We're always in favour of brands that empower women all year round, not just during Women's Month, and Creme of Nature ticks that box. An American-born hair care brand that has been championing black hair care for more than 65 years, Creme of Nature brings its dedication to textured hair and celebrating African beauty to South Africa with actress Nomzamo Mbatha as its first brand ambassador. We chatted to Mbatha about the her own hair journey, the ambassadorship and what it means for South African women and black hair representation going forward.
How did the brand ambassadorship come about?
Creme of Nature has been on shelves for two years in South Africa but hasn't had an ambassador or a real full-on launch. They were looking for somebody who would be able to match what the brand is doing globally. They've just taken on Keke Palmer as chief brand officer, and what does that look like? What kind of woman is that? What kind of voice is that in society and the world? Obviously, the tagline being “Rooted in Radiance; My Roots, My Radiance”, they were looking for somebody who embodies that and apparently, I do.
It was a natural progression because I'm very familiar with the brand. In the beauty space, I'm constantly looking at who's doing what and what kind of products work for whatever purposes. The edge control has always been around, the leave-in conditioner has always been around, and I've always used those products anyway. To be able to now have that conversation of: “We're actually looking for somebody who's going to be an ambassador, we're not looking for somebody who's going to say that they are an expert in textured hair.
“We're looking for somebody who plays with their hair and is able to protect what's underneath, in whichever way she wears her hair, and somebody who also has a voice in the world around what it means to truly own your own identity,” — so it was just natural.
How do you hope your ambassadorship will shape the global conversation about natural hair care and black hair representation?
I can only hope that we understand that it's not about dismissing what our hair needs because sometimes we're just like, “I ain't got the time”. I can only hope that this relationship will help us shift to a narrative about having a much better relationship with our hair and not feeling like “it's too much to manage”, “I don't have the time” and “I don't understand this LCO or LOC, that’s for the natural hair girls”.
Whether your hair is relaxed, in locks, a weave or fully natural, you can take care of it, and it doesn't have to take you the whole day. You get into a routine and you're able to see how the products work and find what works for you. For me, I'm all about listening to your hair. I can only hope that this messaging will do that — build your relationship with your hair in a much healthier way, and it doesn’t have to be non-relaxed.
You can relax your hair because, even in relaxed form, there's a moisturising lotion, a heat protectant as well as an oil treatment. You’re able to protect your hair, even when you decide you don't want to — for minimum management, this is what I want.
Even in a natural state, you’re able to get into the intensive conditioning treatment, which softens your hair. You can have the mousse wrap, which is fabulous! How do I get to a place where I can be able to have a better relationship with my hair in whichever state that I choose to wear it in? Hopefully, this partnership does that and celebrates who we are, our roots and what it is that makes you radiant or feel radiant.
Why is hair such an important part of black culture and how has the relationship with your own hair evolved over the years?
I think historically, hair has always played a very pivotal role in how we identified and its attachment to beauty. If your hair was long past your shoulders, then you were considered beautiful!
A baby's born and it's like, “oh, do they have a full head of hair”? It's that thing that has always been attached to beauty and standards. When we were children, I'm pretty sure 90% of us, our hair did not belong to us, if not 99%. It belonged to our parents, our mothers or whichever female figure who raised us. They would decide, this is what you're going to do, and they would never ask you what you want. So, hair has always had this attachment to beauty and societal standards as well.
In my teens, I was like, OK, my hair belongs to me, but in my 20s I decided that this is my head, this is who I am. In 2019, when I had my first big chop, it was the first time I saw my face in a very long time. I was interested to see how far up it grows, what kind of gravity does it hold onto? What do I look like in different textured styles? That's why I've always been somebody who plays around with hair, because it’s my favourite accessory, it really is — probably will be for a very long time.
As an actress, how does your hair serve as a vehicle for enhancing your characters’ storytelling?
