Beyoncé Knowles-Carter wears quite just a few hats. She juggles life as a married mother of three with being the best living entertainer—two undertakings which can be brain- and body-bending individually, and nearly inconceivable when combined. Her pointed manicures are the needle under which global interest spins. One hip bounce, one social post, one brand mention: That’s all it takes to send the general public into orbit. She’s mentor, mountain, and muse—every woman and each woman. Over time she’s launched multiple ventures, including House of Deréon, Parkwood Entertainment, BeyGOOD and IVY PARK.

Her latest undertaking has technically been on the burner since her youth—but more tangibly since 2018. It branches from her family’s generational give attention to hair, taking root in the concept of self-care as ritual. She first teased the project in May 2023 via Instagram, where fans assumed the sprays and pumps before her were stuffed with self-made hair elixirs. She, and all involved, have been characteristically mum in regards to the offering—until now.

Beyonce for ESSENCE March/April Beauty Issue on stands Feb 27.

“Hair has at all times been a really big a part of our lives,” says Ms. Tina Knowles. “Just as fashion saved our family, hair is how we made a living.” In Beyoncé’s early life, Ms. Tina was a hairdresser who owned and operated her own salon. She says her profession in cosmetology is but a continuation of what Black people have done for ages. “Within the culture of Black folks, all the best way from the start: In the event you could do some hair, you’ll never be broke,” she explains. “I told my kids that. My mama told me that. So it’s just our legacy, and this full-circle moment feels amazing.”

The brand is known as Cécred, a portmanteau of the singer’s name and the reverence she has for her own hair, and others’. Throughout centuries and across nations, hair has symbolized power for each owners and institutions. It is sort of treated as separate from the body and more consistent with the inner being. In acknowledgment of hair’s distinct role in life and culture, and out of longstanding interest in its wellness, Beyoncé formulated the eight-piece collection, due out February 20 on Cécred.com. It features a clarifying shampoo and scalp scrub, hydrating shampoo, moisturizing deep conditioner, a reconstructing treatment mask, a moisture-sealing lotion, a nourishing hair oil, a fermented rice and rose ritual treatment, and a “shaking vessel” that means that you can mix the ritual treatment. Together, they’ll strengthen and smooth the hair, and likewise help it get better from any damage. Your complete line is made possible through the appearance of a custom technology: a patent-pending bioactive keratin ferment. Naturally, it’s infused with honey.

Fittingly, Destiny’s Child first topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bills, Bills, Bills,” which had a music video that took place in a hair salon. It was an homage to the environment that birthed Beyoncé and is evidence of her enduring interest in hair. More recently, the music mogul’s “Formation” video included a scene shot in a beauty-supply store. Yet Beyoncé isn’t the primary in her family to make hair products; her mother once blended up her own formulas, too. “After all, I became a mixologist,” Ms. Tina says. “Back then there was nobody product that mixed high-tech hair care with the nourishing moisturizers and oils so vital to textured or color-treated hair, so I mixed the 2. I used to be told Black women’s hair couldn’t have color and perm at the identical time. I proved that theory fallacious. Now Cécred has the newest science with tried-and-true rituals passed down from generations before.”

Ms. Tina’s parents were Louisiana natives, a fact Beyoncé declares with pride. Because the singer’s grandmother, Agnéz Deréon, was coming up, an revolutionary entrepreneur, also from Louisiana, was becoming a pivotal presence in Black history. Madam C.J. Walker is thought to be the primary woman to turn into a millionaire by her own means. Her cause was righteous. Within the aftermath of the Reconstruction era, and with the introduction of Jim Crow, Black Americans continued to be socially and economically trampled, leaving many without the tools to effectively take care of their hair. After experiencing her own hair trials, Walker blended well-known ingredients and founded an eponymous hair business. Of Walker, it was widely said that “as a hair grower, she has no equal.’’ She was a star who fought for her own glimmer—and was determined to assist others uncover theirs as well. Those that understand the importance of her hair and scalp treatments intimately are in a position to recognize her sincerity and communal investment. Over 100 years later, one other Southern, empire-minded talent is offering up her own hair recipes.

