I Tried Tracee Ellis Ross’s New Haircare Line—Here’s My Honest Review

I should start by telling you that my relationship with my hair
has always been a strained one. From weaves to the tightest buns I
could manage with just my two little human hands to many failed

wash-and-go attempts and more heat styling than I care to
admit, I’ve spent my entire life just trying to keep my hair under
control. It’s true that over the last few years, the social
narrative surrounding natural hair has taken on an
almost overwhelmingly positive tone, and while that’s helped me to
confront my utter miseducation about my natural-hair needs, it
hasn’t solved all my problems. My 4B
hair texture has been the source of more stress than just about
anything else in my life. I’ve found myself yanking on, fighting
against, and crying over my coils. What’s more? I know for a fact
I’m not alone.

All this to say, I (along with every other curly girl out there,
I’m sure) have tried just about every product under the sun that
promises “manageable,” “soft,” and “insert condescending adjective
here” hair—shampoos, conditioners, pre-poos, after-poos, serums,
milks, and a misguided mayonnaise-and–egg yolk mixture I read
about online that one time. So when I got wind that actor,
producer, and all-around badass Tracee Ellis Ross was
formulating a haircare line specifically for the
textured-haired goddesses among us, I knew it would be something
special. I’d idolized her since watching her play everyone’s BFF
Joan on Girlfriends with my mom in the ’90s, but since then, she’s
solidified herself as a bona fide icon who is at once impossibly
cool, unapologetically herself, and totally at peace with her big
ol’ mane. I mean, she’s goals.

Early on Saturday morning, after spending hours taking down
the box
braids I’d be wearing for most of the summer the night prior, I
buckled down for a comprehensive wash day to put the new system to
the ultimate test. Just in time for its launch at Ulta
stores across the U.S. and online, read on for my honest thoughts
on Pattern haircare.

I’m
not going to lie: It took me a couple of glasses of wine to find
the courage to share photos of my hair in its natural state here.
I’ve talked about the post-braids hair woes I sometimes face when
I’m fresh out of the protective style, and my hair was living in
struggle city. My strands were dull, brittle, and lifeless. Help
me, Auntie Tracee!

I
started by detangling my hair with a wide-toothed comb before
concentrating a quarter-size amount of the Hydration Shampoo into
my scalp. My first thought was how nice and fresh it smelled—a
characteristic you don’t always find in hair products formulated
for textured hair. The formula felt thick in my hand but lathered
and rinsed away with no issues. Next, I filled my entire palm with
the Heave Conditioner and worked it onto my head, paying extra
attention to my broken ends. Once my hair was sufficiently coated,
I used the Shower Brush to keep my hair detangled and
simultaneously spread the product more evenly throughout my mane.
Then, something amazing happened: When I pulled the sturdy brush
through my saturated hair, the strands bounced back into most
perfect little corkscrews. This might not seem like a big deal,
but considering the state my hair had been in just minutes prior,
it felt like cause for celebration. I then fastened my hair using
the Hair Clip, covered the whole setup in a plastic shower cap, and
went about the rest of my shower while my hair marinated a bit.

After
rinsing my hair free of all the conditioner I’d applied, I added a
generous heap of the Leave-In Conditioner, with three drops of the
Jojoba Oil Hair Serum mixed in. As I spread it through my hair
(which was still sopping wet), I could feel the products sealing in
moisture. I went in with the Shower Brush one more time (a step I
might skip in the future because I feel like it was a little too
much tension on my hair) before towel-drying.

After the full routine, my hair felt squeaky-clean but also
super soft and hydrated. I’ll admit that my hair was drier than it
normally is after having had it braided up for weeks, but the
Pattern products helped bring it back to life from this vulnerable
state. Pro tip: the Shower Brush is called that for a reason. It
might be best to only use it on wet hair that’s coated in
conditioner.