You can probably count on one hand the number of times you've seen big, natural, textured hair on the red carpet. Romantic updos, voluminous waves, and sleek straight hairstyles usually dominate at major award shows, but not last night.
Kerry Washington wore her naturally curly hair on the Emmys red carpet and she had by far the most stunning beauty look of the evening. Her textured tresses straight-up slayed the red carpet.
Kerry showed off her growing baby bump in an all-black cutout gown by Brandon Maxwell. Her dress was gorgeous, but it was her natural hair that made this look everything and more. And Kerry owned it. *Flips hair.*
For Kerry to so flawlessly wear her natural hair when young girls are getting expelled from school for wearing their afro-textured curls and natural hair transformations are turning into disasters on national TV makes this moment even more powerful.
Women all over the internet were so proud and happy to see Kerry embrace the naturally curly hair she was born with. Because it's beautiful.
Kerry's natural hair last night was also a special moment for her hairstylist of 14 years, Takisha Drew, who told Cosmopolitan.com she woke up this morning with tears in her eyes.
"I’m really overwhelmed by the positive response from everyone," she said. " I’ve worked with [Kerry] for 14 years and I normally style her hair straight. I’ve been trying to get her to wear her own natural hair on the red carpet for a while. I just think her natural hair is so beautiful. She really embraced the look. I was so touched by it."
Drew specifically wanted to style this look for Kerry on a red carpet instead of a magazine cover.
"It has more of a bold statement because everyone’s watching. I wanted the statement to be: 'Here I am with my natural textured curls and I’m proud of it.' And she owned it. People sometimes look at magazines, and they don’t read it or see it half of the time," she said.
She's convinced there's no time better for Kerry to wear her natural hair on the red carpet than now. "For so long women of color were criticized for wearing natural hair and we still are," Drew said. "With everything surrounding police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement now, it’s so important to see women we all look up to embracing their naturally textured hair to show the world, this is who we are, we’re beautiful, and we’re proud of it," she said. "When celebrities wear their natural hair, it speaks volumes."
Drew achieved the look by first letting Kerry's naturally curly hair air-dry to give it more volume (Kerry has never had a relaxer or a perm). Then, she used Neutrogena's Anti-Residue shampoo and Neutrogena's Triple Moisture Hair Mask to give her curls extra shine.
"To be honest, I didn’t use any shine products or hairspray because she didn’t need it. Conditioner softens natural hair enough and gives it a shine," Drew said. "With natural hair, you want it to look undone. If it’s too shiny, it’s going to weigh the curls down. If you use too much hairspray, it’s going to stop your curls from moving."
Working her way from the bottom of Kerry's hair to the top, she added in TSD Hair Extension in "Deep Wave" to give Kerry's hair more length and volume. "I used a paddle brush to brush out certain curls to give her hair a wavy, soft look," Drew said. "On other curls I used my finger to pull and expand them a little, and other curls I left them alone."
Kerry's look last night will definitely go down as one of the greatest hair moments in red carpet history. It's my hope that other stars follow suit and confidently rock their natural hair on and off the carpet. Because they can.
