Tracee Ellis Ross attends the Marie Claire's Image Makers Awards 2018 on January 11, 2018 in West Hollywood, California.
Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images
Tracee Ellis Ross is hoping to change our curl patterns for the better with her new haircare line.
The multi-hyphenate blessed fans with news about the line called Pattern on Monday (Sept. 3). Ross told WWD her vision for Pattern started on the set of fan-favorite series, Girlfriends in 2008. After realizing she was one of the few actresses in La La Land rocking her natural curls, she put together the idea for Pattern, which specializes in curly, coily and textured hair.
“I believe everyone should have access to their most beautiful selves in the bathroom,” she said. Just before announcing Pattern’s launch, Ross highlighted her hair journey on Instagram over the weekend, sharing how she came to terms with loving her curls.
“I can literally chronicle my journey of self-acceptance through my journey with my hair,” she captioned a gallery of hair pics from her youth. “Growing up, society told me there was a right way to wear my hair and a right way to look. Those ideals didn’t match what I saw in the mirror, so I tried to beat my curls into submission— putting body lotion in my hair, sleeping in rollers, blowouts, relaxers, texturizers, ponytails so tight they gave me a headache, and I even whipped out an iron (the kind you use for clothes) in an attempt to straighten it that way.”
After coming to terms with her hair, Ross says she’s ready to take on the beauty industry for women of color, especially those in the 3b to 4c category. “The culture of beauty has been so steeped in patriarchy, racism, and sexism for so long,” she said. “It’s not that those skin tones and hair types haven’t existed, but there hasn’t been a large space and understanding for it. That’s why it’s taken me so long to make these dreams happen.”
Ross explained on Instagram that Pattern “is for those of us who need more than a quarter size of product” and encouraged fans to share their journey with the hashtag, #RockYourPattern.
