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Taraji P. Henson has launched a new, natural haircare line that was created to address her own hair challenges.
The star actress developed the 18-product, TPH by Taraji brand, offered only at Target, primarily as a way to keep all hair types nourished while in protective styles, like braids, weaves, or under wigs, according to Stylecaster. The products, which are all under $15, are color coded in four categories – teal for cleansing and care, red for repair, purple for treatment stylers and yellow for scalp conditioners. They also feature fun names like the “Never Salty Scalp Scrub,” “Make it Rain Conditioner,” and “Serene Queen.”
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Henson told Allure that the lack of products to care for the scalp – and her own issues with her scalp when wearing weaves – is essentially why she started TPH.
“The first time I went to get the weave taken out, it smelled like mildew. I was so embarrassed. I was washing my hair, but wasn’t drying the weft,” Henson told Allure. “When you have a weave or an install, your hair is braided down, and then sometimes they sew a hair net down on top of that, and then they sew the hair tracks on top of that. My dilemma was how do I get to my scalp? How do I clean it? I didn’t ever want that mildew smell again.”
She found her answer in the line’s “Master Cleanse,” a product Henson concocted to treat her own scalp when she wears weaves.
“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),” Hensen added in an interview with PEOPLE magazine. “But you have to take care of it,” in particular your scalp. Henson’s brand offers four scalp products with applicators to apply directly to your scalp.
Henson told Allure she has loved doing hair her whole life and would probably be a cosmetologist if she hadn’t become an actress. While in college, Henson said she would do wet sets for her classmates as a side gig.
“I always loved and understood hair,” Henson told Allure. “Growing up, we took (it) very seriously. I was always in a salon every week getting a different hairstyle.”
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The haircare line can be purchased online now at Target, and in Target stores starting January 29.