It has been a long journey of struggle for Kubbra Sait to accept her curls the way they are.
“When I entered the industry, some 13 years ago, I did not see curly hair anywhere, be it onscreen or in advertisements,” she revealed, adding that this became one of the factors that led her to resort to means like chemical rebonding to straighten her hair.
“Today, when I’m talking to you about these things, they sound really simple in my head,” she stated. “It’s because I’ve actually gone through the process of accepting things for what they are, whether it’s my hair, whether it’s my family that didn’t work out or whether it is a job that didn’t turn out the way I expected it to, you know?”
Sait came into prominence following her roles in shows and movies like Sacred Games (2018-2019) and Jawaani Jaaneman (2020). However, in both these stints, the natural texture of her hair didn’t fit the part. But, for Kubbra, it’s all about making peace with yourself. “Genuinely accepting yourself and believing that the things that make you different, that are uniquely yours, need to be accepted. They need to be looked at as a strength and not a weakness when compared to others. This will help you realise how valuable you are,” she said.
Kubbra Sait admits that no amount of beauty tutorials or celebrity hacks can help you truly achieve the look you desire, unless you stop considering your flaws as problems. “I’ve had curly hair my entire life. I’ve had hairy arms and legs my entire life and I was never the prettiest girl in class, you know? Or even the school or my locality for that matter! It was very easy for me to feel that I’ve been put into a segment because of these external factors. We all work with a certain set of presets. The minute you’re born you’re told ‘be this way’ or ‘be that way’, ‘you will become this’ or ‘you will become that’. What I realised over the years was that, in order for things to change for the better, you have to change from the inside and not the outside,” Kubbra confidently asserts. “First accept all these things about yourself and stop thinking that these are problems. Then you’ll stop comparing yourself to others and feel sorry for yourself.”
In the middle of her (very engaging) rant about self-acceptance, Sait paused and laughed, apologising for going off topic, while concluding that more people need to hear (or, read, in this case) this every day.
Moving on, Kubbra reminisced, “I think I was one step away from going bald because of how disappointed I was with my hair. I had straightened my hair, blow-dried it and even used chemical treatments on it. I did everything but stick with my natural version of hair.”
The key is to not only identify your hair type, but subsequently also use products suited to you for maintenance. Sait explained, “For example, my mom has curly hair and so do I. But my mom’s texture of curls is very different from my texture of curls, right? So, if I use what my mom is using or if I chose to tie my hair up the way my mom did then I would be doing a disservice to my own hair. I think it was only in the last 10 years that I realised that you have products for different types of curly hair!”
As someone who has struggled with the same issue for the better part of my life, and as someone who is nowhere close to where Sait is at in the journey towards self-acceptance, I had to ask the actress for the steps she follows to feel more put together everyday.
“First and foremost, and this is the most essential step, you need to accept that you have curly hair. Stop fighting it,” she begins, enthusiastically, “The second step is to get a good curling shampoo and conditioner, along with a leave-in conditioner that suits your needs. Now all of this depends on the thickness of your hair, its length, and how dry it is. This plays out differently for people, so keep that in mind,” the actor cautioned.
“The third and the most important step is to look in the mirror and repeat this mantra to yourself every morning— ‘God! I’m so sexy!’ and that’s it,” Kubbra joked, but we’re sure it’s super effective. And that’s really all there is to it!
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