Julissa Bermudez is a Dominican American host, media personality, correspondent with red carpets and influencer who first became known for hosting shows such as Bet’s “106 & Park” and “The Center” and MTV’s “Jersey Shore Reunion” and “The Hills” finals. Bermudez spent several years navigating the industry’s rigid beauty standards – often at the expense of her natural curls. As part of our Good hair The package, she opens up her developing relationship with her hair, the pressure to conform and what embraces her natural structure after 40 has been due to her trust and identity.
When I was growing up, my relationship with my hair always felt like a task. Every Saturday morning I would be up early, on my way to the salon before the doors even opened just to make sure I would be seen within the first few hours. That’s how I spent my Saturdays as a child. It felt like a ritual for a young Dominican girl, something that is included in our routine and so natural that I never questioned it.
Although I grew up and heard terms such as “Good hair“And” Pelo Malo “, my experience was more about making sure my hair was always Arreglado, which translated to” fixed “or” done. “I would get my laundry and put time under Secadora, and then it was up to me to maintain it all week – because after spending a whole Saturday at the salon, there was no way that I would let that effort waste.
It took me a while to realize how deeply the intervened it was in me to think that my hair wasn’t presentable if I didn’t go through the whole Dominican salon treat. I had no company to get a relaxer of just 9 years old – so young age to start chemically processing hair. Until today, the smell of relaxes haunts me.
This way of thinking followed me into my career as a TV host and public personality. The entertainment industry, just like Dominican society, was about elegant, straight hair. In the early 2000s and the 2010s, no one really knew how to handle a Lockigh-year Afro-Llatina on the camera.
When I was about 19 I landed my first host gig on a show called “The roof” on Mun2which cater for Latinos that was raised in the United States but which was still linked to its culture. Moving to Miami meant finding a new salon, but it also meant learning how to make my own hair because I always needed to be cameras.
As I returned to New York, I continued to host networks such as Bet and MTV, where I worked on shows like “106 & Park” and “The Center.” Then no one knew how to design naturally curly hair other than straightening it out. The constant heat eventually took its toll, and I experimented with different extension-band-ins, clip-ons and even glue-ins, which turned out to be a nightmare. It was a journey to try to fit into an industry that didn’t really know what to do with someone like me.
This continued even after I moved to LA, because I approached 30. I had already traveled back and forth for work, made a lot of correspondence with red carpets and mainly lived a bikoastal life. When my parents retired and returned to the Dominican Republic, I finally made the official move to LA.
I have now been to LA for over a decade. During that time, I continued to work with MTV and travel abroad to places such as South Africa and Argentina. Everything that travelers meant that I had no choice but to learn how to make my own hair and makeup. Often companies either did not have a budget for hair and makeup, or the stylists were not familiar with how to handle my hair. Still, wearing my natural curls was never really an option. After a while I got really good at showing up to red carpets on my own, without hair and makeup budget, but completely ready to go.
After I turned 40, I had a moment of realization. I was tired of putting my hair through it, and I was tired of feeling that my natural hair was not beautiful enough to rock for gigs or red carpets. Since I became a full -time influence influence, I have finally wanted to embrace my curls. After a certain age, you reach a point where you begin to surrender things. You begin to realize what is more important and what you actually want to spend more energy on. And for me, I couldn’t keep getting my hair to be such a thing.
I found so much inspiration to see other beautiful, curly hair on social media and to deepen knowledge and research on taking care of natural curls was exciting to me. Even now I still learn every day, and it is incredible how much information is there about embracing and taking care of your natural hair.
Cutting so much of my length was a great adjustment for me. I was used to visiting Dominican salons, where the goal was always to keep my hair for as long as possible, even if the ends were damaged. I held on to that length for so long and needed that “hang time.” But when I went to Miss Rizos Lounge – Back when they had a place in the Washington Heights – they were honest with me: the return limits did nothing for the health of my hair, so I decided to go for it.
I was surprised by the integrity of my curls and the fact that they even formed at all after all I had put my hair – relaxers, weaves, constant heat styling. My hair is so resilient and honestly it is inspiring. I sometimes wish I was as resistant as my hair because it has been so much. With age, you really start to embrace the journey of self -love and realize its importance. If I could apologize to my hair, I would, because now I want to take care of it more than ever.
The first time I got my curly cut I still had some damage, and I was not quite ready to release the straightened tools. But it was during a spring visit to the Dominican Republic this year that I decided that I would really commit myself to taking care of my curls. I visited the original Miss Rizos Salon in Santo DomingoAnd everything about that experience was inspiring, from the salon itself and everything it represents to how they embraced my hair and how they talked about it. My hair was not a problem for them – it was beautiful. This was also the first time my curls looked so healthy; There were no heat damage in sight.
I am still very much on this trip, and I admit that I will be impatient with my curls, especially on day two. But I am committed and it feels like such a full circle moment to me. I no longer subscribe to the idea that my hair must be straight to be regarded as Arreglado. I have realized that my hair can look elegant and beautiful in its natural, curly state. It doesn’t have to be super straight to consider, elegant or elegant.
Now, in my early 40s, I embrace everything. I speak on panels with my curls on full screen and share my journey as an Afro-Llatina that took years to completely embrace her natural structure, both on stage and on social media.
If there is one thing that I hope people remove from my hair history, it is friendlier to their own hair. If I could go back in time, I would be so much more loving towards my hair and would have embraced my natural curls a lot before.
– As I said to Johanna Ferreira
Johanna Ferreira is the content director of PS Juntos. With more than ten years of experience, Johanna focuses on how intersectional identities are a central part of Latin culture. Previously, she spent close to three years as vice editor at Hiplatina, and she has freelanced for many stores including Refinery29, Oprah Magazine, Allure, Instyle and Well+Good. She has also moderated and spoken in many panels about Latin identity.