00:00I'm Jasmine Brown.
00:01I'm a YouTube creator and a social media influencer.
00:05I'm biracial, my dad is African American, my mom is Mexican, and both of them gave me
00:10this big head of curly hair, which is a huge part of my identity.
00:15Beyond style, hair has a lot of history and cultural relevance, especially within the
00:21African American community.
00:23So today, I'm going to travel around LA exploring my hair further to show that beauty is more
00:29than skin deep.
00:32Before heading out, I thought it would be a good idea to start at the very beginning.
00:37So I decided to give my mom a call.
00:40Growing up, she was always the one doing my hair.
00:43Hey mom.
00:43Hey Jess.
00:44Whatcha doing?
00:46I just got up.
00:47South California.
00:48It's good.
00:49So what are you doing?
00:50Um, I'm actually going around LA today, I'm getting my hair done, I'm getting box braids.
00:55Oh, that's cool.
00:56Yes.
00:57Can't wait to see them.
00:58Yeah.
00:58I'll send you pictures.
00:59Do you remember when you used to braid my hair?
01:01Like the halfway braids, like every week?
01:04That was really cool.
01:06At least to me that was.
01:07I always had you do the little two ponytails flipped under and it looked like little dog
01:11ears.
01:12And I was like, oh, can I do the puppy ears today?
01:15I can't remember those.
01:17Well, I think that's how your hair got so long because I used to always keep your hair
01:20in braids.
01:21Um, yeah, my, my eyes, I were like always, it's like I had a facelift when I was a kid.
01:26It used to hurt you doing my hair cause I was so tender headed.
01:30But the more you did it, the less it started hurting.
01:32I had Tylenol for you.
01:34How did you learn how to do my hair since your hair straight?
01:37When I had you, you actually had straight hair when you were first born.
01:41And then as the older you got, your hair got curlier and it got fuller because you're biracial.
01:48You know, I can't use the same products on my hair that I use on yours.
01:52So half of my friends were mainly black.
01:55So I used to always work with their hair and stuff.
01:58So they used to always teach me about, you know, how they would grease their hair, their
02:02scalp and products that they would use.
02:05So I was experimenting until I actually came up with the right texture would work for you.
02:12Sometimes didn't work for your brothers, even though all of you guys are all mixed.
02:18Your hair textures, they're all different.
02:20Mine's straight.
02:21I hardly ever put anything in my hair other than shampoo and conditioner.
02:25Imagine doing my hair now cause it's even bigger.
02:28No, I don't think I would mess with your hair now.
02:31It's too much.
02:32I learned cause of you.
02:34That's what moms are for.
02:35It's like mom and daughter bonding time when you do my hair.
02:39All right.
02:39Well, I'm about to head out.
02:40So I will call you later and I'll send you pictures.
02:43Okay.
02:44I can't wait to see him.
02:45All right.
02:46Love you.
02:46I love you too.
02:47Take care.
02:48Bye.
02:48Bye mama.
02:49The next stop of the day is Mahogany Hair Revolution, a natural hair care salon and trichology
02:55clinic in the heart of LA.
02:58I met up with Dr. Carrie Williams, the owner of Mahogany to learn more about protective hairstyles
03:03and get my hair braided by a pro.
03:06Hello.
03:07Hello.
03:07Hi, how are you?
03:08Welcome to Mahogany.
03:09I'm Dr. Carrie.
03:10Thank you for having me.
03:11You are so welcome.
03:12I'm very excited about giving your first set of box braids.
03:16Can't wait.
03:17So do you have any questions about the style and how you would like them done?
03:21I've seen the little triangle parted ones and I really, really like those.
03:24I think those are cute.
03:25You have so much beautiful hair.
03:28So I'm very excited.
03:29So what I'm going to do first is I'm going to create sections in your hair.
03:31Uh huh.
03:31Have you gotten your hair braided before in any type of style?
03:34I've had like French braids, cornrows, all of that.
03:37Okay.
03:37I've never had box braids before.
03:39Like individual box braids.
03:40Individuals, nope.
03:41I've twisted all of my hair before.
03:43Uh huh.
03:43But this is truly a first for you.
03:45Uh huh.
03:46First time.
03:46I highly recommend protective styling and it's easy for you to maintain your hair as
03:50well.
03:51So protective styles are great for giving your hair a break and preventing damage and breakage.
03:57Often times women have concerns about length retention and keeping the hair healthy.
04:03So when your hair is in a protective style, you're truly protecting your hair from damage,
04:08from the daily elements.
04:09Hair is just one less thing you have to worry about.
04:11With protective styles, you can literally just get up and go.
04:14So first what I'm doing is I'm incorporating three strands of hair to create your three-strand
04:20braid.
04:23And I incorporate it invisibly so that I'm not wrapping the hair around your hair.
04:28Which typically when you see some braids, it has that knot.
04:32Uh huh.
04:32And I've gotten away from that particular technique because it causes damage to the hair and the
04:37hairline because it adds weight.
04:41So this invisible technique that I utilize helps to keep your hair healthy so that as
04:45your hair grows out, it'll grow out naturally.
04:49You braid quick.
04:51You got some fast fingers.
04:53This is how we're going to get you done so quickly.
04:55How long do they stay in?
04:56You can wear the braids eight to ten weeks.
