"I'm pretty picky about my hair, so I end up always styling it myself," says Zazie Beetz who plays quietly powerful Vanessa on Donald Glover's FX series Atlanta. "I actually like wrapping my hair up in cloths and colorful things." Rituals like styling her own hair before red carpet appearances and her nightly hair routine (which takes up to an hour) are integral to navigating her newfound visibility.
"Just last week I did something where I had two little braids and my hair up and turban thing," she says, on set with ELLE.com. "And it felt very me, while also inhabiting this space of press and a stylist. It felt still like coming back to my comfort and my place of where I feel like myself."
Here, the rising star discusses her hair evolution and experiments with a new look from Bronx braider Guingui.
On 'Atlanta's two Golden Globe wins.
I went in [to the Golden Globes] riding this wave that we've been riding and sitting in the room I realized, this is a surreal experience. And I didn't really have any expectations, I would've totally been happy either way. But then to win—when is the next time I'm gonna be on that [Golden Globes] stage? It is sort of a singular opportunity and experience. So I was really proud and I was also really happy for Donald [Glover] too because this is his baby and his project and he deserved it.
On newfound success.
Leading up to [the show], I had no idea what to expect, and I was freaking out. Because people kept telling me that my life was gonna change and that everything was gonna be different and I didn't know how to take that or what that meant. And then it aired and everything was fine. I'm still waking up in my own bed and washing my dishes and stuff like that. Since September, people do recognize me on the street which is, I guess, the biggest new development besides Instagram followers or something like that. And I feel like I do have more access to opportunities and interesting projects, which is a cool thing. But other than that, I feel—I remember what it felt like to have my first kiss and I was so nervous about it and I woke up the next day feeling like, I'm still myself. And so I feel that way. Something happened that is a milestone feeling, but life continues.
On her nightly hair routine.
Every night for 45 [minutes] to an hour or more, I sit and braid my hair before I go to sleep. So in the evenings I will usually put on a show or something and I don't use a brush. I only use a wide-toothed comb and sometimes to give it a little bit of texture and hold, I'll spritz it [with water] a little bit, just to moisten it, dampen it. Then I'll take product like a Shea Moisture conditioner like a leave-in and rub it in. Next I do sections, like little handfuls. I'll comb it and then I'll braid it. That ends up being about 20 braids on my head. So that is really time consuming. My boyfriend will go to bed and be like, "goodnight!" And I stay up and braid my hair and keep it moisturized and try not to get it wet because it changes the texture.
I do like my hair looking messy and wild, but to get it to look that specific messy and wild, you have to use certain products. In the morning I take it out and style. So when I take it out, it gives me a nice wave, versus if I come straight out of the shower, my hair is a much tighter curl and it looks much shorter. I just can't do as much with it, because it's not as malleable.
On her must-have hair products.
I use Shea Moisture. Their whole product line is great and also because they're sulfate-free, paraben-free, family-owed business. They are really great and offer very good moisture because my hair is really dry. I use coconut oil, I sometimes use shea butter. In a pinch, I'll use cocoa butter. But Shea Moisture because of their lack of chemical is my favorite brand to use. And conditioner.
On who helped develop her hairstyle.
I used to beg to have my hair straightened and [my mom] never let me do it. And she would always braid my hair. I would be sitting, and it would take four or five hours, as a little girl and sit [while] she watched soap operas or something and then do [my braids as she was watching]. And my aunts always did my hair. So I would say, my family, particularly my mom, for not making me feel that I had to straighten it. Much to my frustration, because it was very painful and was always a thing [where] I was crying and [it] took a long time. She embraced a natural style.
On style inspirations.
Solange plays around a lot with wigs and weaves, which I don't do as much, but I kind of would like to try. I really like her style in general. I feel like I pull inspiration in general from how I feel on a day. I feel that way with my clothing too and I build off of that and then my hair will come into the outfit, in a way. In terms of other women who wear their hair out, I've always loved Corinne Bailey Rae's hair, although that's not my texture. The singer Lianne La Havas [is] mixed too, and she wears her hair natural, and I often feel connected to her.
On her hair evolution.
Growing up, my aunts would always put in hair ties and bows and all kinds of stuff and I always hated it. Honestly, if I look back a year from now, you're always transforming and changing. I feel like every six months I learn my hair or my skin anew, and find a new thing that I like to do, and then I abandon it and move on. I think it also depends how I'm feeling in my space. There was a style I used to do every day in high school. I took a bandana, I tied it back, and my hair was out in the back. There's a lot of stuff like that where I can't venture into because I just associate it with a totally different version of who I am.
