Forehead preps return

After years spent keeping it in hiding, I recently made the decision to reintroduce an old friend of mine to the world.

Its name is My Forehead.

Ranking supreme on my list of insecurities, my skin has been the epitome of embarrassment, showcasing a selection of scars chronicling years of puberty, stress and the shameless consumption of unhealthy foods.

As the 14-year-old with a forehead matching the texture of oatmeal, I've historically kept bangs as a basic feature to my look.

It didn't matter how many times I cleaned my face or what medications I applied.

I was stuck and, as it is written in human nature, wanted nothing more than to relish in instant gratification by continuing the pattern of cutting my hair so that my bangs would hang down in the right spot.

The only accurate way to justify such behavior is simple: I've been too skintimidated.

From the moment I discovered that bangs could be my saving grace, covering the blemishes I hated myself for having, I never wanted to turn back.

The idea, or rather the privilege, of exposing my forehead has consistently presented itself as somewhat of a bad joke.

The kind where one says it, laughs, but secretly wishes it were true.

Truthfully, out of the five years that I've been orchestrating and wearing bangs, I've never felt a greater liberation than when I'm at home with numerous bobby pins keeping those bangs out of my face.

Yet, if I were to venture outside in such a fashion, I'd assume eyes were drifting straight from my eyes to my scar-infested forehead, a constellation made out of old and new zits.

With these thoughts constantly holding me back, and after spending too many years letting them win, I have had enough.

Trying different hairstyles exposing more and more of my forehead than ever before, I am taking small but certain steps toward feeling liberated in various atmospheres other than just at home.

For anybody, whether it is under some fringe or other hidden avenue of insecurity, it is vital to be comfortable in one's own skin.

Too often are people troubled by the criticism of others poking at their uncertainties.

Should they not want to embrace them, then change them.

It doesn't happen overnight and perhaps may not even happen after a month or two.

But I am certain that it does happen, given that the effort is put into it.

As it stands, my forehead is not even close to perfection.

It does not look as it did when I was 14, but old habits are slow to die, as I still find myself giving up trying a new hairstyle and leaving the house with my forehead covered.

The change occurred, however, when I decided to at least try.

Enduring a handful of years in the shadows, it is time for my forehead to resurface.

Don't call it a comeback.

Asia Camagong is an associate editor of The Advocate. Contact her at acamagong.advocate@gmail.com