“My mom would say, ‘Go put some grease in your hair since it looks really dry,’ and that meant oiling it and keeping it moisturized,” Ms. Tina says of the messages she received in her family growing up. “So all of those things that my mom did, like using olive oil and honey and egg whites for the protein, were all good for our hair and likewise for old press. These are all suggestions from my mom, and he or she just passed all of them down.”

The framing of Cécred as an ambitious stake within the earth, in addition to Beyoncé’s rightful inheritance, can’t be understated. It’s the fruit of her labor. Now, because the founder and chairwoman of her own hair care brand, she stands on the shoulders of ladies who loved her before she was born. She seeks to honor them at every turn, which suggests even essentially the most minuscule points of the road were assiduously designed. Nothing may be amiss, because she feels that this is greater than her. And, as she shares with ESSENCE, she’s ready for the past and the longer term to finally meet.

ESSENCE: You’ve talked about your experiences growing up in your mother’s salon. Are you able to tell us a bit more about your time there?

Beyoncé: I actually have vivid memories of my mother working as a hairstylist right from our home. She built a small salon behind our house, and I can recall catching glimpses of her while I watched cartoons or played with my dolls and toys. These moments are etched into every corner of my childhood memories.

I saw her shampooing and trimming hair, transforming women, leaving them feeling really good. Looking back, it was greater than only a hair appointment—it was therapy. I worked in her salon, sweeping the floors and helping out where I could. I used to eavesdrop and eavesdrop on their conversations intently. It was a sacred space for these women. She was so good and so talented that eventually, her clientele outgrew her at-home salon. In order that’s when she opened her first hair salon, Headliners. I remember the early sketches and my mom inviting me to be a component of the design process, regardless that I used to be only a youngin’. But that’s my mother. Our family has at all times had the spirit of collaboration.

My mom had a roster of fantastic clients at her salon, and while the environment was therapeutic for them, it was also for me. She found a therapist for me, during a period once I was extremely introverted and hardly spoke. It was in her salon that I spotted my dreams of being a performer—inspired by considered one of her clients who happened to be an opera singer. I used to be captivated by her stories of a recent trip to Germany. In awe, I distinctly remember telling my mom that I desired to be similar to her client.
A lot of the material of who I’m got here from her salon. It’s something that just connects to all of my senses, and it’s a stupendous place to grow up. That’s my foundation—and I believe as an artist, a lot of my daring experimentation with hair comes from being inspired by art and sculptures; getting creative with braids; determining latest techniques; and exploring ways to take care of hair growth with protective styles and wigs, while still feeling fabulous. All of it stems from my experiences growing up in my mother’s salon.

You famously cut your hair right into a pixie in 2013 and had swaths of ladies following suit. What are you able to share with us about that call? Did it reflect a sort of life change?

It did. That’s right. I like how we associate a certain hairstyle with moments in our lives, like that short-hair moment. I remember the day I made a decision to simply cut all my hair off. I didn’t have a specific style in mind. It wasn’t an aesthetic selection, but it surely was a really big emotional transformation and metamorphosis that I used to be going through. A lot of my identity as a performer has been connected to flowing hair. Cutting my hair off was me rebelling against being this woman that society thinks I’m imagined to be. I used to be a latest mother, and something in regards to the liberation of becoming a mother made me want to simply shed all of that. It was a physical representation of me shedding the expectations put upon me. I just wanted it off. Neal Farinah, my hairstylist and friend, was freaking out since it was really long, really thick and really healthy. I just got the scissors and chopped it off. It was very intentional. And it was what I needed to do. And after that, I became super brave. It was step one to many more audacious decisions I made in my life and my profession which have led to who I’m now.

We’ve seen you rock an array of hairstyles—from braids to an Afro to teased curls—all while leaning into your signature blonde. How do you maintain hair health while having dyed hair?
What saves my hair is the technology within the formula we created for our Cécred products. It’s a fermentation created from honey and keratin that helps to stop my hair from breaking and brings the shine back. The technology within the products is effective enough that I don’t have to over-
manipulate my hair while I shampoo.

