Tracee Ellis Ross is the real deal. Not that we ever doubted it. Name another celebrity beauty brand founder that's willing to take an outdoor shower on a rainy Wednesday morning in London to demonstrate their products on themselves. We'll wait. The founder and CEO of PATTERN, Ross is serious when it comes to serving haircare products that work, and she's prepared to take on wash day in public to prove it. Albeit in an on-brand orange Bottega dressing gown and mules. 'I wanted to meet the needs of the curly, coily and tight-textured community across the globe so it's so exciting to launch PATTERN in the UK.'
A decade in the making, PATTERN isn't just another A-list beauty line seeking to cash in on a multi billion pound industry. It's legit. 'This is not a vanity project for me. This is my baby. I'm the CEO, the founder, the majority owner,' Ross tells ELLE UK. 'I tried 74 samples for the first Wash Day products. The trickiest one to get right was the leave in conditioner because it was so important. I actually held the launch because I wanted it to be right.' According to the black-ish actor, PATTERN is a collection of effective haircare formulas that seek to celebrate and serve the needs of the textured hair community that Ross herself is proud to be a part of. The range seeks to acknowledge the nuance and diversity of textured hair types with four weights of conditioner (that are deliberately larger than the shampoo), a cleansing shampoo, curl gel, strong hold gel, jojoba oil blend, hydrating mist and a styling cream.
A trio of hair tools completes the offering with an edge tool, hair pick and a shower brush that Ross is keen to let us know won't fall apart or collect water while you're washing your hair. Or as she puts it, 'It's god's gift to brushes.' It's in these details and thoughtful touches that Ross' own real life experience informs PATTERN's considered product offering. 'It was really important to me that PATTERN was based in our actual needs. I want people to be able to access their most beautiful hair in their own bathroom. I wanted the end result to be juicy and joyful hair and a celebratory relationship with our own hair.'
For the beauty mogul, it's not just the product offering for textured hair that needs to change, it's the wider messaging the beauty industry is guilty of perpetuating. 'I want to change the paradigm around marketing,' she says. 'I do not believe in the old school marketing tenant that there’s a problem that needs to be fixed and you need to spend money to become worthy and to become beautiful. I wanted to create a company that actually supported people and celebrated people and met them where they were as opposed to telling them they need to be somewhere else.'
And where they are is Boots. 'I’m really excited about Boots. It was really important to me that we were ensuring access for everyone and that we were giving quality products to all of the vast community,' explains Ross. 'I wanted to keep the prices accessible as well so we go from £9 to £18 for full size products and the packaging is designed so you can get every last bit of goop out of that jar. I hate spending money on conditioner I can’t use.'
Aside from creating a hair line that brings joy to wash day, what else does Ross dream of achieving with PATTERN? 'Wouldn’t it be nice if the Queen had PATTERN in her hair? Everybody needs some hydration! No, but seriously it’s been a labour of love and it’s full of love.'
ELLE Edit: Pattern Beauty
Pattern Beauty Styling Cream
Shop PATTERN at Boots now
