Teyonah Parris Is Overhauling The Extensions Industry, One Curl At A Time

Teyonah Parris’ hair extensions line, Blūm, isn’t your average celebrity beauty brand, whipped up in a marketing think tank or founded to bolster her social media profile. It’s a legitimately innovative offshoot of an age-old industry, with a memoir-worthy backstory. The celebrated actor had been using chemical relaxers since grade school, but it wasn’t until nearly 15 years later that she learned what her actual, born-with-it hair looked like — she had curls. “I realized that I had no actual clue what my natural hair texture was, because I had been manipulating it and relaxing it for so long,” Parris tells TZR. A brief moment of inclement weather became a trigger point for the star, launching her into a journey of self-discovery on what beauty truly meant to her. Now, she’s taking everything she’s learned over the years and applying it to Blūm.

Parris’ hair extensions line features 100% virgin human hair in clips-ins, U-part wigs, drawstring ponytails, braiding bundles, and more, all in a wide range of natural textures made for hair types 3 and 4, with special editions to blend with silk presses and kinky-straight styles. “The biggest [thing] with this brand is making sure it's clear to my consumer, the customer, that you are beautiful as you are. You do not need wigs and hair extensions. [But] if you want to have fun, if you want to protect your hair and use different protective styling, if you want to change it up, and if for whatever reason you do want extensions, we're here for you.”

Parris’ segue into this particular beauty industry niche is an extremely organic one. Since that fateful day in New York, The Marvels star has become a bona fide natural hair icon, showing off all sorts of twists, Afro sizes, braids, sculptural updos, and curls on both the red carpet and the big screen. Hairstyling was a creative outlet and a form of self-expression for Parris, who even advocates for the roles she plays to feature hair types like hers, too. “I started to think when I read these characters, like, ‘Well, why can't this woman have natural hair? Why can't this character wear her hair in braids or kinky?’” she shares with TZR. “Whatever it is, and I started posing those questions to directors and the filmmakers.” She says extension textures have come a long way in the past few decades, but it’s clear that there’s still a gap in the market for luxury hair that blends in well with the real deal.

Parris’ brand makes it easy to experiment with all sorts of different lengths and styles, all while mitigating the stress put on delicate, natural hair. Currently, Blūm has all the core essentials for a wide range of hair types and needs. What’s more is that it’s clear the line was developed not just for women of color, but by one, too — that’s evident in the painstaking attention to detail and realism seen in every product offered. “What I love about the brand is that there's nuances in each curl, no one curl is the same” Parris explains. “And so I'm so proud of the fact that we don't jump from kinky curly to straight — there are many textures and shapes in between, and we, I feel, do an awesome job of nailing those and providing options for people.”

An incredible final product is just one aspect of the process for Parris, too. She’s always had an entrepreneurial drive, she shares, whether that meant washing cars or selling baked goods at school. “I've always had the [mentality] of, ‘how can I be the boss of me?’” With Blūm, she embraces every element of her journey and personality.

Blūm By Teyonah Parris is now available to shop at blumbyteyonah.com.