Naturals of Suriname: Mariette Zomer

March 31, 2015 Mireille Liong

Mariette Zomer, owner of Natural Hair Beauty Suriname and super active on facebook, was also part of the Kroeshaar Tentoonstelling in Suriname. A cheerful frizzy curly head that I was able to photograph at the waterfront. This is her hair story.

Mariette Summer with a Twist Out

I didn't grow up thinking I had bad hair. My thick, curly braids were usually complimented, but because my mother only did thick braids, I was teased that I only did grandma hairstyles. My mother had long, full, straightened hair and that's how I wanted my hair to be.

I had my first relaxer when I was 13 when I went from primary school to mulo. My hair was full and thick like my mother's and I liked it. My grandmother and aunts thought it was a shame because they loved my thick frizzy hair.

In high school I went back to curly hair because my hair was getting thin and I hate thin hair and when I went to bed with rollers in, I was usually late for school because I had to take out the rollers and straighten my hair.

My biggest fear was that I would have short frizzy hair that would be cut straight out of my hair . I didn't like short hair at that time. Another fear was that when I combed my hair it would hurt terribly.

The hardest moments when going curly were combing and creating cute curly hairstyles that wouldn't make me look like a grandma.

I decided to stop with curly, because curly was wet, every treatment was worse than straight. It burned my eyes, and just like with straight my roots were already quite thick in no time. Because I had to go for a curly treatment so often, my hair became thin and if I didn't go my hair was thick at the bottom and on top you could see thin curly hair. In 2011 I went back to straightening.

Aug 2012 I decided not to straighten anymore. I got tired of relaxing. My hairdresser advised me to relax every 3 months, but in the 2nd month my regrowth was already a lot and thick.

I didn't want to straighten anymore but was still struggling with how painful it was to comb and wondered if my hair could grow long and healthy so I went looking on the net if that was possible. On the net I came across videos of a lady. She had long frizzy hair, but she had her own hair line and I couldn't find that in Suriname. I already knew that it was possible to grow my hair long, so I did THE BIG CHOP. Now I had to look for the right products because combing still hurt.
When I did the big chop it was a wonderful feeling, it was also the last time my hairdresser saw me, I was ready for my hair journey.

My perception changed when I learned more about treating and styling kinky hair. A facebook friend saw my photos and updates about my hair journey, and she added me to the group natural candies. I was so happy, that group helped me find the right hair products for my hair and they gave nice ideas about styling your hair.

Curly hair taught me to be patient and that men love a woman's own hair more than women themselves because those compliments usually came from men. And women kept advising me to straighten it and thought it was messy. When my hair growth became more visible, my hairstyles got better and my hair got longer, only then did certain women around me change their minds.

Curly hair has given my self-confidence a boost. Because despite all the negative comments I never thought about relaxing again. It was often mentioned that those ladies on the net were mixed and that my hair would not grow. 2.5 years later I have inspired a few of those people myself. It gives a good feeling, that I have not given up and can proudly say “See, I told you so”

I love my hair because it's mine.

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