A variety of people don’t know the way easy it’s to have buildup in your hair from overusing the fallacious products. The buildup prevents the hair from receiving the most effective results from the products. I attempt to be gentle with my hair. The lather in our silicone-free Clarifying Shampoo and Scalp Scrub is so relaxing, and it gets my hair and scalp so clean without stripping away the moisture.
Along with using the products, I wear my hair pressed, coloured, ironed and natural as much as I wear protective styles, depending on what I’m doing. I also use oil for my scalp underneath the braids. After I take my braids down, I give attention to cleansing and moisturizing my hair before putting it back up right into a protective style. I like to have a look at these routines more like rituals, since the care and love you give your hair is a special, intimate process that we are inclined to overlook.

What does the name Cécred mean to you? How did you give you it?

I actually have many beautiful memories attached to my hair. The connection we’ve got with our hair is such a deeply personal journey. From spending my childhood in my mother’s salon to my father applying oil on my scalp to treat my psoriasis— these moments have been sacred to me.
The conversations and debates within the salons and barbershops create a way of community for the individuals who look to it as a retreat from their on a regular basis lives. For them, it’s a spot to feel beautiful and vent, laugh, share secrets and pass down wisdom. It’s essentially the most consistent community gathering we’ve got. It’s so vital that it’s a sanctuary.

I believe that connection of community, mother and child, father and child, and respect— and allowing yourself to be taken care of, especially for Black women, who’re at all times taking good care of everyone else—it’s all sacred. So I took the top of my name, Cé, and made it the start of the word sacred to create Cécred. From my mother’s salon, day by day rituals with my father, and years of experience in developing a hair care line, the journey has been just that: Cécred.

You’ve been an entrepreneur for nearly twenty years. One among your earliest pursuits, House of Deréon, was done in collaboration along with your mother, Tina Knowles. What are some words of wisdom you’ve gleaned from her?

I woke up this morning, said my prayers, and really thought in regards to the incontrovertible fact that my mom and I actually have been talking about this [hair care line] since I used to be a teen. And what an honor to have the ability to do something so special with my mother, and to have the ability to share that with the world. That is meaningful. She’s a visionary and an excellent woman and has worked so hard on this brand alongside me. She’s such a present, and this can be a bit surreal for me that it’s finally here. It seems like all of her life’s learning, her 70 years, and now my 42 years, are generational and meant to be. Honoring the legacy and the wisdom passed down through generations, and mixing it with science and technology, is a component of this line. It was vital that we borrowed a few of our past and brought it into the longer term.

That is greater than a business to you—it is part of your birthright. How do you mingle the deeply personal with the skilled while prioritizing that it stays sacred?

My priorities are quality and intention. It was vital to come to a decision where we invested in our formulations. I knew what I desired to do, with technology that works for all women and all textures, because I had not been in a position to find it. I built this from the bottom up and funded it myself. First, I had to search out the correct team with the most effective experience who also shared my beliefs. This business was led by heart and fervour, not by a marketing strategy. We went above and beyond to make decisions based on results and the best possible science. And higher results meant more investment in quality products. Every hair texture deserves testing, research and development. Black women usually are the last to be included in testing. We are sometimes prescribed things based on studies we weren’t included in. It’s greater than me, or hair. Now we’ve got created something that celebrates healthy hair for all women, including us. I’m at all times honored to take a position in us.

Cécred is a legacy project for me, one which’s probably essentially the most rooted in my ancestry. It’s to this point beyond business. Hair is our lineage; it’s our family story. Getting access to proven ingredients, and creating our own technology that’s patent-pending—we now have a line that works universally.

What’s your nightly hair routine? Are there any suggestions or tricks you incorporate?

It’s all about moisture for me—adding oil to my scalp and covering my hair at night so the oils could penetrate. It brings back such great memories of my rituals as a toddler to take care of a healthy scalp. I wrap my hair up and sometimes sleep in some cute rollers with a net or bonnet, depending on how I’m wearing my hair. I attempt to avoid friction, my hair reverting and using unnecessary heat.

