Alesha Dixon Is Embracing Her Natural Curls And It’s All Because Of This £6.09 Hair Mask

Alesha Dixon gets candid with Grazia about how lockdown life led to her rediscovering her natural curls

Updated on14th August 2020 at 2.27pm

Alesha Dixon has well and truly embraced her natural hair and curls this year and we're head over heels for her new look. Like many of us the singer, presenter and mum of two found herself stranded during lockdown without access to her beloved hair stylist Michelle Sultan, and after a week or two of topknots decided to embrace a whole new haircare routine and spring those curls back into action. 'At the beginning of lockdown I was definitely a bit lazy,' concedes Alesha. 'I hit a slump at the beginning of lockdown. I was lounging around in my pyjamas and not really making an effort. I think I was picking up on the mood of the nation. I wasn't being kind to myself or my hair. I used to leave my hair in a messy topknot or bun and I thought if we are in lockdown for the next four or five months I'm going to end up with dreadlocks by the end of it!' Alesha laughs. 'I decided to kick myself into gear and make an effort. I started exercising three to four times a week, I put changed up what I was wearing and I started to feel like a human being again. That chance in myself led me to starting to look after my hair.' Alesha is an ambassador for TRESemmé and so her first port of call was the brand's Keratin Smooth range. 'The products worked so well on my curls and I loved seeing the natural bounce come back. I started to feel really beautiful at home, without extensions and without the help of Michelle who is my comfort blanket when it comes to hair. It was really empowering.'

On Embracing Her Curls At An Early Age

Though it's been a while since Alesha has embraced her natural hair to this extent, Alesha has always loved her curls. 'Even as a teenager I loved my curls. I’ve always loved my curls, that’s never been an issue. I never wanted to get rid of my curls but I always wanted to see what my hair looked like when it was straightened. I remember trying to get my mum to straighten my hair when I was a little girl and this was before we had hair straighteners. It was a disaster.' Whilst straightening her hair wasn't an easy option as a teen, Alesha loved using a heat styler to boost her curls. Her mother was a hairdresser so well placed to get creative. 'Mum used to have this heated curling tong and I loved it when she would play around with my curls and make them even more curly. That was always a really fun thing to do. I didn’t always know what to do with my hair but for the most part, when I was younger, I loved the look and feel of my curls. I was always trying to see how big I could get my curls. I really embraced them.'

Watch: Alesha's At-Home Curly Hair Routine

On Girl Band Hair

The Mis-Teeq years proved the prime time for hair experimentation says Alesha. 'I was really fortunate that during my time in the band we got to experiment with so many different hairstyles.' Says Alesha, 'it got to the point that we’d rock up to work and we’d say to the hairdresser “what can we possibly do now that we haven’t already done?”. We had every different colour hair you could think of, I remember us rocking blue hair, red hair, green hair, straight hair, curly hair, short hair, wigs, weaves, anything! We just had fun with it. It was artistic, creative, it was funky, it was edgy, it was different. That was almost part and parcel of being in a girl group back then. Our hair fed into creating iconic looks that live on forever in our music videos or in our photo shoots. I was so fortunate that I got to do that.' That said, the demanding Mis-Teeq schedule began to take its toll on Alesha's hair. 'Having our hair styled every single day over the years had an effect on our hair. We started to have to re-think how we approached hair. We used more extensions to give our natural hair a break. We started to realise that the more we could tie away our natural hair and rely on extensions, the better our hair health would be in the long run.' And so Alesha's curls made way for girl band hair.

Alesha's Tips For Embracing Curls The DIY Way

Alesha has a few golden rules for those looking to embrace their natural curls at home too. 'The most important thing for me is making sure you gently brush through your hair with your fingers whilst your in the shower and the conditioner is still in it. I think using a brush or comb can sometime cause unnecessary breakage, so it’s all about being as gentle with your hair as possible. When I come out of the shower I pat dry it with a towel or tie it up in a wrap then I leave it to air-dry and let it do its thing. I use the TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Shine Oil, £7.69, too to boost its condition. The TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Mask, £6.09, is amazing too. It does its job in four minutes. Back in the day I used to sleep with a mask in my hair thinking it needed all that time to get to work, but you just don’t need to with this one. After it's dry I leave it alone. It's that simple.'