Ursula Stephen is a master of all trades. For this season of New York Fashion Week, the celebrity hairstylist was booked and busy thanks to versatile clients like TRESemmé and Zendaya. She also had time to engage in her co-hosting duties for BET Her’s The Hair Show and support her famous client Rihanna’s Fenty x Savage show. There’s also her longstanding relationship with Dove’s DermaCare line which caters to the current natural hair movement.
Setting up shop in her Brooklyn salon, Stephen is hard at work. Dove’s latest product Clean & Fresh Anti-Dandruff 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner ($5.49) is a hit with guests as they flip their hydrated tresses. Formulated with Pyrithione Zinc, Stephen tells VIBE Vixen it’s the perfect product for those searching for a solid solution to a dry scalp.
“When you think of dry scalp or shampoo for dry hair, they’re always very stripping, that’s why I’m very proud of Dove’s DermaCare line because when you think of Dove and their skin focus technology, they’re very natural,” she said. “The products include zinc which is great because it helps minimize dry and itchy scalp. And the shampoo really cleans, but the conditioner brings the PH balance back.”
Most of the guests who were treated to a salon day were natural, Stephen noted. As she consulted every guest, she shared how important the natural hair movement is and just how much myths lie beneath the surface.
Check out Stephen’s breakdown of what myths are Fenty facts and others we have to break (before they break your hair) below.
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Myth 1: Black Women Have Naturally Dry Hair
True!
What Ursula Says:
Our hair is naturally dry and the reason is because of the way it grows out. Our [hair] follicle compared to a straight-haired person’s is a lot tighter and smaller. It’s why our hair grows out curly. When you have a bigger hair follicle (like those with naturally straight hair), it grows out straight. It doesn’t have that type of issue because it grows out easier from the follicle. But as we continue in the natural hair movement, we want to have healthy hair. We have to concentrate on our scalp as much as our hair.
Myth 2: Coconut Oil Will Refresh Natural Hair
False! (But Lizzo’s “Coconut Oil” is good for the soul)
What Ursula Says:
I do feel like one of the more forgotten oils is jojoba oil and it’s actually better than coconut oil. Jojoba oil is better for us because of the molecular size of the oil, it’s very similar to our natural sebum. With it being so naturally close to what we produce, it plays well with our hair. A lot of people who hopped on the coconut oil wave are complaining about it and that’s because it has a lot of protein in it and our hair already has a lot of protein so it causes breakage.
If you’re a natural girl and your hair is all strong and you put in coconut oil in your shit, it’s gonna break. You have to be conscious and knowledgeable about your hair type and be reasonable about the expectations. If you have strong hair, you can’t tell everyone about how coconut oil is bad, it was just bad for you because you used too much.
Myth 3: Your Hair’s Curl Pattern Is More Important Than Your Scalp’s Health
False!
What Ursula Says:
Girls are so concerned about figuring out their curl, pattern but they haven’t been focused on their scalp. That’s a bad thing for black women because at the end of the day, our hair is naturally dry, and the reason why our hair is naturally dry is because of the way it grows out.
I get frustrated because people ask me, “What’s the next hair trend?” or “What do you do to make your hair grow?” It’s the same shit. It’s hydration, moisture and trimming your hair. Those are the things that make your hair flourish, period.
Myth 4: Dove’s DermaCare Is Perfect For Natural Hair
True!
What Ursula Says:
For a long time, girls have asked me to recommend them a dandruff shampoo and I really felt stumped because everything I could think of would be so harsh. When you think of dry scalp or shampoo for dry hair, they’re always very stripping. That’s why I’m very proud of Dove’s DermaCare line because when you think of Dove and their skin focus technology, they’re very natural. The products include zinc which is great because it helps minimize dry and itchy scalp. And the shampoo really cleans, but the conditioner brings the PH balance back.
Myth 5: Rihanna’s Iconic Black Short-Do Is One Of Ursula’s Top 5 Style Moments
False!
What Ursula Says:
Rihanna’s Elle Magazine cover from 2012 with the blonde hair is one of my all-time favorites. Everyone knows she changes her hair so much but that was one hairstyle I really wanted her to keep for one more week.
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Next is Laverne Cox. I recently styled her for the premiere for the Orange Is the New Black. That was iconic because I worked with a lot but not so much since she lives in LA now. But when she comes to New York, I’m always one of the people she books so I knew whatever we were going to do, it was going to be it.
She likes to have fun and she trusts me so when she gave me the reference, I was on it. I was very happy with how it came out and everybody loved it. It was actually a Beyonce reference, B-Day. And everyone caught it, and she showed me that album cover and a photo from the ’60s.
So I combined it and made it my own but I’m happy people connected it to Beyonce cause it says that you nailed it.
I like Rihanna’s short black hair I did for the Teen Choice Awards. That’s one of my favorites from the short black hair era. It was just really disheveled and second-day hair. We washed it and did everything before and then the next day, it was just so perfect.
There’s also Zendaya for Met Ball when she had the bowl cut. I wasn’t actually booked for her that day. I spoke to my agent the night before and shared how funny it was that I didn’t have anyone for Met Ball that year and the next day I was running around Brooklyn and her stylist texted me saying, “Where are you at?” and I replied saying, “Where do you need to be?” and he said, “I need to come up here because we have got to do this look. It didn’t work out.”
I shot up there in sweatpants. I looked nuts and went in there and just killed her hair. We ended up working together consistently after that.
Myth 6: Hair Stylists Should Learn From Their Peers
True!
What Ursula Says:
I like when I get inspired by other hairstylists. I didn’t do this, but I think Beyonce’s hair for The Lion King premiere was iconic. It was braids that looked like finger waves that curled in pieces.
I thought that was amazing. It was genius, it really inspired me. When work like that sticks out to me because it makes me do something. That made me want to do some hair. I like when I get inspired by other hairstylists, because I’m very competitive, like, “Oh, you curled it like that? Okay, but watch this.”
It’s innocent. I like when other hairstylists, especially those on my level, inspire me. Sometimes you get in a rut and get tired and it’s like, “Okay girl, get to work, shit is still happening.”
Learn more about Dove’s DermaCare line here.