hair. It’s something that I’m continuously working on.”
Amandla reminds us that he pressure to fit in is real, but standing out is much more powerful and fun!
Learn more about Amandla’s beauty revelations (and her LEMONADE cameo!) here.