Looking for a more cost-effective, environmentally conscious haircare brand? Tia Mowry has something for you.
The actress, entrepreneur, new WeightWatchers ambassador and IG dance video sensation has partnered with synthetic biotechnology and renewable chemical company Amyris, Inc. to release 4U by Tia, an affordable vegan, cruelty-free haircare brand geared toward curly hair types. According to a release furnished to theGrio, 4U by Tia is a “science-based” and “nature-made” collection formulated for hair types 2A – 4C.
Available to shop now online and in-store at Walmart, the brand includes eight different products, all formulated free of silicone, sulfates and parabens. Each product was also made using Hemisqualane 15 (Hemi15), a molecule that provides weightless nourishment, leaving hair healthy, bouncy and manageable.
This drop’s inaugural product range features moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, clarifying shampoo and conditioner, leave-in curl cream, curl-defining gel, curl refresher mist and multiuse hair oil. All retail for under $11.
In a People interview, the mother of two explained that 4U was borne of necessity. “It was important for me to simplify my haircare routine or just the routine in general when it comes to curly hair,” she said. “I have three different textures in this house. My daughter has a different hair texture than I do and so does my son.”
4U is also her attempt to answer the longstanding need for proper curly-hair products. From being ridiculed in school to being passed over for roles during her more than 20 years in the entertainment industry, Mowry has been through it all when it comes to her hair.
“I remember going to school and I was picked on when it came to my hair. I was told that I looked like Buckwheat … They would call my sister and I ‘Buckwheat twins,’ she recalled. “Even when I got into my twenties [20s] after ‘Sister, Sister,’ when I would audition, I wasn’t getting roles because costume director[s] said my hair was a distraction.”
Mowry said working with Amyris, which tested the products, has helped ensure that 4U is sustainable and good for the environment and wallets.
“Looking and feeling confident is extremely important, especially for our psyche, I’m a true believer in that, but I don’t believe that you should be breaking the bank,” she said.
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