Beyoncé Braids Her Own Hair for Vogue ’s Cover Shoot
“Perfection is the disease of a nation,” Beyoncé sings on “Pretty Hurts,” the lead track off her 2014 eponymous fifth studio album. And with the release of Vogue’s September issue, in which the icon appears wearing barely any makeup, her natural hair serving as an exquisite base for easy cornrows and larger-than-life headpieces, that illusion of controlled flawlessness has finally been shed for good.
“This is the most beautiful she has ever looked,” says Beyoncé’s longtime hairstylist and friend, Neal Farinah, via phone from Columbus, Ohio, where the singer is continuing her On the Run II worldwide tour. “She’s always looked most beautiful without any hair or makeup.” Though, he adds, wanting to look picture-perfect for the shoot couldn’t have been farther from the point. “Every day, for years, [Beyoncé] has had someone picking at her face, pulling on her hair,” he says. “And at the time of this shoot—especially now that she’s a mother of three, a wife, who tours and does interviews—she said, ‘I want to be myself, guys. I don’t want all this hair and all this makeup. I just want to be free.’”
It’s a pivotal moment for the global pop star, her close-knit team, and her fans alike: Beyoncé, who in her own words speaks about finding a newfound body acceptance after giving birth to twins Rumi and Sir in her cover story; Tyler Mitchell, the 23-year-old African-American photographer, who, as part of a new generation of image-makers reshaping the lens through which we see culture, was handpicked by Beyoncé for the job; Farinah, who hails from Trinidad and says he finally feels like ‘he and his country have officially made it,” with her powerful portrayal of natural black beauty in the accompanying images; Sir John, her makeup artist, who simply gave her “some texture and some love,” he says, so she can “own where she comes from”; and her loyal followers, who no longer “have to prove anything to anyone,” says Farinah. “Women shouldn’t have to worry about going outside without their hair and makeup done; they should feel [liberated] to do what they want.”
Manifesting Beyoncé’s vision into an honest new reality, the resulting images possess a feeling of intimacy and authenticity that projects across the page—as well as the behind-the-scenes video footage (above) captured by Mitchell. Here is Beyoncé in a short, checked Louis Vuitton dress and frayed cornrows against a mint green backdrop; in another cut, her glowing skin and natural freckles are accompanied by a neck full of diamonds and a towering headdress made of real flowers, which took designer Phil John Perry for Rebel Rebel hours to complete by hand; a slick of pink tinted Vaseline and scraped-back ponytail are all that’s required to punctuate a Dior gown and dripping Anthony Vaccarello earrings. Looking relaxed and happy, the star is seen kissing her children, laughing with her team, and, yes, braiding her own hair: “It doesn’t matter where we are or the time pressure we’re under, if Beyoncé has to pick up a curling iron or help me braid, she does it and we get the job done,” says Farinah of her grounded energy. “She knows exactly what she’s about.”
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