Tracee Ellis Ross is a bonafide hair icon (it's in her genes), but now the actress is getting into the haircare business. "This has been 20 years of dreaming and 10 years of actively trying to make this happen," she says of Pattern Beauty, her new haircare line for curly and coiled hair ranging from 3b to 4c. "Ten years ago, right after Girlfriends finished, I wrote my first haircare brand pitch. Originally the comment and response to me was, 'what was my credibility?' I 'needed to partner with a professional.' As I explained but was not listened to, for most of us curly girls, we are our best experts. We know our hair better than anyone else."
Shop Pattern Beauty
Hydration Shampoo
Pattern Beauty Hydration Shampoo, $9 for 3oz, $20 for 9.8 oz, patternbeauty.com. SHOP
Heavy Conditioner
Pattern Beauty Heavy Conditioner, $9 for 3oz, $25 for 13 oz, $42 for 29oz, patternbeauty.com. SHOP
Medium Conditioner
Pattern Beauty Medium Conditioner, $9 for 3oz, $25 for 13 oz, $42 for 29oz, patternbeauty.com. SHOP
Intensive Conditioner
Pattern Beauty Intensive Conditoner, $9 for 3oz, $25 for 13 oz, $42 for 29oz, patternbeauty.com. SHOP
Leave-in Conditioner
Pattern Beauty Leave-in Conditioner, $9 for 3oz, $25 for 9.8 oz, patternbeauty.com. SHOP
Argan Oil Hair Serum
Pattern Beauty Argan Oil Hair Serum, $25 for 3.9 oz, patternbeauty.com. SHOP
Jojoba Oil Hair Serum
Pattern Beauty Hydration Shampoo, $25 fr 3.9 oz, patternbeauty.com. SHOP
The Blackish star knows that women with curly and textured hair have often established their own specific and unique routine—created and perfect over time by cocktailing products together and following an exacting order of steps. "I had discovered that there was an absolute void in the market, and this was 10 years ago," she says. "The other piece was that the beauty industry at the time had not discovered the beauty and power of this community. And didn't understand how much it needed celebration."
Pattern Beauty includes one shampoo, three conditioners with varying slip (and in bigger bottles than the shampoo), a leave-in conditioner, two serums, a large strong-hold hair clip, shower brush, and microfiber towel. The products are meant to work in synergy with one another, but they can also fit into any existing haircare routine. "It's been a process, it's been a journey, and I am obsessed with the products," she says.
Ellis Ross showed beauty editors and her Instagram Live community her co-wash haircare routine during an event for Pattern Beauty. After saturating her hair with water, she takes "a load" of the medium conditioner and works it through her entire hair from root to tip. She then starts the "detangling, curl activation and clumping process" by sectioning hair into six sections, two at a time. Using the Shower Brush, she combs through each section starting with the bottom layers.
Once all the layers are combed, she re-wets her hair and adds more conditioner, squishes her curls, and then flips her head over so that "we get that separation and all those curls don't get clumped together and get locked." Once she flips her head back over, she plops her hair up with the Hair Clip and washes the rest of her body. Then, when her hair is still sopping wet, she switches to cold water and seals in that moisture and curl pattern with the leave-in conditioner. She then puts her hair back in the clip, dries off, then gently squeezes all the excess moisture out over the sink and reaches for her microfiber towel. It's then that she decides whether she's going to air-dry or diffuse her curls "depending on how much time I have and how late I'm running." "This is why I don't wear a lot of makeup guys," she adds. "Because the hair process take up my time. By the time I get out I'm like, we good! Slap on some Ruby Woo and keep moving."
Pattern will be available at patternbeauty.com on September 9, and then at Ulta Beauty in stores and online September 22.
Jenna Rosenstein is the Beauty Director at Harper's BAZAAR across both print and digital. While attending NYU, she held internships at Women’s Wear Daily, Bloomingdale’s, Harper’s BAZAAR, and Allure, the latter of which she parlayed into her first job as the Beauty Assistant. She left Allure three years later as the Senior Beauty Editor. She spent a few months at Refinery29 overseeing branded content in the same title, before finally landing back at BAZAAR to manage all beauty content. When she's not testing every lipstick known to mankind, getting zapped by new lasers, or interviewing experts and celebrities, you can find Rosenstein at home in New Jersey with her son, husband, and black cat named Maddie.
