Taraji P. Henson smelled like "mildew" when she had her first weave removed.
Taraji P Henson
The 'Hidden Figures' star had the wefts sewn into protect her natural locks when she first started acting but was left "embarrassed" when she had the extensions removed for the first time and realised how much she'd struggled with getting everything washed and dried properly.
She recalled: "The first time I went to get the weave taken out, it smelled like mildew. I was so embarrassed.
"I was washing my hair, but what I wasn't doing was drying the weft. When you have a weave or an install, your hair is braided down and then sometimes they sew a [hair] net down on top of that and then they sew the hair tracks on top of that.
"So my dilemma was, how do I get to my scalp? How do I clean it? I didn't ever want that mildew smell again."
The 49-year-old star found a product that helped, but it caused her further problems, leading to her developing her affordable TPH haircare line.
She continued to Allure magazine: "The first thing I used was Sea Breeze [a skin and scalp astringent]. I needed some relief!
"I found a little bottle, like the ones they put the dye in with the nozzle on top, and put the Sea Breeze in it.
"It helped, but it dries your hair out. It gets brittle.
"So I had to figure out how to get moisture down to my braids and clean my scalp.
"That's what the TPH hair-care line is about. It's about scalp care -- and serving looks. TPH was born out of my 'Master Cleanse' hair product I made for myself. For me, hair is nothing if you don't have a clean scalp."
Taraji stressed that her products - which are available in Target - are not just for "natural hair".
She added: "But I don't want people to think that this is a line that is just targeted at natural hair. This line is also for wigs. It's for installs, braids, locs, straight hair, curly hair -- hair needs moisture."
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