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To beauty creator Dana Patterson and Rizo’s Curls founder Julissa Prado, healthy hair is a learning process.
Over the years, hairstyles, types, and routines have netted in and out of popularity as trends circulate. Hair has existed as a means of self expression, often with cultural meanings attached, since the beginning of time. This relationship to hair can either encourage one to feel connected to a larger group, and by extension themselves, or feel isolated and conflicted about their identity. For day one of Beautycon 2024, ESSENCE Senior Beauty Editor Akili King sat down with the inspiring creators for “HairTok 101,” to discuss their relationships to hair, how hair shapes self perception, and what routines they stand by today.
Opening up about her hair journey, Prado shares that, “learning to love my hair was my first step in learning to love myself.” As a curly girl, Prado had a difficult time growing up around beauty standards that celebrated straight hair over curls like her own.
The more she learned to care for and embrace her hair, the more community she found of girls trying to do the same, leading her to view haircare as a “community builder.” So much of her drive is guided by the emotional experience (she is a proud Pisces after all), which has also informed the inception and development of her own hair care company. The Rizo’s Curls founder’s trial and error hair exploration sparked her passion for content creation and, ultimately, creating a hair line that prioritizes healthy ingredients.
For Patterson, “Every part of my body is about self acceptance.” From learning to love her body type in its natural form to embracing the thick hair she had once been teased for, Patterson looks at loving your hair as another component to holistic self-acceptance. The model cultivated an organic community through her comedic storytelling, content on all things fashion, beauty, and modeling, and by showing up as her authentic, relatable self.
Her approach to hair content employs humor, acceptance, and of course, transparent education. Patterson is all about the science behind the product, and does her due diligence to inform her digital community about product formulation so they can feel good about the decisions they make. During the panel, she briefly touched on her Hair Science With Dana TikTok series, and sparked substantial curiosity from the crowd by discussing the benefits of acidic hair care.
Prado added to this conversation about hair ingredients by discussing the importance of pH balanced hair products and how that can improve hair and scalp health. Her brand’s Vitamin C Hair Repair Mask, which both panelists swear by, employs this innovative line of thinking for healthy hair practices.
The two beauty gurus jumped at the opportunity to offer their favorite hair tips when prompted, delivering some quality suggestions. For Prado’s color-treated coils, she prioritizes balancing products like her Vitamin C mask, as well as routine restorative treatments followed by quality sealing oils. Patterson advocates for products with silicones, particularly for heat styling, and investing in a good bond builder, like Nexus or K18’s for example.
The reality is, when we heat style, color, or chemically treat our hair, we are weakening the bonds. This is not necessarily the end of the world, however, as our hair should be an outlet for exploration and expression. “There’s no morality attached to hair, so enjoy yourself,” she concluded.
Prado and Patterson display the fun and fascinating side of hair care that comes from diving deep, and look to encourage their communities to accept and explore themselves at whatever stage they occupy.
