As a mum to four daughters, former popstar Jamelia has brought up her girls to love and look after their hair. The 43-year-old tells HELLO!: “I wanted my daughters to have a better relationship with their hair than I did at their age. So I had to become the representation I wanted them to see.”
New stats from haircare brand SheaMoisture reveal that only half of the black and mixed-race women over 45 who took part feel confident enough to embrace their natural texture without fear of judgement - and Jamelia is on a mission to change that.
Jamelia, who plays Sharon Bailey in Hollyoaks, tells HELLO! how important it is to feel joy around our hair, explaining: “The shoot felt so celebratory and affirming. Often campaigns around Afro hair are about the struggle, strife and the hard things, which do exist – but I love being a part of a campaign celebrating the joy around our hair.”
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockHere, she tells us about keeping things natural...
Jamelia's earliest hair memories
“Until I was seven, I had dreadlocks. I absolutely loved them – I grew up around Rastas, everyone had locks. They were cut off just before I started school. Looking back, I understand that that decision was about blending in, not standing out too much.
“When I started at a prestigious, predominantly white secondary school, my mum relaxed my hair. Again I can understand why, and I wasn’t against it. It was to blend in. I mention these things because they happened and I wasn’t aware of the conditioning behind it. It was just ‘get on with it’.”
Struggles in the industry
"When I had relaxed hair, stylists could get away with not knowing what to do, but when I decided to go natural, I was in for a shock. Nobody knew what to do with my hair, to the point where I had to learn how to do my own hair for everything. Now, there are hairdressers that specialise in natural hair, but at the time, the spaces I occupied didn’t have a clue.”
© David Fisher/Shutterstock“Now when I enter spaces that don’t have a clue what to do with my natural texture, I insist on somebody learning. You feel like the bad guy, having to explain why it’s not okay that I’m sitting in the corner doing my own hair and everybody else gets their hair done. I’ve been doing that the whole time my hair has been in its natural form. It’s been difficult but I’m proud that I’ve created change for the next Jamelia with her Afro hair. The entertainment industry still has a long way to go.”
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Confidence going natutral
“We have to be brave enough to wear our hair in its natural form. Whether you’re at work or picking the kids up from school, there are so many opportunities for us to unknowingly celebrate ourselves. When I was younger, I didn’t see any black or mixed-race women with their natural hair and loving it.
“The more that we live out loud and celebrate ourselves and affirm each other, that’s what brings about change. Being an example to my daughters, I’ve seen that they don’t have any of the hang-ups or fears that I had. Every single time we’re out, they always say to someone: ‘I love your hair, your hair looks beautiful,’ and it’s really beautiful to witness because you never know what that one sentence has done for that person.
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Inspiring the next generation
“We can help our children appreciate their natural hair by making the hair-doing process as pleasurable and enjoyable as possible. My five-year-old, even the baby, knows when it’s time to get their hair done. I give them a couple of chocolates, they watch their favourite thing that they’re never allowed to watch at other times and they actually get excited. Now, my five-year-old asks for a new hairstyle.
“I’m also very gentle. A lot of us, especially my generation, have had that experience of the pain, sitting between your mum’s legs.
“Get your kids involved in the process, too. I let my five-year-old choose a hairstyle on Pinterest and then I’ll make it happen. The other day she wanted to have a unicorn horn – I’m big on allowing them to express themselves. Above all else, every single time I do their hair, I say: ‘Your hair is so beautiful. I love that style. It looks so gorgeous.’"
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Jamelia's haircare heroes
“I love wash day. I take it very seriously and I’m committed to having a really luxurious experience. Wash day is a whole day for each of us in my house. I wash mine once a week and the girls’ once every fortnight. My one-year-old actually gets her hair washed every two days because she’s putting food and everything in her hair.
“I love to clarify, do a conditioner and then co-wash. After that, a deep treatment with a bit of heat – I still put the plastic bag on my head. I know there must be something invented to stop doing that but I’m used to doing it over the years. I air-dry using the band method [stretching out multiple bands along sections of your hair].
"We’ve got a variety of textures in my house. I love the SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil shampoo and both conditioners. I also use the Moringa and Avocado range for my daughters’ hair and the Coconut and Hibiscus gel.
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