Tracee Ellis Ross is a coveted actress, style maven and a celebrity hair icon. Her beautiful and bountiful curls match her larger than life personality. It's just one reason why we all love her. Tracee introduced Pattern to the world in 2019 and has since expanded the brand tremendously. She recently debuted two new products that continue to break barriers in the haircare industry. 

Last Friday, Tracee held the most delightful beauty event I've ever attended. She hosted more than 30 beauty editors on a Zoom conference sharing the why behind her new scalp serum and treatment mask derived from ancient remedies.

"The next chapter of the Pattern journey is inspired by ancestral home remedies passed down from generation to generation. Our two newest offerings, the Treatment Mask & Scalp Serum, are formulated to strengthen your hair, soothe your scalp & stimulate your senses. I hope these products inspire you to carve out a moment to love on your curls, coils & tight textures because hair care is self-care," Tracee explains.  

The Black-ish actress reveals that hair care has always been a form of love in her family since she was a small child. She explains that her late grandmother, back in Detroit, would condition her cousins' hair with mayonnaise. Now, we know that mayonnaise doesn't smell very good, but mixing mayonnaise and egg has been a haircare secret in Black households for generations.

“All the cousins would gather multiple times a year, in Detroit at her house. My grandmother would line all of the cousins up outside of the bathroom and wash our hair on the countertop. And she would conditioner our hair with mayonnaise. We are lucky we did not do a mayonnaise reimagination for this collection.” Tracee chuckles at that memorable moment but realizes that creating a rice water and a moringa treatment mask would have a better shelf life. 

Like most Black women, haircare is a form of self-care, and Tracee agrees. She says:  “How I care for my hair is genuinely a part of how I actively love myself. After my teen years and early twenties, and having a contentious relationship with my hair, and constantly wishing that it was something other than it was,  I realized that when I started to meet it where it was and love it as is, and learn how to care for it, was one of the ways I started caring for and loving my authentic self.” She says apothecary is the word that comes to mind for this collection.

During the pandemic, most of us learned how to do our hair and master a Zoom beauty routine. Tracee explains that her hair regimen takes up a lot of time, so she’s a minimalist when it comes to makeup. 

“So, for my routine, I never wear a lot of makeup. My trick for Zoom is to do my eyebrows and apply lipstick. My hair takes time, so I don’t rush through the haircare process. My hair doesn’t like to be rushed, so I co-wash, shampoo, separate into six sections, apply a leave-in conditioner and do a completely ice-cold rinse with low water pressure, so my curls don’t get broken up. For years my bathroom was covered in a bunch of products, and now it’s all Pattern.”

As I’m transitioning into using less heat on my hair and embracing my natural 4B texture,  I asked Tracee if she recommends using the treatment mask or Pattern’s regular conditioner weekly. She advised me that the deep conditioning treatment mask is always the way to go and even suggested that I read an entire blog on the Pattern site about transitioning hair. Tracee uses the product on her hair every two weeks.

This line is also great for women who have braids, weaves, and even wigs. Both products are $25 and are available at patternbeauty.com.

This article has been edited and condensed for clarity.