As Tia Mowry said during the Defining Beauty 4U panel at Beautycon yesterday, “it’s about damn time” for hair brands to embrace and properly nourish diverse hair textures. The conversation between Mowry and Walmart’s VP of Retail Marketing, Maya Bowie, focused on Mowry’s new hair care line, 4U by Tia and the importance of health-first approaches to beauty.
The dialogue opened up with Mowry diving into how she prioritizes self-care as a mother and business woman. Instead of striving for perfection, she opts for introspection. “I had to look within and gain an awareness of what’s important and navigate towards that,” she explained.
But the journey to this confident place wasn’t always easy. Mowry shared, like many Black women and girls, she did not start out with a positive relationship to beauty and hair. The lack of positive representation and unrealistic beauty standards resulted in styling routines that ultimately left her locks damaged. But, thanks to the natural hair community on social media, she later felt encouraged to do the big chop.
Along her natural hair path, and upon receiving a harrowing endometriosis diagnosis, she also began to pay closer attention to how toxic the products marketed towards Black women can be. “I saw that there was this huge void and need for products out there that were really safe, clean and accessible,” Mowry explained of what catapulted her into launching 4U.
As for what’s next for Mowry? She aims to continue expanding her presence in the beauty and wellness field by championing representation that lasts beyond trends. Afterall, “I define for me what beauty is,” as she said in her closing remarks. “I am no longer having others define it for me.”