How To Style 4C Hair With No Heat Or Tools

When Lupita Nyong'o steps onto the red carpet, no matter if it's an award show or small event, you can count on her delivering a head to toe lewk. Always. Granted, she's absolutely gorgeous, but she also has a solid dream team behind most of the looks that we're constantly saving to our camera roll: celebrity hairstylist Vernon François and makeup artist Nick Barose. With two pros like these, you'd think that the kits involved would be of massive proportions. But it turns out, that's not always the case. In fact, Nyong'o's pompadour from the 2018 Screen Actors' Guild Awards was done using no tools at all — a look that enhanced her healthy flush even further.

Nyong'o, one of the few stars to wear her natural hair on the carpet last night, showed off her texture and tapered haircut with a dramatic side quiff. "No heat was used, just my hands, some hairspray, the Vernon François Pure~Fro Moisture Spray from my collection, some pins and the 3 in 1~Style Comb," the stylist, who describes his longtime client's hair as kinky, tells Refinery29. He explains that in order to make the hair pliable, he sprays his Leave~In Conditioner all over and let it air dry naturally a little bit. "Then, once it’s about 80 percent dry and with a perfect coil or kink to it, you can start to manipulate and stretch it in directions it with a comb which is very cool," he says. Once he got his desired shape, he molded it to perfection and added a few U-pins for hold. Anyone with curly, coily, and kinky hair knows that product dry out is VERY real, especially on the west coast. To combat it, François recommends a good sulfate-free shampoo or co-wash to keep those natural oils intact, and a monthly oil treatment to replenish.

When it comes to her makeup — because we know that's your next question — Barose says it's all about blush placement. After applying Lancôme's Teint Idole Ultra Custom Glow Drops in Bronze Glow on her cheekbones, he swept the brand's Blush Subtil in Shimmer Petite Pomegranate over top — but not until she was practically waking out the door. "Always start with as little blush as possible without brightening up the cheeks right away," the artist shared in an Instagram. "I always decide later how much blush I want once I see the final look with the accessories and everything, this way you can be sure it’s not too much blush."