7 Women Dish On How They Got Over Their Biggest Beauty Insecurities

“I have big Botticelli ringlets that caused me a lot of frustration growing up. As a kid, I never understood what to do with it. All I ever knew was that you were supposed to brush your hair so it didn’t knot. So I did…and my hair proceeded to fluff up and stick out on either side of my head.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t have the straight hair that I so desired—because straight, shiny, sleek hair was what I believed was BEAUTIFUL. I started blow-drying my hair constantly, and then just flat-ironed it non-stop so that I was essentially frying the ends. 

“Toward the end of high school, I started to figure out how to obtain the perfect curl with the help of a curl expert.  She helped teach me tricks and tips to bring out the best of my natural hair. With her help, my curls were big, they were defined, and honestly, they looked exactly like Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw curls. That was a big win after years of Hermione.  

“One day, someone said my hair reminded them of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and I cried. To think that someone would even think to compare my biggest cause of frustration to Julia Roberts made me feel more beautiful than I have ever felt. Hearing that didn’t immediately change how I felt about my hair, but it certainly helped me learn to embrace it.

“It took almost 17 years for me to think that my natural hair was actually beautiful and today I have women asking me all the time how it is that I achieve such beauty. I won’t lie—there are days I still head to DryBar for a few days of sleek sexiness, but 95 percent of the time, I am crazy, curly, au naturale, and completely in love!” —Stephanie Berman