Texture Diaries is a space for Black people across industries to reflect on their journeys to self-love, and how accepting their hair, in all its glory, played a pivotal role in this process. Each week, they share their favorite hair rituals, products, and the biggest lessons they’ve learned when it comes to affirming their beauty and owning their unique hair texture.
“I knew from a young age what I wanted to do with my life. I really lucked out,” Ilfenesh Hadera says. The Ethiopian-American actor grew up in Harlem, then attended New York’s performing arts high school, LaGuardia, where she was able to hone her skills. Lately, they’ve landed her roles like Mayme Johnson, the wife of legendary Harlem gangster, Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, in the series Godfather of Harlem, and Opal, one of the protagonist’s love interests in Spike Lee’s Netflix show, She’s Gotta Have It. (You might also recognize her from 2017’s Baywatch.)
As her career grew, so did the pressure to think more and more about her hair. “I didn’t think much about my hair until I was really forced to,” Hadera says. “I remember going to certain casting calls and trying to hide my hair. I used to tell myself I wouldn’t get certain parts because I’m not these casting directors’ idea of what a Black or biracial woman should look like,” she explains. “But that’s just ridiculous. We are a million different shades and hair textures.”
When it comes to her day-to-day hair maintenance and keeping her strands healthy, Hadera keeps it low-key. That’s not to say she’s avoided all experiments: “I once tried a keratin treatment and I think that’s my biggest hair regret. I will never again sacrifice body and volume for the sake of ease!” Hadera says. For inspiration, she looks to Zendaya and Yara Shahidi—“They just seem to have so much fun with their hair.” Her go-to routine is to wash with a formula by dermatologist Dr. Neal Schultz that tackles scalp dryness (a condition Hadera, 35, dealt with in her mid-twenties), condition with Olaplex, then blow dry and call it a day. She seals the deal with an Oribe hair oil.
Alongside her fine-tuned regimen, Hadera has evolved her relationship with her hair by replacing negative thoughts with gratitude. “Now, anytime I have a disparaging though about myself, I remind myself that everything that I was given was given to me by my mother and father and my ancestors,” she says of the mantra that keeps her confidence and spirits up. “How can I not love something that was given to me by the people I love so much? When you can look at it this way, you start to have a unique appreciation for the things you love about yourself and even the things that you don’t.”
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