About

My name is Lulu, and I’m a Gen X’er—still growing, still evolving, and finally learning to love myself in my most authentic form.

I didn’t create this space because I have it all together.
I created it because I’ve been broken, ashamed, burned (literally), and disconnected from the woman I was born to be.

I damaged my hair trying to chase “pretty.”

I thought straightening it would make me feel beautiful, accepted, worthy.

Instead, I ended up with chemical burns on my scalp, flat stringy hair, and a pain deeper than just breakage.

Because I didn’t just lose hair…I lost a piece of myself.

And that’s when I knew:

This is deeper than hair.
This is identity.
This is self-worth.
This is ancestral.
This is spiritual.

I named my hair Ang after Angela Davis.

Not because I look just like her—
but because when I had my big, natural crown, someone compared me to her, and I felt PROUD.

Angela Davis represents strength, intellect, revolution, and unapologetic identity. So I named my hair Ang as a reminder of the power growing from my scalp.

But when I relaxed my hair…It felt like I silenced that power.

And that’s when the grief hit. Not just from the damage—
But from the disconnect.

I am not anti-relaxer.

Let me make this clear:

I don’t judge anyone who chooses to straighten or relax their hair. For some, it works beautifully.
For some, it’s just preference or convenience.

I am only speaking for me. For my experience. For the women who felt the same shame and pain after a relaxer and didn’t know how to talk about it.

I cried. I isolated. I blamed myself.

And I probably will still cry until I see even one curl return. One wave. One coil. One sign of life.

Realistically? Around month 3–6, I’m praying for that first curl.

Because to me, that curl won’t just be hair…It will be proof that I am growing back, too.

But this is not just about hair.

This is about returning and remembering.
It’s about healing the parts of me I abandoned to feel “pretty.”

It’s about breaking the chains my family carried for generations.

It’s about honoring my ancestors, my spirit, and the truth in my roots.

It’s about loving myself without shrinking, straightening, or apologizing.

I am a chain breaker.

The cycle ends with me.

I am healing at the root—mentally, emotionally, spiritually, culturally, physically.

I share my story so others feel:
✅ Inspired
✅ Seen
✅ Safe
✅ Curious
✅ Empowered
✅ Healed

I am also the founder of Pure Scentsation™.

A brand born from my desire to create things that nurture, uplift, and bring us back to ourselves.
Because I believe healing can be sensory.

It can smell like peace.
It can feel like softness.
It can sound like truth.

I am soft… but I am strong.

I cry… but I rise.
I’ve been hurt… but I’m still here.
I’m imperfect… but I’m powerful.
I’m 50… but I’m just getting started.

Welcome to When Pretty Hurts.

A sacred space where we heal at the root.
Where we tell the truth.
Where we grow back stronger.
Where we remember who we were before the world told us otherwise.

This isn’t just a blog.
It’s a return.
It’s a movement.
It’s home.

– Lulu