Starring roles in Black-ish and Grown-ish, a spot with her name on it at Harvard (thanks in part to a recommendation letter from former First Lady Michelle Obama), philanthropic efforts through Yara’s Club and Eighteen × ‘18... Yara Shahidi has a few things going on right now, to say the least. Still, between all of that, the budding actress still has time to top beauty and fashion best-of lists like an industry pro — and you can bet her red-carpet look for the MTV Movie & TV Awards was no exception.
Blunt bob, coiled bangs, and curls so shiny haters will say it's Photoshop: Shahidi turned up for Saturday night's awards ceremony with one of the best looks of the evening. Naturally, we had to speak to hairstylist Nai'vasha Johnson — who works with the likes of Shahidi, Logan Browning, and Uzo Aduba — and she told us every little detail we needed to know.
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Firstly, Johnson explains that what makes the look work so perfectly is that it's all about celebrating natural curls, not trying to force them into any kind of submission. "Bangs are such a good look with textured hair because no one expects a curly girl to have super short, or super refined, bangs," Johnson says. "For me, I just think it's a wild card. So, I try to use it when I can." But Johnson didn't have to trim Shahidi's hair to get the modern, sharp lines she was aiming for; instead, she opted for a blunt wig à la Indique Hair.
But how did Johnson, who worked with Pantene to create the look, make her client's wig seem straight-out-the-shower shiny without actually sending Shahidi down the red carpet in soaked curls? After saturating the bob with Leave-on Detangling Milk, she towel-dried it and brushed it thoroughly with a paddle brush to distribute the product, then sectioned it off into a deep side part. She then mixed together the Butter Creme and Intense Hydrating Oil before smoothing the cocktail through the bottom layers. Then came the final and most crucial part of the look: the Curl Defining Pudding. Johnson covered the untouched top layers of hair with the pudding, brushed it through one more time, then diffused everything until it was dry.
Not already amazed by this look? Try to wrap your head around the fact that it only took 45 minutes to complete. Now that's impressive.