http://www.vogue.com/13469478/afropunk-2016-best-natural-blonde-curls-curly-hair-dj-eden-hagos/
Beauty
Meet the Afropunk DJ With the Best Natural Blonde Curls in the Business
August 26, 2016 5:29 pm by Mackenzie Wagoner
DJ Eden Hagos’s sets are recognizable for two things—her
buttery-smooth tracks and the golden halo of curls that floats above
her as the beats flow. The Los Angeles–based, Sudanese-born, San
Diego–bred aspiring producer has gained a sizable following for her
pioneering approach to music (she’s represented by the influential
label Soulection) and beauty—namely those airy, gravity-defying
bleached coils that celebrate the natural texture of her Habesha roots
while exploring a new shade that’s entirely her own.
For Hagos, beauty and music are inextricably tied together: In college
she earned a reputation for always having the best new tracks, making
mixtapes by request for friends to listen to while they piled in front
of the mirror together to get ready for parties. Since then, she’s
carved out a signature voice that has garnered attention from the
festival circuit to music critics and thousands of Instagram fans. On
the eve of her first Afropunk Fest performance, she sat down with
Vogue to talk dry-cutting, deep moisture, and how to gracefully bring
an East African past into an American future.
This is your first time playing Afropunk, but not your first time
attending. What do you like about the festival?
It’s a lot of culture, fashion, inspiration, and a lot of natural
hair. It’s very symbolic. It’s a big deal.
How long have you worn your hair natural?
I didn’t really learn to appreciate it until I got to college. Growing
up, my mother kept my and my sisters’ hair in braids. But my first
year of college at UC Santa Barbara, I stayed in an African-American
dormitory. Watching how much love and time other African-Americans in
the hall put into their hair—that’s when I learned to get into styling
and protecting my hair and appreciating that my texture was different.
East Africans tend to have curly hair.
What did you learn about your hair?
I watched online tutorials. I remember finding the DevaCurl founder’s
videos and there’s one conditioning method I use to this day: I comb
my hair in the shower and condition, then comb it forward and
condition again. That makes the curls pop and gives it a fluff. I
started to use the no ’poo method in Santa Barbara, which means
sulfate- and chemical-free products. DevaCurl was only available in
New York then. I used to mail order those products. Now I buy a lot of
things from the health store—vitamin E, essential oils, tea tree as an
astringent for my whole body. If I feel I have too much product or
buildup, I’ll do a lemon rinse to get rid of it and make my hair
lighter, too. Tea tree oil does the same thing but gives me a tingly,
cleaner sensation. I air-dry, which takes about 30 minutes. Then I
take the pick and do little clockwise circles [at the root] and pull
it up a little bit all the way around my head. Then I put my hands in
and do the fluff. For product, I break off a piece of aloe plant, take
the gel out, and I scrunch it on my hair. Add essential oils like
lavender and your hair looks, feels, and smells amazing all day.
How long have you been blonde?
I went blonde last September, and I just went yesterday to get a touch
up with Mona at Muze Salon. She does a really good job with curly
hair. My hair grows in different directions, you have to dry-cut to
see it. It’s 100 percent sculpting. Mona is Filipina but has a whole
roster of big-name curly heads coming to her. That’s dope and hard to
find. But going blonde changes the texture of your hair. That’s just
it. To protect my hair, I sleep in a pineapple—where you [gather your
hair] to the top of your head, put chopsticks in, and [it looks like]
a pineapple. In the morning you take out the chopsticks and it’s back
to being full. To deep-condition but keep the color, I take a
mashed-up avocado and put it in the blender until it’s really creamy.
I just put it at the back of my hair and wrap it in Saran Wrap. Then I
put an Egyptian clay mask on [my face] and finish it off with some
coconut oil, vitamin E, or jojoba oil.
<img class="picture-img-noscript"
src="
http://media.vogue.com/r/w_280/2016/08/25/02-eden-hagos-beauty.jpg"
alt="Eden Hagos" />
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src="
http://media.vogue.com/r/w_450/__picture_url__" alt="" />
Photo: Courtesy of Eden Hagos / _at_eden__hagos
Does everyone in your family wear their hair natural?
My sisters do now. I’ll call my sister and tell her about a product,
and now she’s teaching our younger sister how to do her hair. My
mother has a different hair texture. It’s curly but thicker and
denser. She wears her hair in braids. She always says, “You’ve got to
do something about this,” and calls me a wancher, which means “crazy.”
[Laughs] But I’m part of a new generation. I grew up in America. I
respect my elders and those that have fought for me. I respect the
struggle and I’ve seen my parents struggle—they both fought in the
war. But like most people who come to this country, the focus is not
on what happened, but to look forward. I’m trying [to open doors for
people]. The hair, to a certain extent is part of it, it’s a symbol.
What beauty direction do you take from your mother?
The dress that I’m wearing Sunday [for Afropunk] is from my mother’s
tribe. There are nine tribes in my country. My mother is part of the
Bilen tribe and they’re known for being the most beautiful. They wear
so much gold and a lot of red. My staple is always a good red
lipstick—I will wear that of course. [For the rest of my face] I’m
working on an Egyptian look based on Nefertiti—the actual statue. I
like her makeup—the gold and bronze [on her eyes]. So lots of eyes and
clean skin. If you have good clean skin and a nice smile, you’re good
to go.
What do you aim for in an onstage look?
Being on stage as a female, I want to carry myself in a respectful way
where I don’t over-sexualize myself. I grew up in a very traditional
home—a woman is not technically supposed to be in nightlife or work
closely with males. But in nightlife, you have to be very outspoken
and learn how to advocate for yourself. So that’s something I’m
starting to realize as things are progressing for me—what makes me
comfortable? [Sometimes you have to] forget the rules, forget what
your parents say or what your culture says—you can respect it but
still do what you love.
What can we expect from your Afropunk set?
That will be a lot of Afrobeats, African music, and surprising my East
African fans with East African tracks for them to dance to—a Sudanese
or an Eritrean track. I have this platform, I want to make sure that I
put on my country. I came to the United States when I was 4. I
remember everything. We had to make that journey, we had to pay a
smuggler, I remember crossing the Red Sea, I remember being on my
mom’s back, I remember hiding in a truck, I remember being sick and
hungry. Not everyone makes it—this is the reality.
I’m grateful—to have been able to go to college, to DJ, to get to
travel the world. What a blessing to be able to do what I love. That’s
crazy to me. I want to 100 percent do things properly and showcase my
country and open doors.
Received on Sat Aug 27 2016 - 09:47:07 EDT
