Confidence is essential on a wedding day, and this bride exuded it in abundance. She confronts society’s perceptions head on, using her wedding day to show that gray hair can be a striking and attractive trait to admire.
On July 2, Tia Codrington, a Miami cosmetics specialist, released a TikTok video of her client, Kadeja Baker, radiating beauty as she accepted her natural gray hair on her wedding day.
Codrington voiced her adoration in the caption, writing, “I liked my bride’s natural gray hair. “She has had it since she was 16.” Little did they know that this incredible exhibition of self-acceptance would shortly go viral, garnering an astonishing 1.4 million views and over 170,000 likes.
“I initially didn’t have any expectations when posting the videos other than to share her beauty through my eyes,” Codrington stated. “But witnessing how she embraced and embodied the beauty of her hair was something I felt compelled to share.”
Codrington noted that it was “amazing” to learn that Baker had the choice of changing her hair color for her wedding day, but opted to stay true to herself and wear her natural hair color.Baker had no social media presence prior to her wedding preparation process. In an interview, she admits to being truly “surprised” by the tremendous response to her video, characterizing it as “plentiful” and encouraging.
Baker modestly remarked, reflecting on the unexpected viral fame, “I did not expect for the responses to be as plentiful as I look at myself in the mirror every day and did not think it was that big of a deal that I was embracing my natural hair and look.”
The 38-year-old bride was surprised by the huge number of nice responses on social media. Kadeja revealed that it took her many years to really appreciate her own hair once it began to gray during her teenage years.
Despite her initial doubts, she was greatly affected by the encouragement and inspiration her film provided for others. Grateful for the positive sentiments, she humbly replied, “They say I’m embracing myself, but I’d tell them, ‘Thank you for taking that on, seeing it through, and allowing it to inspire them.'” “Thank you for embracing me.”