Here’s How Ciara’s Hairstylist Defied Tropical Humidity For Her Sports Illustrated Cover

Ciara has officially made her Sports Illustrated debut on the cover of the publication’s highly anticipated Swimsuit issue. To no one’s surprise, the singer looks absolutely incredible in the photos that were released earlier this week. Posing on the beaches of Barbados, she dons a series of one-piece swimsuits and multiple tousled hairstyles. Considering the intense humidity of the shoot’s location, Ciara’s beach hair is perhaps the most impressive part.

To eliminate frizz and keep the singer’s styles in place, celebrity hairstylist Cesar DeLeon Ramirez used UNITE Hair products. “Working with Ciara on the SI shoot in Barbados was pretty amazing considering we were working in paradise,” Ramirez says in a press release. “Styling and maintaining hair to look good on the beach is a bit of a struggle, but I felt confident going in knowing that I had my kit fully stocked with UNITE products.”

He began with a coconut oil-infused styling fluid on wet hair. “I knew I was battling humidity so to start, on damp hair I applied UNITE’s LAZER Straight Relaxing Fluid and blew out Ciara’s hair with body and bounce,” he explains. “This styling lotion contains coconut oil to add moisture while sealing the cuticle, ideal for frizzy hair.”

“Once Ciara’s hair was all dry with beautiful movement, I went in with my flat iron and created soft bends to give the hair a lived in texture,” Ramirez continues. “I then applied UNITE’s TEXTURIZA Finishing Foam from roots to ends to give the hair just the right amount of soft texture and separation for a tousled texture look.”

However, as is usually the case with a photoshoot of this scale, Ramirez was tasked with creating multiple hairstyles. In addition to waist-length, beachy waves, Ciara also wore a tousled updo and half-up style. “Throughout the shoot I had to shape and reshape to create subtle changes in the hair so I used my trusted and true GO365 Hairspray by UNITE,” the stylist says. “It has a brushable hold allowing me to quickly transition from one look to another without damaging the hair.”

To amplify Ciara’s beachy texture with a wet hair look, Ramirez’s says he swears by UNITE’s 7Seconds Detangler on wet hair. “It gives the hair a nice sheen and makes it more manageable to control and keep damp looking without frizzing you on set,” he says.

Ahead, check out the entire lineup Ramirez’s used to create Ciara’s beachy Sports Illustrated look and get ready to take on summer humidity.

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