5 beauty legends on their favourite moments from Black history

Innovation has always been at the centre of Black beauty, culture and history. As early as 3150 BC, Ancient Egyptians were developing one of the world’s earliest writing systems through hieroglyphics, all the while pioneering the use of kohl eyeliner. By around 1070 BC, the Kingdom of Kush (Northeast Africa) was renowned for its powerful warrior queens – the Kandakes – as well as for its advances in haircare. Further west, the Ghana and Mali empires helped shape shea butter-based skincare, alongside growth in education under influential leaders like Mansa Musa.

While Black history extends far beyond the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade, resilience in the face of oppression remains an essential part of the story. Individuals like Harriet Tubman famously helped enslaved people escape through the Underground Railroad in 1850-1860, and it’s believed that detailed cornrows were used as maps to freedom. 

By 1914, Madame C.J. Walker and Annie Turnbo Malone had become the first self-made female millionaires through their respective hair-care companies, while in the 1970s the iconic circular afro, worn by figures like Diana Ross, Angela Davis, Nina Simone and Audre Lorde, became a powerful symbol of identity and political resistance during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in the United States. Recently, these ideals inspired a renewed natural hair movement, which has gained momentum over the past ten years. 

This Black History Month, Dazed spoke to five beauty legends who share their favourite moments throughout Black history and the cultural figures that inspire their work. 

Ms Tina Knowles, an ntrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author, has been working within the beauty industry for forty years. For the recent UK launch of her award-winning haircare brand Cécred, Knowles surprised clients at Ama Hair Salon in Tottenham, where she washed and styled their hair, proving her continued care for building community and strengthening Black self-confidence. She is also the mother of superstars Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Solange Knowles. 

“I started going to The Ebony Fashion Fair at 15,” Knowles tells Dazed, referring to a travelling fashion and cultural event which ran between 1958 and 2009. “Their runway shows blew my mind because it was such a creative explosion.” An intersection of “Black high fashion and extravagant beauty,” these annual events were something she and her peers had never really seen before. “They always presented the latest trends and I would copy those looks!” 

When it comes to her favourite Black beauty looks throughout history, Knowles cites Diana Ross as a huge inspiration. “I loved the looks [she] wore in Mahogany – from her bowl cut to her afro and her chic chignon,” Knowles shares. “[Diana] has so much range and the styles were revolutionary. The make-up really stood out to me, like her winged eyeliner; it was all so iconic.” On whether she’d worn any of these looks herself, she tells Dazed that, of course, she wore an afro in the 70s, before moving onto finger waves in the 80s. “One of my favourite styles would be to curl my hair with a tiny curling iron and then get in the shower and let the humidity do its thing,” she adds. “This technique would give me this gorgeous big, wild curly hair – just like Diana.” 

In terms of historical figures, Knowles cites the greats, including Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansberry, Dr Maya Angelou and Angela Davis.  “And of course,” she adds, “Madam C. J. Walker because she was the first, an innovator, and a successful business woman.” 

Ngozi Esther Edeme, best known as Painted by Esther, is a 29-year-old British-Nigerian make-up artist based in London. She has quickly become a modern beauty icon, due to her unique take on the gradient blush technique, and has worked with everyone from Gabrielle Union to Tyla and Beyoncé. 

Edeme has been very vocal about her love for Sam Fine and Kevyn Aucoin’s artistry. “All of their work lives as references in my head,” she tells Dazed. “I pull from [their archives] constantly when I glam anybody.” She doesn’t have a singular favourite look throughout Black beauty history, as she’s constantly scouting for make-up inspiration. “I love how Kevyn Aucoin painted Black women  – especially Whitney Houston – with precision and love,” she says, adding that Nelson Mandela and Aaliyah are two more of her heroes.

