“How repeatedly a month do you get a silk press?” Keke Palmer asked Vice President Kamala Harris on her podcast last yr. “I don’t use a curling iron; its an excessive amount of heat. I exploit a round brush,” she responded. Now, with Harris running for president amid President Biden’s withdrawal, the sound goes viral with over 250,000 likes on TikTok. Following jokes about “Kamala-mandated” silk presses and boar-bristle brush pin-curl tutorials, her flipped ‘50s hairdo has was election season’s favorite hair moment.

Her secret? Unlike a typical silk press, which commonly uses heat as high as 450 degrees, Harris uses a round boar-bristle brush to blow out her hair and avoid heat damage. “It takes plenty of heat [for a silk press], however it’s just an excessive amount of to do this and [a hot tool],” she told Palmer.

We’ve seen the look on Queen Latifah (who joked with Harris in a sketch on the fifty fifth NAACP Image Awards) and a bob version on famous content creator Nara Smith, pushing the autumn/winter silk press season up a number of months despite the specter of heat and humidity. For Harris, nevertheless, her hairstyle is a year-round look not limited to any season. 

Her medium-length cut is nearly a bob, flipped on the ends and sitting on her shoulders. Subtle pin curls give dimension while layers add more weight and fullness to the politician’s signature style. In 2021, Harris was on the quilt of Vogue— the publication that has since endorsed the presidential candidate— together with her then wealthy brown tone touted with a side part. Now, light brown highlights break up the colour, delivering a more mature, yet fun look; mirroring the electrical energy round her campaign.