@KhaleejiGirl (KG) Interviews @TheCurly.You
Many girls may be born with curly hair but once they are older, through their own reasons, they choose to eliminate these curls. However, one @KhaleejiGirl has chosen to embrace her natural curls and see the beauty in them. By doing so, she chose to create an instagram account to show others that all curly haired people can have curls and still feel beautiful and empowered.
KG: Please state your name and where you’re from:
A: Hello, my name is Dina. I’m from Bahrain.
KG: Please describe the journey that led you towards what you are currently doing with your Instagram account.
A: I’ve spent most of my life battling my hair. Genetics gave me natural curls, and I do not mean a glorious mane of luscious locks or perfect beach waves. No, I mean frizzy strands that are usually tangled and rarely cooperative. I fought the mess every day through high school until university; that is when I started chemically treating my hair. For years, I never thought much of it; if my curls started to show I’d head straight to the salon and “tame” them. Eventually, I got tired of fighting my hair and the struggle of waking up and saying “what am I going to do with my hair today?” was overwhelming. I went online and realized that now with social media, you have a full encyclopedia of natural curls and, it hit me “why aren’t there more people talking about the beauty of curly hair in Bahrain?”
KG: What was the biggest motivator that led you to doing your Instagram account The Curly You?
A: The more I started to learn about my hair, it was clear that there is a gap in knowledge on curly hair as well as a lack of suitable products in the country. And so, @TheCurly.You was created to hopefully bridge this gap. I am not the only one feeling this way about my hair; there’s a huge community out there. Not everyone had someone to model how to take care of and embrace curls. But, with social media, we can do that. It’s a great way to help the young girls & boys in our lives who may be fighting their own curls and measuring their worth by how straight or sleek their hair is.
KG: Do you see an impact from creating this account?
A: Yes, definitely. Since I’ve created the account, I’ve gotten tons of great feedback & questions. I’m not an expert on hair, but, I think people appreciate transparency and like learning about your journey; it makes them feel like they are not alone.
KG: When you give advice about curls is it from your own experience of trying the different products?
A: Both research and personal experience. I have spent years chemically treating my hair because I didn’t know what to do with it. But, since all the salons & hairdressers in the country were closed due to COVID-19 and my curls were starting to show up, I thought now would be a good time to do some research. I watched one YouTube video, then another, and another – it became an obsession. I went down this insane rabbit hole of YouTube videos and online pages of people with curly hair and that is where I learned that beautiful curls could be attainable. I always thought people with nice curly hair had the genes for it and boy was I wrong! Once I research something, I like to try it out and then share the tips on my Instagram page – it’s like having a casual conversation with a curly community who share the same experiences as you do.
KG: What advice do you have for a younger @Khaleejigirl who is considering following your footsteps?
A: You have to start somewhere. It is not such a big deal to go curly – we just believed it was because this stems from all those years where we were shown this image of what beauty looks like. When you have curly hair, no matter how good it is, no two curly hair days are going to be exactly the same. Your curls are going to do their thing and it’s about acceptance.
KG:Do you have anything else you’d like to add that may be important for the KhaleejiGirl audience to know?
A: If you ever feel like having a Curl Talk hop on to the Instagram page @TheCurly.You and join our community! We’d love to have you.