Black women’s sense of self is so often connected to their hair. How can we allow it to bring us joy and accentuate who we’re, without it completely defining our personhood?

We will wear our hair natural, straight, braids, weaves and wigs. There’s power in self-expression and in feeling free to point out up as we elect, in whatever hair we elect. For me, joy comes from making myself a priority and making my hair a priority. It is admittedly vital for me to find time for the sacred rituals of self-care.

One hair ritual I at all times used was fermented rice water. We put our own spin on it and discovered the way to turn it right into a powder. All it is advisable to do is add water, so it’s much easier and easy— plus we added rose, so it smells beautiful. I do that when my hair needs it, after I color my hair, after a tour. It’s healing for my hair but additionally for me. I believe considered one of the attractive things that inspired this line was respecting these ancient traditions and mixing them with technology and science.

Who’re you seeking to serve along with your hair care line?

I saw in my mother’s hair salon that any textured hair could possibly be healthy and will have growth when properly nurtured. I learned that textured hair could possibly be coloured. That ladies of all races can have a good time with different styles and still keep their hair healthy. I picked up many techniques from working with the most effective hairstylists on the planet. Hair will not be one-size-fits-all. I see certain kinds of hair which have multiple textures on one head. Depending on the porosity, the density, the thickness of your hair, if it’s color-treated, in case your hair is relaxed—your prescription must be personalized. I hope we will honor the sacred rituals of our past while providing education and cutting-edge science to the hair care community.

Being the boss is big business. The calls, the tests. Natural pauses and sign-offs. Limbs bent before a glowing laptop. It’s a winding cycle our Beyoncé knows well. It’s also one she embraces. We’ve seen her in motion: intrinsically motivated, serious and glued on a jaw-dropping final result. It’s in these moments of construction that she’s in her flow, tinkering with the seemingly invisible pieces until all is in place. If you see it actualized, you realize there was never an insignificant part. A visionary knows that before the work has even begun.

---

On this planet of Cécred, Beyoncé is dealing in two worlds she’s grown accustomed to. The separation of business and her heart’s callings isn’t present for her. Each industrial move appears to be guided by a deeper, personal purpose. This has caused a noticeable freedom that we’ve seen surge through her yields in increasing amounts. Over 25 years into her mainstream profession, she’s found her own approach to guide, give meaning and let her hair down. Sacred indeed

Cécred, launches Feb 20 on cecred.com

---

Photographed by Andre D. Wagner

Written by Brooklyn White-Grier

Styled by Shiona Turini
Hair Stylist: Neal Farinah at Draped Collective using Cécred Hair Collection Makeup: Rokael using Rokael Beauty at Opus Beauty
Nail Technician: Miho Okawara (MiHONAiLS)
Set Design by Bette Adams at MHS Artists

Photography Assistants: Tyler Woodford and Juliet Wolf
Lighting Director: Tutu Lee
Lighting Team: Zack Bartlett, Jake Reardon, Hisham Abahusayn, and Jason Capistrano Digital Technician: Maria Toncoso Gibbs

Wardrobe Supervisor: Ryan Dodson at Parkwood
Stylist Assistants: Milton Dixon, EJ Ellison, and Jaiin Kang
Hair Team: Nakia Rachon at Parkwood, Ziff Anthony
Makeup Assistant: Sarah Thacker
Nail Assistant: Ayumi Namaizawa
Set Assistants: Nicky Buzzerio, Christian Senrud, George Deacon, M Czerwinski, Graham Law, and David Rose
Tailors: Tim White and Shirlee Idzakovich

Production by The Morrison Group
Assistant Directors: Ryan Bremond and Myeka Williams
Production Managers: Alaura Wong and Christina Najar
Production Assistants: Jordan Mack, Dion O’Joe, Danica Morrison, and Frankie Benkovic

Shot at Milk Studios
Special Due to Cécred and Parkwood Entertainment creative teams, Blond, L’Ermitage Beverly Hills & Love Catering