Founder of Notting Hill salon Hair Lounge, Charlotte Mensah is widely considered to be the doyenne of afro-textured hairstyling. Mensah made history in 2018 as the first Black woman inducted into the British Hairdressing Hall of Fame and subsequently authored the book Good Hair: The Essential Guide to Afro, Textured and Curly Hair in 2020. 

Mensah’s favourite Black beauty look throughout history is intricately threaded hair. Across West Africa (and in Ghana, where her roots are) “women have long wrapped sections of hair in black thread, shaping them into beautiful forms that curve, spiral and rise above the head.” Mensah calls it “protective styling long before our industry had a name for it” and created a version of the look for Erykah Badu at the British Fashion Awards in 2017.  

The Ghanaian warrior queen, Yaa Asantewaa, is one of her favourite Black figures. “Yaa Asantewaa was the Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, and in 1900 she led the resistance against British colonial forces when they demanded the Golden Stool,” she explains. Claudia Jones is also an important historical figure to Mensah. She came to London during the Windrush era, founded the West Indian Gazette and organised a Caribbean carnival at St Pancras Town Hall in response to the 1958 Notting Hill race riots. This laid the foundations for what would become Notting Hill Carnival. “My salon sits on Portobello Road, so every August, when Carnival fills our streets, I’m reminded of her legacy and the people who created spaces for our communities to celebrate themselves.”

Dazed 100 alumnus Golloria George is an influential South Sudanese-American content creator. She’s best known for holding the beauty industry accountable for inadequate shade diversity across varying categories of complexion products. George’s career was born from recognising the ways “women who look like [her] have historically been overlooked, underserved and sometimes completely excluded from beauty.” The work she does today feels connected to something much larger than make-up alone. “I’m part of a long history of Black women creating space for ourselves in places that were not originally built with us in mind,” she adds, viewing her work as a way to continue that fight. 

bell hooks and Audre Lorde are huge literary inspirations for the star. “Their work around race, womanhood, love and representation deeply shaped the way so many of us understand what it means to exist as Black women in the world,” she says. South Sudanese-British model Alek Wek is another of George’s favourite figures. “Seeing [her become] an international symbol of beauty and challenge what the fashion industry had historically centred was powerful,” she says. 

“So many famous beauty techniques, looks and styles throughout history began with Black creativity,” George says. Kiss curls pioneered by Josephine Baker are a great example of this. It’s also a look that is constantly reinvented and restyled today. “Black beauty history isn’t just something that lives in the past – we’re actively creating it,” she says. “Somewhere, a Black girl is experimenting with her hair, make-up, nails or personal style and creating something the rest of the world may eventually call a trend.” 

Ama Quashie, manicurist to the stars and a BOF 100 honouree, has long utilised her knowledge to advocate for safe, natural nailcare and non-toxic beauty. Quashie regularly creates manicures backstage during fashion month for some of the largest brands in the world, including Chanel, Dior and Burberry. 

When it comes to beauty, Quashie was influenced by everyone from Missy Elliot to Iman. “I’m an 80s baby,” she tells Dazed. “My palette is inspired by the melting pot pop culture I grew up around.” The manicurist is also a huge fan of braids and their cultural significance. “My Mum is Scottish, so while she was aware of the practical and cultural significance, as a white woman she didn’t know how to create cornrows herself,” Quashie explains. “When she was pregnant with me, my cousins on my Ghanaian side taught her how to braid Afro hair – since then I’ve had box, Fulani and knotless braids.”

Ghana’s first president and Pan-African pioneer Kwame Nkrumah is one of her heroes. “He led Ghana to be the first African country to gain independence,” she says. “Beauty-wise it would be crazy for me not to mention Sade and Flo Jo – the fastest woman in the world all while wearing her iconic 6 inch nails!” Quashie’s grandmother is also a personal source of inspiration – a sepia photo from the 1930s shows her hair set in a two-tiered dome crowning the top of her head. Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation and Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You have also professionally inspired Quashie. “For the Ahluwalia AW23 show, I designed nails that were prints of sound waves from both albums.”