It’s another Big Beauty Tuesday here at The Glow Up, and instead of our regularly scheduled weekly video, we hope you’re indulging in the incredible conversations going on in our first-ever The Root Institute, taking place every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the month of August.
What am I doing with all this free time on my hands? (As if.) Well, at the moment, I’m happily blogging away with a Repairing Deep Condition Masque from Gabrielle Union’s newly relaunched Flawless haircare collection working its magic on my head, with a few drops of the line’s Restoring Exotic Oil Treatment added for good measure. I say “magic” because this line may very well be the fix I’ve been looking for since committing to my natural texture last year.
Like becoming a parent or owning your first home, no one can fully prepare you for the responsibility or how labor-intensive going natural is—the product cocktailing, the protective styling, the moisturizing—and, in my case, the textural shifts that have changed with the season and my hair fully committing to its unstraightened state, which began at a 3b and currently sits at a springy 3c/4a. I’m down for the coils—but as a super lazy busy wash-and-go type, retaining moisture has proven my fatal flaw—until now.
Having never tried the first iteration of Flawless (which only slightly predated the launch of The Glow Up in 2017), I have no basis of comparison, but after I shouted out the Flawless relaunch, her team graciously sent the collection my way. Always in search of a solution for my perpetually parched locks, I dove right in. Nearly two weeks later, I’m still experimenting with product combinations (because this collection is meant for mixing), and while I haven’t settled on a favorite concoction yet, my hair feels...different, in a (very) good way. It’s still fluffy, but to my surprise, markedly softer—with far fewer fairy knots tormenting me on the daily.
Union’s line is designed to benefit all hair types and textures (including relaxers, extensions and braids), and it shows. So far, I’ve had no crunch, no stiffness, and no waxy, heavy finish weighing me down; just super-soft, subtly shiny curls that make me feel like maybe, just maybe I might finally become a natural at this whole naturalista thing. (But let me not get ahead of myself; we’ll see how this work-from-home deep conditioning turns out.)
At $4 to $10 per product, you don’t have to take my word for it—or see an embarrassing in-progress pic; you’ve already seen plenty from me over the years. But if you want to see the brand’s creators in action, this Wednesday, August 12th Flawless by Gabrielle Union is hosting their inaugural #FlawlessTalks virtual series. Join Union and her co-founder celebrity hairstylist Larry Sims with actress Essence Atkins, writer and image activist Michaela Angela Davis, beauty industry executive Karonda Cook and media personality Gia Peppers for “a community conversation discussing the importance of authenticity, diversity and representation in the ever-evolving beauty industry,” says the brand. It’ll all go down on Flawless by Gabrielle Union’s Facebook and YouTube pages at 4:30 pm PT/7:30 pm ET, and you can register here.
Or...you can just grab your own deep conditioning masque, kick back and wait until Thursday for the next installment of our Root Institute, which is coincidentally on Black Joy—which, like a good hair treatment, is something we could all use.
Join the discussion! The Root is hosting its first-ever, virtual Root Institute, presented by Target, featuring several of the leading minds in our community talking about politics, culture, health, community building and social impact. Subscribe for updates today!