Beatrice's Truth

Tell me about yourself.

Béatrice: My name is Béatrice and I’m a natural hair enthusiast from Réunion Island. My native languages are French and Reunion Creole. I learned English at school and on the internet. It’s a small island in the Indian Ocean, just in between Madagascar and Mauritius Island.  Reunion Island is like a perfect melting-pot, you grow and live with different ethnicities, and thus, racism is really infrequent here. Still present, just like every other country, but really rare. I’ve been natural for almost 3 years now. When I was still a little girl, my mom started to relax my hair. Obviously, I grew up hating my natural hair, and I always got it relaxed and flat-ironed. When I was DONE with the relaxers, I started my transition, then I big-chopped. I never felt so much better about myself since then. I really want to thank my boyfriend who encouraged me to do the big-chop and go natural; he has always been a huge support in this journey.  

Have you ever felt left out of the beauty conversation?

Béatrice: Not at all! I’m IN the beauty conversation haha! Guy friends, or girl friends, when they need advice about skin care, hair care or make-up, they always reach out to me, and it’s always a pleasure to help. Making an Instagram, I found myself not only helping my friends, but tons of people I didn't know from all around the world. They send me direct messages asking for natural hair care tips, and I'm so glad I can share my knowledge and help them build a hair routine, and motivate them on their journey.

How important has community been for you?

Béatrice: I’ve only been active in the natural hair community for a few months now, as I was keeping my distance from social media for a long long time. I finally decided to make an Instagram account because a lot of friends of mine pushed me to do so, to share my hair journey and my tips with the beautiful people who decided to follow me. The natural hair community and the black women on social media are really empowering, and I always feel really good and beautiful when I scroll through the gram and I see these beautiful messages full of positivity about the color of our skin and the texture of our hair. We must keep going and spread the love :)

What's the best piece of advice you have received?

Béatrice: A quote my friends always tell me (in creole haha) is “Some people won’t love you no matter what you do and some people won’t stop loving you no matter what you do, go where the love is.” I always need to be reminded of this. I’m one of those people who can’t get over the fact that not everyone will like me, for whatever reason it is. Some people will be mean to me, and just don’t want to get along, and I’ll be there asking myself thousands of questions about why they don’t like me, what did I do to them etc, and getting myself worried and stressed for nothing. Really, thank God for my friends, otherwise I’d be a stressful mess!

What makes you feel unstoppable?

Béatrice: Seeing people who started from nothing succeed in life. That’s just wonderful, and it gives me a lot of hope, I’m trying to stay positive no matter what happens, and I tell myself “One day, this will be me too!” I find it so inspiring to read about people’s success stories, and see how far they came. 

What's your self-care routine?

Béatrice: I read a ton of mangas and I love animes. I get stuck in my little bubble and you don't hear from me for hours. That's what I do to relax when I come back from work.

I love natural hair care, and I make sure I shampoo, condition and deep condition once a week, followed up by the LOC Method to make sure  moisture is locked into my hair. I sleep with my hair in a “pineapple” (in a satin scarf), to preserve my curls at night and prevent frizz. I love music, and I listen to ANY genre!

Keep up with Béatrice on her journey:

Instagram: @jaegercurls