Beauty
The actor opens up about beauty standards, memorable hairstyles, and more.
Gabrielle Union has come a long way from dunking her hair in peroxide.
(Yes, that was her go-to DIY dye-job in her teens.)
I used to associate length with beauty, she candidly shares with me via Zoom.
And if you didnt have the length or look like Halle Berry, it was over for you.
I clung to any kind of extension or long style so that feel my best.
It felt like that was the only way I could feel attractive.
Im one of those people that gets frustrated with a curl, Union says.
I’ve just been a guinea pig on my own head.
The actor hopes her hair care lineFlawlesswill help those with afro-textured hair along their own journeys.
But back when it first launched in 2017, the brand wasnt what she had hoped it would be.
The original incarnation was not a F.U.B.U.
[for us, by us] operation, Union says.
I was more of a figurehead and wasnt able involved as I wanted to be.
I didnt have the final say on anything.
Union was frustrated, and to her, the brand didnt feel authentic.
Our company didnt look like the consumer at all, she tells me.
When that deal expired, I took the reins to reclaim the company and do it my way.
Union turned to a trusted member of her glam squad to make Flawless what it needed to be.
We want to make [Flawless] even more accessible and create more products, she tells me passionately.
The star is inspired by her on-going journey reforming her relationship with her hair.
And it turns out, herself.
It was spiritual, Union says of her big chop in July.
Cutting off some of that dead weight allowed more space for more to come in and grow.
After the cut, Unions hair grew faster than ever.
By September, I could put it in a ponytail, she says.
But she wasnt attached to her new inches.
I been fly, she tells me with a matter-of-fact smile.
I was definitely feeling myself.
Sleek Ponytail, 2017
One of my favorite looks of all time.
I love a snatched-back power pony.
For my first and only time being invited to the Emmy’s, I wanted to give snatched drama.
Razor Cut Bob, 2018
I love a short bob.
It felt cool and fresh and unlike anything I’ve done recently.
I felt like a rockstar.
This article was originally published onDec.
