It’s all about hair texture for actress Teyonah Parris. Known for roles in Survivor’s Remorse and The Marvels, the actress didn’t know what her natural texture looked like after years of relaxing her hair. To her surprise, she had curls. And, like many Black women, Parris began experimenting with different hairstyles. Along this journey, she began to notice that there were not many curly hair extension brands on the market. That said, she’s creating her own line, Blūm, out in mid September, to fill the gap.
“In acting, having transitioned into natural hair, I show up to these sets, and they don’t have anything that matches my hair,” Parris tells ESSENCE. “I feel quite inadequate, like a burden, like I was an issue or too much trouble for them to have to figure out what to do with my natural hair,” she explains of the workplace discrimination many Black women face. This reality made her feel like she couldn’t fully embody the character she needed to portray while filming, a sentiment shared by many other Black actresses.
Because of this issue, Parris wore her natural hair on red carpets— collaborating with hairstylists on the creative vision. Meanwhile, she further expresses how hairstylists on sets often didn’t know how to braid or take care of her hair. “As a Black woman with kinky, coily, natural hair, I’m also someone who loves to have a solution,” she says. “I could show up with my own extensions.”
With this in mind, she created Blūm for women, including herself, to experiment with hairstyles. Plus, the actress can use extensions on set and transform into the character she needed to be.
As for what to expect from the brand? A variety of textures— including wavy, kinky, and curly hair. “It was…
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