A woman has undergone a complete transformation after stopping straightening her hair on a daily basis.
Melissa Duarte (@findingmelissa), based in Florida, showed her followers on TikTok a glimpse of her long, straight hair at aged 22, then the clip cuts to her sporting her natural afro curls eight years later.
Duarte, 30, who has two daughters, told Newsweek that she felt a societal pressure to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards in her 20s.
“Straight hair felt like the ‘safe’ option, especially when I was still trying to find my place in the world, both personally and professionally,” she said. “At the time, I didn’t fully understand how deeply that daily routine was tied to a desire to be accepted.”
After years of heat damage, Duarte decided she wanted to feel her most authentic self and began questioning why she was hiding her natural hair texture.
“Embracing my hair became part of a larger journey of self-love, healing and unlearning,” she told Newsweek. “I did a big chop, and it was one of the most freeing and transformative moments of my life.”
In a separate clip on TikTok, the mom of two admitted that she had forgotten how “beautiful” her natural hair was.
Duarte’s clip, which has been viewed over 7.9 million times, left a lot of women feeling inspired by her new look and they told her that her journey made them feel seen.
“It’s created space for meaningful conversations about beauty, identity and self-acceptance,” Duarte said. “I never expected something as simple as showing my natural hair to resonate so deeply, but it’s been powerful.”
Over 7,500 users commented on the viral clip, many of whom were in disbelief when they read the text overlay: “Fluffing out your fro.”
“Had to delete my paragraph,” one user laughed.
“I apologize for what I wanted to say,” wrote another.
A third commenter said: “Not you changing ethnicity’s right before my eyes.”
Some welcomed Duarte back to the curly community and others wrote that her afro has taken years off her appearance, making her look younger.
Duarte is in love with her curls now. “They feel like an extension of who I am—bold, soft, complex and unapologetically me,” she said. “There’s so much personality in natural hair, and I’ve learned to embrace its versatility and strength.”
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