- The Edit
- Beauty Tips & Inspiration
- The One: ESPA Pink Hair and Scalp Mud
I’ve been a beauty journalist for 20 years, but I’ve been a beauty obsessive as far back as I can remember. I would watch MGM musicals and be blown away by all the colours, with makeup always representing glamour and a playground of fun.
However when it came to experimenting with my hair, it was a totally different story. I’m half Nigerian and half Trinidadian and I grew up hating my thick, coily hair which has the texture of cashmere.
Sick of my dealing with my screams and the fine tooth combs which would regularly break off in my hair, my mother began chemically straightening my curls at 8 years of age. However, she simply didn’t understand how to nourish and care for it. So, for the next few decades I spent thousands of pounds straightening my hair and cursing my misfortune. It took me until I was 37 years old to finally get rid of the negative noise in my head and learn to love and lean into my 4c coily hair.
“I totally associated my hair with pain, which is why the pink hair and scalp mud was such a game changer for me”
Ateh Jewel,-Journalist and author of Coils & Curls
One of the reasons I grew up hating my hair was that I never saw images of anyone with my hair texture who was powerful, glamorous or aspirational. It wasn’t until I became a mother that I learnt to love my hair in order to help my twin daughters with their own self esteem. The first step to embracing my coils was using nourishing, healing products like Espa’s Pink Hair and Scalp Mud, £34 which is an intensive, mineral-rich mask with scalp-soothing red clay, vitamin C rich watercress and conditioning apricot oil which can be left on for 20 minutes or overnight for soft, juicy coils.
Growing up, products for my hair were cheap and full of petrochemicals, dyes and ingredients, which made my scalp itch. I totally associated my hair with pain, which is why the Pink Hair and Scalp Mud was such a game changer for me. Instead of itchiness, my scalp was soothed and my coils hydrated and full – the thick, cooling mud is great at detangling and softening my hair. As a result, my hair-wash days are now a positive ritual instead of something to dread. I love to slather on the mask while lying in a warm bath, wearing a shower cap so the mud can penetrate deeper while I soak.
My hair has now become an enjoyable and vital part of my beauty regime and as I’ve learned, loving and investing in your textured hair is absolutely key to embracing your identity and loving yourself.
I’ve been a beauty journalist for 20 years, but I’ve been a beauty obsessive as far back as I can remember. I would watch MGM musicals and be blown away by all the colours, with makeup always representing glamour and a playground of fun.
However when it came to experimenting with my hair, it was a totally different story. I’m half Nigerian and half Trinidadian and I grew up hating my thick, coily hair which has the texture of cashmere.
Sick of my dealing with my screams and the fine tooth combs which would regularly break off in my hair, my mother began chemically straightening my curls at 8 years of age. However, she simply didn’t understand how to nourish and care for it. So, for the next few decades I spent thousands of pounds straightening my hair and cursing my misfortune. It took me until I was 37 years old to finally get rid of the negative noise in my head and learn to love and lean into my 4c coily hair.
“I totally associated my hair with pain, which is why the pink hair and scalp mud was such a game changer for me”
Ateh Jewel,-Journalist and author of Coils & Curls
One of the reasons I grew up hating my hair was that I never saw images of anyone with my hair texture who was powerful, glamorous or aspirational. It wasn’t until I became a mother that I learnt to love my hair in order to help my twin daughters with their own self esteem. The first step to embracing my coils was using nourishing, healing products like Espa’s Pink Hair and Scalp Mud, £34 which is an intensive, mineral-rich mask with scalp-soothing red clay, vitamin C rich watercress and conditioning apricot oil which can be left on for 20 minutes or overnight for soft, juicy coils.
Growing up, products for my hair were cheap and full of petrochemicals, dyes and ingredients, which made my scalp itch. I totally associated my hair with pain, which is why the Pink Hair and Scalp Mud was such a game changer for me. Instead of itchiness, my scalp was soothed and my coils hydrated and full – the thick, cooling mud is great at detangling and softening my hair. As a result, my hair-wash days are now a positive ritual instead of something to dread. I love to slather on the mask while lying in a warm bath, wearing a shower cap so the mud can penetrate deeper while I soak.
My hair has now become an enjoyable and vital part of my beauty regime and as I’ve learned, loving and investing in your textured hair is absolutely key to embracing your identity and loving yourself.
