Gabrielle Union reacts to negative comments about her daughter’s hair: 'It’s not going to be picture perfect'
Gabrielle Union wants people to know that her 2-year-old daughter's hair is in good hands.
In an interview with MadameNoire, Union opened up about the criticisms she receives regarding her daughter Kaavia's hair. She admitted that she tries not to obsess over her kids's mane, but notes that just like regular kids, her hair is not done all the time.
"Kaav swims every day, so even when her hair is done in the morning, she swims," she admitted. "So it’s not going to be picture perfect or whatever people feel that means. I’m human. I see comments where they’re like, 'That child’s hair is never done.' And it is done, I just don’t chase her around making sure that we document her looking super, super done every single day. You’ll see her like that on occasion."
Union, who owns haircare line Flawless by Gabrielle Union, went on to say what she cares most about the health of her daughter's hair. She also said that when it comes to stepdaughter Zaya, she likes to do her own thing, but Union hopes to impart the importance of hair health to Zaya as well.
"She loves to color her hair," Union added. "I’m just really trying to teach her the importance of taking care of your hair. You want to dye it? Cool. But you got to take care of it. You’ve got to moisturize it. You’ve got to comb through it all. Every day! You’ve got to wrap it up. All of these things. It’s a challenge with the kids, but it’s also giving them the freedom to just exist without having to think about their hair all the time."
Union has been outspoken about her own struggles with having natural hair in Hollywood and revealed that she works with the same stylists no matter what set she goes to.
"They know my hair, they know what it takes to keep it healthy. They know what can cause damage quickly. So we create rituals in the hair and makeup trailer. Before work, we treat my hair. After work, we treat my hair. We do different steams every few days just to make sure it’s healthy and I survive a project. But I was able to do that the longer I’ve been in the union and the business by putting my stylists in my contract. So there can be no funny business," she said.
For those who not have the luxury of having hairstylists they're comfortable with on set, may have to resort to getting their hair done before work, which takes away from the stars's own time and resources. Union criticized the lack of Black stylists in the Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild, a union that represents makeup artists and hairstylists in the film industry.
"If you get to the gatekeepers, those people who want to keep Black folks and Black folks who know how to do textured hair out of the union who keep moving the goal post if you will, the union blames producers and productions. Productions blame the unions," she explained. "So, whoever it is, get out of the way. And even with the Black stylists that are in the union, they’re not always called for the jobs where they’re needed the most. They would rather hire whoever who claims they have the skillset to do anything, and they don’t. And cut to, you look nuts."
Read more from Yahoo Life:
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