Keke Palmer Got Real About Her Natural Hair Journey and Regaining Confidence

Kaleigh Fasanella
·3 min read
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We can always count on Keke Palmer to be super candid when it comes to, well, just about everything. Case in point: She recently opened up about having cystic acne caused by PCOS and how hard it's been at times — especially working in Hollywood. Now, the 27-year-old actor is sharing her natural hair journey, and true to form, she's not holding back about what it's really been like.

On Friday, February 26, the Hustlers star divulged her experience with transitioning to natural hair — including where she's at now in her journey — alongside a #FlashbackFriday selfie on Instagram. In the photo, she's sporting no makeup, a beautiful, full Afro, and a silly facial expression (because, of course).

"I look back at old photos and it blows my mind how blind I was to how beautiful my natural hair has always been!" begins her caption. "Much like now with the popularity of lace fronts, this was in the real WEAVE era haha. And as we know all these styles have always been around but they go in and out of being on trend. So back then it was all about weave and interlocking for me. If it wasn't thick straight or wavy then I wasn’t impressed."

From there, Palmer explains that she started loving her natural hair way before it became "on-trend" to do so. She also reveals she was "so scared" to cut her hair off, but did it anyway as an act of liberation.

"I started with chopping off the hair I had in this photo as an action of freedom and releasing the fear that I wasn't as 'put together' without some long Indian locks," she says. "I really wanted [to] regain the confidence I had as a kid when it came to my hair in its natural state, while still being able to explore a wig a weave or anything! I just never wanted to feel like I needed it more than the actual hair on my head."

In regard to where she's at now in her natural hair odyssey, well, Palmer is currently in the process of growing it back out. "[I] can't wait till I'm back at this place with it again because even with my little fro now can't nobody tell me sh*t!!!" she writes. "I think it's fun jumping in and out of trends but it's much better when it feels like a choice and not a duty! 😍🥰💋."

No surprise here: Palmer is amassing a lot of love and positive feedback on her post, with people leaving comments like, "Wow u had a head full of natural hair😀luvit sis," "Gorgeous! 😍😍😍" and "Amen to choice and not a duty!!!!"

Props to Palmer for always keeping it real. Here's hoping she continues to share her hair-growth journey.

Now read more about Keke:

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Originally Appeared on Allure