the rising star discusses her hair evolution and experiments with a new look
"I'm pretty picky about my hair, so I end up always styling it myself. I actually like wrapping my hair up in cloths and colorful things. Just last week I did something where I had two little braids and my hair up and turban thing. And it felt very me, while also inhabiting this space of press and a stylist. It felt still like coming back to my comfort and my place of where I feel like myself."
her nightly hair routineEvery night for 45 [minutes] to an hour or more, I sit and braid my hair before I go to sleep. I don't use a brush. I only use a wide-toothed comb and sometimes to give it a little bit of texture and hold, I'll spritz it [with water] a little bit, just to moisten it, dampen it. Then I'll take product like a Shea Moisture conditioner like a leave-in and rub it in. Next I do sections, like little handfuls. I'll comb it and then I'll braid it. That ends up being about 20 braids on my head. So that is really time consuming.
her morning routineI do like my hair looking messy and wild, but to get it to look that specific messy and wild, you have to use certain products. In the morning I take it out and style. So when I take it out, it gives me a nice wave, versus if I come straight out of the shower, my hair is a much tighter curl and it looks much shorter. I just can't do as much with it, because it's not as malleable.
favorite hair productsI use Shea Moisture. Their whole product line is great and also because they're sulfate-free, paraben-free, family-owed business. They are really great and offer very good moisture because my hair is really dry. I use coconut oil, I sometimes use shea butter. In a pinch, I'll use cocoa butter. Shea Moisture because of their lack of chemical is my favorite brand to use. And conditioner.
who helped develop her hairstyleI used to beg to have my hair straightened and [my mom] never let me do it. And she would always braid my hair. I would be sitting, and it would take four or five hours, as a little girl and sit [while] she watched soap operas or something and then do [my braids as she was watching]. And my aunts always did my hair. So I would say, my family, particularly my mom, for not making me feel that I had to straighten it. Much to my frustration, because it was very painful and was always a thing [where] I was crying and [it] took a long time. She embraced a natural style.
On style inspirations.Solange plays around a lot with wigs and weaves, which I don't do as much, but I kind of would like to try. I really like her style in general. I feel like I pull inspiration in general from how I feel on a day. I feel that way with my clothing too and I build off of that and then my hair will come into the outfit, in a way. In terms of other women who wear their hair out, I've always loved Corinne Bailey Rae's hair, although that's not my texture. The singer Lianne La Havas [is] mixed too, and she wears her hair natural, and I often feel connected to her.
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