My Quinceañera Hair Knew I Was Pretending

The curls were perfect. Too perfect. Seventeen bobby pins held my crown in place while I stared at this girl in the mirror who looked like she belonged in someone else's fairy tale. Everyone kept saying how grown-up I looked, how beautiful, how ready. But underneath that elaborate half-up, half-down masterpiece, I was still the same kid who cut her own bangs with safety scissors. The weight of expectations sat heavier than the tiara—my family's dreams pinned into every spiral curl, their version of womanhood shellacked with hairspray. I'd tell that fifteen-year-old now: the real growing up happens when you take the pins out. When you stop performing princess and start becoming yourself, one messy morning at a time. #Beauty #HairCare #beauty