Texture Diaries is a space for Black people across industries to reflect on their journeys to self-love, and how accepting their hair, in all its glory, played a pivotal role in this process. Each week, they share their favorite hair rituals, products, and the biggest lessons they’ve learned when it comes to affirming their beauty and owning their unique hair texture.
At the age of 22, model Salem Mitchell has quickly become a familiar face thanks to her campaigns for the likes of Savage Fenty and Outdoor Voices, as well as her 438,000 Instagram followers. But that’s not to say her fashion journey has come without challenges. “I got my start online at the age of 15, modeling for American Apparel,” Mitchell explains. “One person said I looked like a ripe banana with spots,” she recalls, “but at first, I didn’t see that as an insult; I think bananas are nice. They have potassium and stuff, so it’s fine,” she adds with a laugh.
Working with stylists who didn’t understand her hair was another common roadblock as Mitchell’s career gained momentum. “Once a stylist was wrapping twine around my braids. She was pulling very hard and I let her know. She responded by saying ‘oh, I forgot there was a scalp connected to this,’” Mitchell remembers. Those types of experiences taught Mitchell to speak up for herself, whether online or on set. “People often like to do updos when I have braids in, which is fine. But that can be really damaging to the scalp and my edges. So sometimes I try to have certain braids redone [more loosely] during lunch breaks,” Mitchell explains of one tactic for taking care of herself. “Sometimes that’s not ideal for timing, but for the health of my hair and for me being comfortable throughout the shoot, I think it’s kind of necessary, and something that people often neglect.”
Before she started modeling, Mitchell experimented with different styles throughout middle school and high school. “Most of the time [my hair] would end up in a bun and I’d just straighten my bangs,” she says, “but that lead to a lot of breakage and damage, too.” Her mother taught her about the importance of protective styles, which piqued her interest in braids. “I would show my friends reference styles, but a lot of the times I was told certain styles were ‘ghetto.’ Now, of course, I know how wrong that is. But at the time, it’s something that would make anyone go further into themselves and doubt themselves.” Her senior year of high school, Mitchell simply did what she wanted to do and rocked her braids. “Something came over me. I was just like ‘forget what she said. I’m just going to do me.’”
When it comes to caring for her knotless braids, Mitchell gets them redone once a month, which is when she also ensures to deep-condition her hair. She swears by a paddle brush for detangling, and nourishes her strands with oils. (“I had a braider once tell me that oil for hair is like water for plants. That really stuck with me.”) She uses one in particular from Natural Beauty, a concoction of oils including castor coconut, grape seed, and tea tree. “It’s nice to have them all in one,” she notes. Her favorite edge control is from Murray’s. “I try not to use edge control too much because, especially with braids, that build-up is just not very good for your scalp and for your pores. And also my hair is so coarse that I feel like I do my edges, and then by the time I step outside, it’s over,” she says. “Someone on TikTok said how we need to stop giving Black women a hard time about their edges. I agree, because oftentimes it’s the pressure to keep them perfectly laid at all times that ends up ruining them.”
When she considers what’s next in her hair journey, Mitchell says she wants to dive into the world of wigs. “A lot of the time when Black women wear wigs, we’re given a hard time, but when others do it, it’s seen as cool and quirky,” she says. “I think wigs are amazing and glamorous, I just want to master laying them down better.”
“Experimenting in a healthy way is a beautiful thing,” she says of her biggest hair lesson to date. “Experimentation benefits you in the long run. Take risks and learn about new styles, without fear of being judged by peers.”