Urban Bush Babes Celebrate Diversity in Beauty, Hair, and Style
Cipriana and TK Quann, twin sisters and natural hair advocates. (Photo: Diego Villarreal)
Before she became a trendsetting style maven and a champion for natural hair and individuality with her popular site Urban Bush Babes, Cipriana Quann was a model. Scouted on the street as a teen, Quann worked for almost a decade in the industry. The downside to modeling, however, was a constant focus on her hair. “With the clients and brands I was working with, it was always an issue about my hair and whether it needed to be straightened because they thought it was more relatable to mainstream media,” Quann tells Yahoo Beauty. “My hair has a natural kinky texture, but in their eyes, they thought it wasn’t more beautiful. They thought [my hair] was too untamed or wild.”
The idea that she had to always change her look in order to get work, began to wear on Quann. “I was very, very conscious of it,” she says. “People telling me that I wasn’t beautiful enough, because my hair texture wasn’t beautiful in their eyes, was kind of affecting my whole psyche.” Meanwhile, her twin sister TK Quann—known as the electro-pop singer TK Wonder—was having a very different experience in the music scene. “A lot of artists have unique looks about them, so, I felt that my hair was always respected within the music community. Hair is almost an accessory,” she said.
Model Cipriana and singer TK Quann. (Photo: Diego Villarreal)
When Quann decided to leave the modeling world, a positive internal shift happened. “When being constantly judged wasn’t a daily part of my life anymore, that’s when everything started to free up for me with my style and hair,” says Quann. “I noticed that the more I fell in love with my hair I became even more liberated with how I was wearing clothes. The more confident I became, the bigger my hair became. So, I always say that my hair was a physical manifestation of my journey and my confidence.”
That journey inspired Quann and her close friend Nikisha Brunson to launch the style site Urban Bush Babes. “We knew that we wanted to build the site around showing women of color in a different light, versus what we see in mainstream media,” says Quann. “We wanted to create this platform where we could show women of color living under their freedom of just loving themselves and however they wanted to wear their hair or their style. To show women not being afraid to color outside of the lines, not being afraid of being judged by others.” Brunson likes the idea of breaking out of the mold. “We wanted to show diversity, and not being stereotyped,” she says. “To share the experience or journey of how to be yourself. It’s a holistic living approach, about being honest and being transparent.”
Cipriana Quann, co-founder of Urban Bush Babes. (Photo: Diego Villarreal)
All three women have experienced their own journeys with acceptance, confidence, and empowerment around their individual style and hair, which they have shared on the site. Although TK Quann’s look was always considered cool in the music business, she was often surprised by other people’s responses to her look. “When I wore my hair in an afro, I received a lot of backlash from strangers making rude comments,” she says. “I’ve always been a confident person so it never bothered me what other people thought about my hair, as long as I was comfortable with it. But I found the longer that my hair became, the more accepting it became to other people’s eyes. I think sometimes afros carry a certain stigma with them.”
Cipriana Quann was a model for many years before she launched the website. (Photo: Diego Villarreal)
For her sister Cipriana, being comfortable with her hair was also about understanding how to take care of it—and that wasn’t information that she found easily. “I wasn’t a fan of my texture when I was younger because I just didn’t understand it,” she says. “There weren’t a lot of women of color with afro textured hair that were being shown in mainstream media.”
For Brunson, the road to self-acceptance in terms of her look and style took a long time. “I was bullied really badly in junior high and some of high school, so I did everything to fit in, like straightening my hair and wearing the clothes that were popular,” she says. “It wasn’t until my mid to late twenties when I felt fully comfortable and confident.”
Nikisha Brunson, co-founder of Urban Bush Babes. (Photo: Urban Bush Babes)
The women have put all of their experiences and perspectives into the site. Urban Bush Babes highlights their personal stories and covers everything from natural hair styling tips and beauty advice to art, culture, music, health and food. When it launched in 2011, it was an instant success. “We were really blessed, we went viral really fast,” says Brunson. “It’s been tremendously positive and only continues to grow and evolve over time.”
Four years later, it’s clear the trio were at the forefront of a beauty movement. With companies like Dove, Clean & Clear, Always, and CoverGirl championing women and diversity, there is a noticeable shift in how mainstream advertising and media is now celebrating individuality in terms of beauty. The concept of what is beautiful is changing and expanding to include a range of cultures, races, styles, and looks. “I feel like companies are recognizing that being unique and having individuality is something that’s great—and it’s marketable,” says TK Quann. “Natural hair texture in the black community—especially in the modeling world—wasn’t considered attractive or commercially appealing a few years ago, but now it’s being embraced. People are recognizing that being individual is something that’s beautiful and it’s a wonderful thing.”
Cipriana and TK Quann, twin sisters and natural hair advocates. (Photo: Diego Villarreal)
Not only are the twins noticing a shift, they are a part of it. They have been featured in ads for the Gap and Pantene, and been spotlighted in Vogue, Refinery29,and The Huffington Post. In addition to the site, the Quann sisters are branching out to launch their own YouTube channel called The Quann Element, featuring style videos around fashion, arts, and culture. “I do think that we are achieving what we had set out for,” says Cipriana Quann. “We’ve created a very positive community.”
Related:
The Problem With Natural Hair On TV