It tells the period of time that we live in and the story of the character. When I was shooting Coming to America, the lead hairstylist and makeup artist were like “we should do faux locks, the textured faux locks, because she's a hairdresser.” What does a hairdresser look or feel like in the world? Most hairdressers love to experiment with their hair, so she was like, “let's do long, chunky, textured faux locks” and I loved it because it gave a goddess kind of feel. Then you jump to the 1700s, 1800s with uNandi and she's got isicholo (traditional Zulu headdress). What did icholo look like back in the day, when you look at research and you look at history? But also you look at when she was still a young princess.
When you see pictures from the 1800s of what textured hair looked like and the gravity it held, they used cow fat in the hair to structure it and give it a shape. So for me, when it comes to playing characters on screen, you tell the story of the time. Sometimes it's about a period piece and it has to be informed by the hair as well as the costume.
If it's a modern thing, who is she in the world? What character is she? How is she relating to the world and how does she relate to herself?
You’re such a hair style chameleon. How has your hair journey influenced your confidence and self-expression? For me, hair can be a political statement depending on where I am, which carpet I'm walking on. What am I saying? I'm always speaking with my hair, especially when it's big or taking on a different shape. I love the architectural style that it gives.
Do I want to be elongated or do I want to feel grounded? I'm always thinking to myself, what are we feeling? What are we walking into the space feeling like? For me, hair has always been a message, whether it's to myself or to society. You look at me at the Met, that hair was specific. I said, this is what we're going to do because we are commanding a space. If you say that it's black tailoring, black is not only in America, black is all over the world, and what does it mean in Africa? To be able to represent almost the horns of a bull, so that’s the statement of it.
With uNandi (Shaka iLembe) this is a queen mother. What does a queen mother feel like? So let's take isicholo but let's make hair. So hair always speaks, and sometimes when I'm in my honey blonde I’m like “Beyoncé has entered now”, I'm feeling fun and cute. When I have my short pixie and in my natural state as well, I'm just allowing my hair to feel the gravity of the sun and wind. I hardly have days where hair is not an accessory in my life, so I have to be able to take care of it and make sure that I use the right products. I choose my hair stylists very carefully because I do not want anybody who does not care about what grows out of my scalp because they want to create what they want to create. Do you understand that you're pulling? How are you touching my hair? I'm very conscious about that because I want to always make sure that I take care of what grows out of my scalp.
What advice would you give to women who are struggling to love and embrace the power of their natural hair?
Let's start with little girls; I would say to mothers, just be careful of the language that you use around little girls when it comes to their hair. Make them feel confident that whatever's growing out of their scalp, it belongs to them and it's supposed to grow that way because it's either genetics or part of their own identity and who they are. The sooner they embrace it, the better relationship they'll have with their self-esteem .
That’s the seed where young girls grow up thinking, “I don't have good hair and what is good hair?” Because hair comes in different spectra when it comes to textured hair. I think it's important for us to be able to fix that language, especially with young kids, but also find a routine that works for you. What is the thing that helps you bond with your hair? You don't have to be happy with your hair all the time, but whatever's underneath, when you are away from the world, you still have to look in the mirror and love yourself in every single way.
If you have a negative relationship with your hair and it affects how you feel about yourself, then you're going to be in trouble. So we've got to be able to take care of what's underneath when we're taking out all the different fibres, textures and our wig is on the floor or on that random chair in the corner with the jeans and the jacket. When you're walking around, it's that self-acceptance. You can throw on any kind of wig or weaves or extensions, but if you do not have a healthy relationship with the radiance that's inside of you, it'll show.
What is one thing you will never do to your hair?
You will never see a tong in my hair — no! Hair tong and relaxer — forget it. I think I have trauma. Put it on the weave, there's a heat protection spray and all the oils that we use now, but not on the hair that grows out of my scalp. Keep it away.
What is your favourite Creme of Nature product or range and why?
It's the Dual-Action Leave-in Conditioner and the Argan Oil range. Do you know what I love about the Pure Honey range? The smell and the mousse. The smell, the mousse and the pudding wrap. I'm calling it a pudding wrap, but they call it a twisting wrap — it's really, really good!
What’s one myth about natural hair that you would like to debunk right now?
That it's not manageable; I think it has a bad rep. I think if we have the right routine and the right products to use in that routine, we could really see our hair become something.
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