Issa Rae’s Go-to Haircare Brand Sienna Naturals Wants to Help You Embrace Your Natural Hair

Hold onto your scrunchies: Issa Rae, the queen of comedy and empowerment, is now in the natural hair care game. Rae reportedly joined Sienna Naturals founder Hannah Diop as a co-owner of the brand in 2020, and is now the face of the brand. Rae and Diop — who are sister-in-laws as well as business partners —are prioritizing hair and scalp health, ensuring that what you put on your hair is safe for your body and mind.

At the heart of her partnership with Sienna Naturals lies Rae’s own hair journey. Her personal struggles and triumphs with her natural hair led her to embark on a quest for products that not only cater to textured hair but also celebrate its beauty in its rawest form. “I would describe my natural hair journey as rough, resilient, and real,” Rae shares with Teen Vogue. From her decision to chop off her hair as a symbolic commitment to herself and the launch of Awkward Black Girl to the disastrous outcome of a perm gone wrong, Rae’s journey encapsulates the highs and lows many of us face when embracing our natural hair.

For Rae, her hair journey “was also a health journey at times,” she said, referencing how she started paying more attention to what she puts in and on her body.

“It’s insane that our beauty is often at the expense of our health,” Rae says, urging us to be intentional with the products we choose. Reports surfaced in recent years that many Black hair care products contain cancer-causing chemicals. In April, the FDA is set to introduce a proposal to ban formaldehyde in hair straightening products, though many have wondered why the agency didn’t take action sooner. While hair straighteners made headlines, ABC News reports that many products geared toward Black women contain ingredients that could cause negative health effects.

According to Rae, “the brand’s intention is hair and scalp health. Because over time there have been so many hair products that black women have relied on as old faithful– that in hindsight aren’t good for us at all, sometimes even kill us. So we were sure to make Sienna Naturals about being intentional with what we put onto our scalp that seeps into our brains and bodies. I encourage the youth to pay attention to ingredients in their products. Take care of your natural hair. I went through the tough times so that you don’t have to!”