04:59But I typically recommend if you're going to go that long that you get a touch-up.
05:02And a touch-up typically includes getting the hairline re-braided.
05:06Uh huh.
05:07And that's the area of your hair that you're manipulating the most.
05:10Uh huh.
05:10That you're pulling back and pulling up.
05:12And so it can still, even with my invisible method, you can still experience some stress,
05:16tension, and weight, especially as the braids grow out.
05:19The art of braiding started, of course, on the continent of Africa.
05:24So within a number of different clans and tribes, hair actually would signify a number of things.
05:30You could look at someone and tell by their hair what tribe they were from.
05:35Oh.
05:35Their status in society.
05:37Whether they were single, married.
05:41And then also widows were instructed not to comb their hair during the time of grieving and mourning
05:46because they weren't supposed to be attractive to other men.
05:49Wow.
05:50And then the art and the tradition of braiding actually was a way to pass down oral history.
05:54So the elders in the community would take their time to braid the young girl's hair as I'm doing with
06:00you.
06:00And they would talk about the history and the culture.
06:03And then they would have the teenage girls watch and learn the art and the technique of braiding.
06:08And then ultimately, those girls would eventually braid the younger girls within their community,
06:13within their society, so that that history and that cultural tradition would continue to be passed down.
06:18So this transition to embracing our curly hair, to wearing it naturally,
06:23it's not just trendy, it's not just a movement, it's literally life.
06:27Life.
06:28And black women are reclaiming their life.
06:30Yes.
06:31Life.
06:33Life.
06:33Hello.
06:34Hi.
06:35Look.
06:36Hey.
06:37Hi.
06:38Look, we're on the last braid.
06:41Oh, it's looking so good.
06:44She's, she's so quick.
06:46You look good in those jets.
06:49Oh, thanks mom.
06:49She does so good.
06:51Like the best person ever.
06:52She braids so fast.
06:53Her hands are moving like this.
06:56Can you want that to look at her?
06:58Sure.
06:59Hey babe, you want to see them?
07:00Uh.
07:01Look at your daughter's hair.
07:04Whoa.
07:05Whoa.
07:07Looks long.
07:08Yep.
07:09She's on the last braid.
07:10Like that.
07:11They look so good.
07:12Yeah, it does.
07:14It looks very good.
07:15I think we both want our hair like that.
07:17I think I'm going to make my hair grow out too.
07:19Both of y'all want to get these braids?
07:21Yeah.
07:22Thank you so much Dr. Carrie for that.
07:24She looks wonderful.
07:25You're so welcome.
07:29So the final step in this process is something called dipping the braids.
07:34So dipping the braids, if you notice the ends are kind of frizzy.
07:37I'm leaving them this way.
07:39The braids could technically unravel.
07:41So we want to give it a more finished look and more importantly we want to seal the braid.
07:45And the way that we do that is with boiling water.
07:48Okay, so now remember this is a synthetic fiber so it's not going to burn your hair.
07:52It's going to smooth the ends.
07:53So I'm going to demonstrate and you'll see.
07:59Oh wow.
08:00It changed the whole thing.
08:02So now your braids are nice, smooth and silky and more importantly they're sealed.
08:07Uh huh.
08:10It's so smooth and soft.
08:12Yes.
08:13Ooh.
08:14I like that.
08:15So you ready to do some decorations?
08:17Yes.
08:17I like to say, as I borrow from Kanye West,
08:20send a black person's soul to rock that gold.
08:23It's no coincidence that we love to put this type of jewelry in our hair to remind us of
08:30who we are and who our ancestors are.
08:34It's no mistake that when your hair is braided you start to feel like a queen or we acknowledge
08:39one another as kings and queens because truly that's what these braids represent.
08:44So when it comes to hair jewelry you can get as creative as you like.
08:51Okay, so baby hairs are back in style.
08:55Now this is your official baby hair tool.
08:58Have you seen one before?
08:59Never.
08:59Isn't it amazing?
09:01I need one.
09:01I actually prefer to use the comb side first so that I can comb the product through.
09:08And I use that comb tip to direct the way the baby hair is going to go.
09:14In the event you cannot locate or find this very special tool for your baby hairs.
09:20You can always use a toothbrush.
09:23Unused.
09:24Very important detail.
09:26An unused.
09:27Toothbrush.
09:29Let's do the final.
09:30Let's take this off so you can really get a feel for your new do first time box braids.
09:40You are ready.
09:41I like them.
09:44Oh you did such a good job.
09:46They're amazing.
09:48They call me the braid wizard.
09:50Oh yeah.
09:52I'm happy to be a part of this process of enhancing your beauty with your first set
09:56of box braids.
09:57Yay!
09:59Thank you so much.
10:00I love them.
10:01You are so welcome.
10:01It's beautiful.
10:02I can't wait to see plenty old pictures.
10:05Plenty.
10:05I'm going to be taking selfies every day all day long now.
10:11It's been a long day exploring my hair out here in LA.
10:15I feel like I've dug deeper into a part of myself than I have before.
10:20The best part of today was not only learning more about my own identity, but realizing that
10:25I'm part of a much bigger conversation of loving your hair, no matter the texture or
10:31what other people may think.
10:43the best part of my hair when I'm looking into it.
10:44I can't do this much.
10:44I can't wait.
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