After teasing fans with her natural curls throughout last year, Taraji P. Henson introduces her hair care line.
The "Empire" star has launched TPH by Taraji and it will be sold exclusively in Target stores this month, People magazine reported.
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Henson’s $5-$15 line features 18 products made for a wide range of hair types — from the sleekest locks to the loosest curls and the tightest coils. But the actress says her range is different from others in that it caters to the scalp, too.
“I created applicators that deliver the product to your scalp,” she told People. It’s not compromised on your fingertips or wasted on your hair.”
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Henson spent 10 years crafting the line, which began when she was “like a mad scientist” mixing products in her kitchen. The inspiration came from Henson’s life as a working star who wanted to keep her scalp in good shape while her natural hair was braided down and put in protective styles.
“Women think that just because you have your hair braided up under a weave or wig that you don’t have to [do anything else]. But you have to take care of it,” she said.
TPH by Taraji takes a scalp-first approach to hair and Henson follows suit. With her hair covered when she’s on set filming her scenes for the final season of “Empire,” her scalp is typically in need of some TLC at the end of the week.
“Sweat builds up from the braids and the wigs, so [every time I take the braids out] I want to make sure my hair is in the best possible condition before I braid it back down again,” she said. “So Sundays [are] like a spa day. I start with my scalp scrub, and sometimes I’ll use my Master Cleanse, too, so my hair is squeaky clean.”
Fans have been begging to learn about Henson’s hair care secrets throughout the last year — especially upon seeing the star’s uber-defined twist outs. But while she’s expressed adoration for her looks now, she has not always been a fan of her natural hair.
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“When I did ‘Baby Boy’, I had new growth and I was ashamed,” Henson previously told People of her natural hair growing in. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, my hair is terrible, don’t look at my new growth.’”
She cut off her chemically straightened hair not long after that and began embracing her natural texture. Now that her product is about to be in stores, Henson is celebrating her new business.
“It’s so close, but so far away. And the buildup of having the nerve to say, ‘I’m going to do this one day,’ then making it happen is just like…wow,” she told the magazine.”
Celebrities entering the natural hair space is nothing new, however.
Henson's foray into the business comes after fellow actress Tracee Ellis Ross introduced her product line, Pattern, last fall. Her collection focuses on curly and coily hair types ranging from 3B to 4C.
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