Issa Rae and Hannah Diop's brand Sienna Naturals has created clean, natural haircare products since 2012. And while the label's offerings are for people with all hair types, they're especially formulated with textured hair in mind.
Diop, Rae's sister-in-law, says that the inspiration for Sienna Naturals came from her own upbringing. She grew up in a wellness-focused, natural-products-inclined family, but had difficulty finding items that both met her ingredient standards and worked well with her curl pattern. She wasn't alone.
"Most of the world has textured hair," Diop says, "so it's time that we start designing for texture. And what you find is that you create something new and better when you do."
Fewer shoppers now will face the haircare dilemma Diop had growing up, because her designs are more accessible than ever. As of July 16, Sienna Naturals is officially shoppable online at Sephora.
Landing on Sephora's (virtual) shelves is a bucket list moment and legitimacy-booster for any beauty brand—it's the biggest beauty retailer in the United States, after all. In fact, Diop and Rae say that they manifested this milestone for their vegan shampoos, oils, and hair masks years ago.
"I was scrolling through my phone the other day and found a text message between myself and Issa from a screenshot I had taken in 2018, and in it, I was like, 'We're going to take this all the way to Sephora,' and she was like, 'Let's go,'" Diop says.
It isn't all about reach. Sienna Naturals was previously chosen for Sephora's Accelerate brand incubator, a program investing in BIPOC-owned and -founded beauty labels; that early support made an impact. "Sephora has this also track record for championing women founder brands at an early stage and growing them into these global, iconic brands," Diop explains. "They really operate differently, in that regard, from a lot of other retailers, and that's their secret sauce."
With the retailer's nationwide reach, Sienna Naturals's co-founders want to educate more shoppers about caring for natural hair at the same time they're filling their carts. Rae, in particular, wants to shy away from sugar-coating the journey.
"I think that we, especially in marketing, kind of gloss over that fact that it is hard to take care of our hair sometimes. For me, my actual journey was absolutely reflective of that," she says. See: the time she had to cut off all her hair and start again "after having experimented so much and damaging my hair." Testing her brand's products allowed Rae to "get back to the literal root of my hair."
Now that Sienna Naturals is on a major retailer's shelf, "We want to be at the start of people's journeys with taking care of and being conscious of what they're putting in their hair," Rae says. "We want to be part of the positive aspects of their journeys while acknowledging that, yeah, it's hard."
Sienna Naturals' 11 SKUS at Sephora include traditional hair products like shampoos and conditioners, along with targeted triages like an anti-frizz curl elixir, a scalp oil, and a split-end treatment. Each one has been vigorously tested and researched. "We're not only looking to create products that are safe for your hair, your scalp, your skin, and your body—because, of course, anything you put on your hair is going to go into your body—but we're also looking for ingredients that are better for the planet," Diop says.
They might even work so well for your hair's texture, they'll feel like products you manifested yourself. Ahead, shop more of the brand's clean, curl-friendly offerings, now available at Sephora.
