00:00Hi, I'm Tatiana and today I'm getting a curly hair chop.
00:05I cut my hair about three years ago, but never up to my chin.
00:08I've always let it come down to around my shoulders.
00:10I'm like kind of tossed up with my hair.
00:12I love that it's long, I love that it's gotten long, but I don't feel like it's healthy.
00:16My natural texture is actually not straight at all.
00:19It's curly.
00:20I actually grew up with a really curly afro when I was a child, but with blow drying from
00:25pageants and my mama was taking me to the salon every weekend and getting these deep conditioners
00:30and going under heat so much, I kind of lost that texture from my hair and I really want
00:34to see what it can do with curls.
00:37This is my first year moved out for my parents, so I feel a little more sense of independence.
00:40I think it's time to reclaim my curls and kind of give myself that power with my hair.
00:46All right, so what I'm going to do is cut a little bit more of that length off now and
00:51then we're going to cut your hair wet, okay?
00:52Okay.
00:53I'm ready.
01:03I'm ready to feel freer.
01:04Yay!
01:05I bet!
01:06Look at all that.
01:07I know.
01:08It looks good already.
01:09Let's get you ready.
01:10We're going to shampoo it now.
01:20Hair is very much prioritized in the Latinx community.
01:24Growing your hair is seen as a blessing.
01:30Every time I see my grandmother, she would always be like, God bless your hair.
01:33And if you cut it, it's seen as being rebellious or defying what their beauty standards are.
01:46My mom, every time I even told her I wanted to cut my hair, would cry or make this big
01:51show and say that I should not do that because hair is seen as this ideal.
01:56You know, our moms always took us to the salon every Sunday.
01:59I would always get a blowout.
02:00I am nervous because my hair is sort of part of my identity.
02:04When you go on Instagram, it's just me with this long straight hair.
02:07And people are always like, I want your hair, you know, this is my dream hair, please teach
02:11me your ways.
02:12And I feel like I'm gonna be, you know, this whole different person, but I'm excited.
02:19It's like excited nerves.
02:34I'm most excited about finally getting my hair back to being healthy and seeing what
02:39my curls can do.
02:40I've never really seen what they've been capable of since I was a child.
02:43So to finally see my curls back in action in spring, I know it's gonna take a lot of time.
02:48Um, because the number one tip they say when transitioning here is patience, but I'm willing
02:53to wait and see what they're, you know, what my curls can do.
03:07I'm gonna do a little bit more dry cutting just to enhance the shape a bit.
03:11Almost there.
03:14The back, it's incredible, you have so much curls in the back.
03:22You ready, girl?
03:24Yeah.
03:25Oh my God.
03:28What do you think?
03:29This is so different.
03:30Yes.
03:30I love it.
03:31That's my hair.
03:32That's your hair.
03:33And it's just gonna get better from here.
03:36Woo!
03:36Yeah!
03:37I love my new hair.
03:39I feel freer than ever.
03:41It feels like a whole weight is off of my shoulders.
03:44About to send a selfie to my mom.
03:46Hi.
03:47Can you check your text messages?
03:54Oh.
03:55My.
03:57God.
03:58Me getting my curly hair isn't about me defying my straight hair.
04:01It's just more so being able to do both.
04:04It opens up a larger conversation as well, and getting girls to embrace their hair from
04:08a young age, especially Latina girls, and told that, you know, long hair is beautiful.
04:13And I'm excited to be able to show them that short curls are also beautiful, and that you
04:17can represent the Latina community as well.
