- 6 minutes ago
Social media influencer Jasmine Brown explores the social significance of her hair.
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00:00I'm Jasmine Brown. I'm a YouTube creator and a social media influencer.
00:05I'm biracial, my dad is African American, my mom is Mexican,
00:09and both of them gave me this big head of curly hair, which is a huge part of my identity.
00:16Beyond style, hair has a lot of history and cultural relevance,
00:20especially within the African American community.
00:23So today, I'm going to travel around LA exploring my hair further
00:27to show that beauty is more than 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.
00:44What you doing?
00:46I just got up.
00:47South California.
00:48It's good.
00:49So what are you doing?
00:50I'm actually going around LA today.
00:52I'm getting my hair done.
00:54I'm getting box braids.
00:55Well, that's cool.
00:56Yes.
00:57Can't wait to see them.
00:58Yeah, I'll send you pictures.
00:59Do you remember when you used to braid my hair, like 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 ears.
01:12And I was like, oh, can I do the puppy ears today?
01:15I remember those.
01:17Well, I think that's how your hair got so long because I used to always keep your hair in braids.
01:21Yeah, my eyes were like always, it's like I had a facelift when I was a kid.
01:26It used to hurt you doing my hair because I was so tenderheaded.
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 is 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 scalp and products
02:04that they would use.
02:05So I was experimenting until I actually came up with the right texture.
02:11What worked for you sometimes didn't work for your brothers.
02:15Even though all of you guys are all mixed, your 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 because 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 because 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 them.
02:45All right.
02:46Love you.
02:46I love you too.
02:47Take care.
02:47Bye.
02:48Bye, mama.
02:50The next stop of the day is Mahogany Hair Revolution, a natural hair care salon and trichology clinic in the
02:56heart of L.A.
02:58I met up with Dr. Keri Williams, the owner of Mahogany, to learn more about protective hairstyles and get my
03:04hair braided by a pro.
03:06Hello.
03:07Hello.
03:07Hi.
03:08How are you?
03:08Good for you.
03:08Welcome to Mahogany.
03:09I'm Dr. Keri.
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.
03:31Have you gotten your hair braided before in any type of style?
03:34I've had like French braids, cornrows, all of that.
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.
03:43Mm-hmm.
03:43So this is truly a first for you.
03:45Uh-huh.
03:46First time.
03:47I highly recommend protective styling and it's easy for you to maintain your hair as well.
03:51So protective styles are great for giving your hair a break and preventing damage and breakage.
03:56Oftentimes, 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,
04:07from 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.
04:32Mm-hmm.
04:33And 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.
04:50You braid quick.
04:51You got them 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, but I typically recommend if you're going to
05:01go that long that you get a touch-up.
05:02And a touch-up typically includes getting the hairline, re-braided, and that's the area
05:08of your hair that you're manipulating the most, that 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.
05:20The 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
05:30of things.
05:31You could look at someone and tell by their hair what tribe they were from, their status
05:36in society, whether they were single, married.
05:40And then also, widows were instructed not to comb their hair during the time of grieving
05:46and mourning because 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 girls' hair,
05:59as I'm doing with you, and they would talk about the history and the culture, and then
06:03they would have the teenage girls watch and learn the art and the technique of braiding.
06:07And 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
06:16passed down.
06:18So this transition to embracing our curly hair, to wearing it naturally, it's not just
06:24trendy, it's not just a movement, it's literally life.
06:28Life.
06:28And black women are reclaiming their life.
06:30Yes.
06:31Life.
06:33Life.
06:34детia.isiяс.
06:34Hi. Look
06:36- We're
06:39on the
06:39last braid. She's- she's
06:44so quick. And thank you. Thanks,
06:49mom. She does
06:50so good, like
06:51the best person ever. She braids so fast,
06:53her hands are moving like this. Sure.
06:58Hey, babe, you want to see them?
07:00Uh, look at your daughter's hair.
07:04Whoa.
07:05Whoa.
07:06This guy looks long.
07:08Yep.
07:09He's on the last braid.
07:10He looks like that.
07:11They look so good.
07:13Yeah, it does.
07:14It looks very good.
07:15I think we both want our hair like that.
07:17I think I'm gonna make my hair grow out, too.
07:19Both of y'all want to get these braids?
07:21Yes.
07:22Thank you so much, Dr. Carey, 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.
07:43And more importantly, we want to seal the braid.
07:45And the way that we do that is with boiling water.
07:48Okay?
07:48Now 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 gonna demonstrate, and you'll see.
07:59Oh, wow.
08:00It changed the whole thing.
08:01Mm-hmm.
08:02So now your braids are nice, smooth, and silky.
08:06And 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, it's in 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.
09:00Isn'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 and
09:08I 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, you can
09:20always use a toothbrush.
09:23Unused.
09:24Very important detail.
09:26An unused toothbrush.
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.
09:39You are ready.
09:41I like them.
09:44Oh, you did such a good job.
09:47They're amazing.
09:49They 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 of 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 what other
10:31people may think.