Print Ads For bookings, contact Reco Models. View this post on Instagram “I used to straighten my hair because I thought that’s how women should look,” says Kate Alvarez, a lifestyle journalist. “We grew up seeing that look. That long, straight, black, silky hair—TV commercial hair!” It was @replikate’s desire to fit in high school that prompted her and her mom to look up different options for straightening her hair; and back then, she didn’t have a lot of options and these services were extremely pricey. She was 15 years old. . . “I will never forget the day I walked into the classroom with my straight hair, literally like a broom. I was running late, and the whole class erupted into laughter. I was so embarrassed! I hid my face, I felt like such a loser,” she recalls. . . In college, she found better ways to have her hair straightened and continued to wear it that way. “I was walking in the mall when I was discovered by an agent for commercials, so I thought, ‘Hey, this is really how I should look!’” After several casting heartbreaks, Kate took a break and from regularly spending to straighten her hair, and decided to grow her natural curls out. Shortly after, she worked at a publication where she met fashion and beauty editors who referred her to a hairstylist who works well with curly hair. “Other parlor-istas would look at me and say, ‘Eto na naman, kulot na naman,’ ['Here we go again, another curly-haired girl,'] while nudging each other. But this time, he told me, ‘We’ll work with your curly hair!’ I was like, ‘Really?! You’re the first ever stylist to tell me we can work with this,’” Kate recalls, touching her curls. They taught her the “twisting method” to bring out her real curls. "I felt like, “That was there? Since childhood? It’s just been hiding?!” Kate went back to casting calls and landed her first commercial in all her curly-haired glory. Then, the jobs kept coming. . . Kate has come to embrace and know her hair so well, that for this particular photo you see, she actually insisted on doing her own hair. Curl power, for real. #MyHairMySay #DovePH . . We'd love to hear your hair story! . UPDATE: Congratulations @nica05 @jesseallyssa @cyndrill, you get the special gift from Dove! 😊 . #SheTalksAsiaxDove A post shared by She Talks Asia (@shetalksasia) on Jun 8, 2019 at 9:45pm PDT