Update: Last month, Tinashe told us that she felt pressure to have smooth hair — something that still lingers to this day. Now, the singer is offering up more insight on what, exactly, caused that worry in the first place.
"One time, I straightened my hair for the very first time and one guy said to me, 'Wow, you look way better,'" she says in the video above. "I remember that stuck out in my memory for a really long time and made me really self-conscious about my curly hair for a lot of years. Eventually, I learned to love it, so now I love my curly hair. Curly haired girls rock!"
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Guess we know who had the last laugh, huh?
This story was originally posted on February 13.
Like her music, Tinashe's hair has multiple personalities. You've got the bold and the out there. The laid back and relaxed. The smooth and slick. (The latter of which you may have seen her wearing at last night's Grammy's Awards.) It's these different sides to the singer that make her the ideal muse for drugstore brand John Frieda's latest campaign, 'Hair Talks — Make Your Statement,' which celebrates self-expression through hair.
The connection between your strands and your mood, outfit, or agenda makes sense. After all, why else would so many artists use beauty to trigger important cultural conversations? (The easiest example: Beyoncé's deep-rooted reference to "Becky with the good hair.") Most times, it's all about the discussion. Which is important to Tinashe, since learning to embrace the hair she was born with wasn't always easy — something we've all related with at least one point or another growing up.
"When I was younger, I felt a lot of pressure to always blow out my hair or make it smoother and silkier," she says. "I think that still affects me to this day. I would even like to wear it pressed out a little less than I do now."
The reason, Tinashe says, was that she didn't have many natural hair role models growing up. Her mom, her friends, her classmates — they all had a different texture than she did. "I had to learn how to style it and take care of it correctly all by myself, which was a long process of trial and error. But it’s always good to have the ability to be versatile and play with other styles and looks, so I'm glad I taught myself. I think [changing it up] reflects who I am as an artist and musician."
Today, she swears by her arsenal of elixirs that work for her every hair personality. Among them: oil-based products, and the John Frieda Frizz Ease Serum, which "works when my hair is straight or curly, and adds the touch of moisture my hair needs — especially since natural hair can be a little on the drier side. You've just really got to take care of the hair you have." Now that's a universal truth if we've ever heard one.