Sunshine, Self-love, and Sahara

We shouldn't be struggling to learn about our hair, how to take care of it, and love it.

- SAHARA AQUI

Our very own Island Gyal, Sahara Aqui, grew up in Queens, NY and is the child of a Bajan mother and Trinidadian father. In May 2020, Sahara graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Biology. After taking a gap year, Sahara is now studying for the MCAT, working as a medical scribe and research assistant at the University of Miami, and preparing for medical school applications in May 2022.  

True to her roots, Sahara loves the sun, sea, and being in nature. Everything has not always been sunshine and rainbows for Sahara, Glimmer 411’s Director of Product Management and Development, but still she wears the bright disposition and vibrant personality fitting of sunny Miami, where she currently resides. 

Growing up in a Caribbean family where people ranged from being dark-skinned to white-passing, Sahara saw the full spectrum of black people.

Having successful black people in her life— like her female pediatrician — also meant Sahara grew up with a positive representation of who black women could be. As a young girl, this helped her develop a vision for who she wanted to become in the world.

While she always had a vision for who she wanted to be, going to a predominantly white school was the first time that vision was challenged. Being a teenager is already hard enough, but the added racial pressure in her high school made her feel the need to conform more than she ever had. The parts of herself she once celebrated with her family became aspects that she felt she needed to change most. 

“I’ve grown a lot from the 16 year old girl who flat-ironed her hair every day because she wasn’t comfortable showing her naturally curly hair,” she says.

“By my junior year I’d started wearing my hair natural again and realized how much I’d missed it. To me, it didn’t matter anymore what the kids at school thought. I loved who I was and I wasn’t going to let them change that.”

This brought Sahara to another realization, that self-advocacy, something a lot of people find hard, is as important for self-love as face masks and bubble baths — “I make sure my voice is heard because why else do we have a voice?”

This is a theme that Sahara also sees in the work that Glimmer 411® does: “With Curl Cupid™ and our future products, we’re amplifying the voices of people who haven’t always felt like they have a voice. We shouldn't be struggling to learn about our hair, how to take care of it, and love it. At Glimmer 411®, we’re really doing the heavy lifting to make it easy to do all of those things, because it should be.”

“I think a lot about my high school self whenever I do work with Glimmer 411. I see our company being huge for kids trying to find themselves, especially kids like me who were constantly changing their hair to fit in and not just because they want to.”

“If I had something like Glimmer 411® back then, I think it would’ve been a lot easier for me to love my hair and reach the level of self confidence I have now.” 

Having faced her own ongoing battle with anxiety and insecurities, Sahara knows that sometimes when you stumble it feels like you’ll never be able to pick yourself back up or reach the level of self-worth and self confidence you hope for. 

“Self-love and confidence aren’t things that come overnight, and that’s something I have to remember too,” Sahara says, “It takes a little bit of practice each day to get to the point where you feel fully comfortable in yourself. For my 22nd birthday, my boyfriend gifted me a bonsai tree and each day when I take care of it, it reminds me of my journey toward self-love and self-confidence. Everyday, I check in with my tree which reminds me of my self-love journey — I make sure I trim the right branches, provide the perfect amount of water, position it in the sunlight just right. This takes a lot of work but in the end, the destination makes the journey worth it.”

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Try Curl Cupid™ Now

The Glimmer 411® team created the Curl Cupid™ Quiz to make curly and coily hair care simpler for people like you. 

Take the Quiz today to receive a custom hair Curl Cupid™ Report with in-depth details on how to take better care of your curls!