Gabrielle Douglas thanks fans for encouraging words after she got candid about her bittersweet hair journey. Peep her touching posts, plus find out what Gabrielle Union said about her “flawless” hair care journey inside….
The 2012 London Olympics was a bittersweet moment for history making Olympian Gabrielle Douglas. At the age of 16, the YBF gymnast became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in the team competition and the individual all-around. Unfortunately, her amazing accomplishment was overshadowed with vicious and unneccesary criticism of her HAIR! Of all things.
August 2, 2012 — Gabrielle Douglas won an Olympic gold in women’s gymnastics. pic.twitter.com/9RRZIYXBAR
— MoorInfo (@MoorInformation) August 2, 2020
They did the same thing when she was competing in the 2016 Olympics. Sadly, she broke down in tears when she addressed the hate during the Olympics a few years ago.
Now, she’s 24. And her hair is FLOURISHING, honey.
The Olympic gold medalist took to her social media to open about her traumatic hair journey where she explained how pulling her hair into tight ponytails to do gymnastics damaged her hair completely.
"I had bald spots on the back of my head,” she said. “I was so embarrassed and self-conscious that I put a bunch of clips over the spots to try and cover them up, but it was still noticeable.”
Gabby's hair then began to grow, but she ended up having to cut it all off because it was so damaged. After cutting it, she became self-conscious to the point where she didn’t even want to go to the gym anymore.
”My hair grew a little, but shortly after, I had to cut all of my hair off because it was so damaged,” she wrote. “I cried and cried and cried. most days I didn’t even want to go to the gym because I felt so embarrassed that all my hair was gone.”
Despite the hair drama, she kept giving her hair tender love and care. And now, her hair is the healthiest its ever been.
"Fast forward to the both Olympics and my hair was the topic of conversation," she said. "Now here I am today - no extensions - no clip-ins - no wigs - no chemicals - all me."
Peep her natural tresses below:
Fans flooded Gabby with positive and encouraging comments, praising her for being brave enough to open up about her hair struggle.
”First off I just want to say that I’ve been reading your comments on my last post and I want to thank you for all of your kind & supportive words,” she wrote. “It really means a lot. It’s not easy opening up and being true and vulnerable about certain things, especially in this day and age. not gonna lie... you guys can be BRUTAL,” she shared.
”But in that, I have developed thick skin. I am forever grateful to have this platform to inspire and encourage u all. hopefully one day i will have the courage to share my FULL story with you.”
Check it:
Aww!
Now, share that hair routine, Gabby!
Speaking of Gabby and hair...
As we tread waters into a more “woke” society, Gabrielle Union has been on the front lines advocating for black hair acceptance. Over the years, the “Being Mary Jane” star – who recently did a PSA for the CROWN ACT – has been vocal about how Hollywood REFUSES to hire black hairstylists and she shared horror stories about non-black people totally jacking her hair up on set. It got SO bad, she decided she would go get her hair done on her own time to at least look presentable on camera.
Earlier this month, the multi-hyphenated star partnered up with celeb stylist Larry Sims to re-vamp her haircare line, “Flawless by Gabrielle Union,” which in its new iteration is majority Black-owned after it was originally launched in 2017.
More and more, Gabby is embracing her natural tresses. For the cover of Women’s Health magazine’s October 2020 issue, she shared how it felt so freeing to shoot a magazine cover rocking her natural hair for the first time.
”These are #bts pics from my @womenshealthmag shoot. It was the 1st time feeling truly like myself in front of the camera,” Gabby shared. “The me that my loved ones see everyday. The me that fights daily for my peace and the peace of others. The imperfect warrior thats lost more battles than I've won, but still keeps on fighting. At this grown ass age, I feel like I'm finally ME. And I can breathe. And as long as I have breath, my ass can keep fighting. @flawlessbygu got me rocking my own curls and feeling like a #flawlessbeauties.”
That wasn’t her only “first” experience…
The 47-year-old entertainer said this was her first magazine cover shot by a Black woman. Woot!
While the black community isn’t anywhere near where we should be as far as representation in society, things are started to shift. And we’re here for it.
By the way, Gabby also opened up about losing her hair during IVF treatments and how her "Flawless" hair care line saved her edges. Get those deets HERE.
Photo: Salty View/Shutterstock.com
source: theybf
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