How Tolu Oye Pays Homage to Her Culture Through Her Hair
Texture Diaries is a space for Black women across industries to reflect on their journeys to self-love, and how accepting their hair, in all its glory, played a pivotal role in this process. Each week, these women share their favorite hair rituals, products, and the biggest lessons they’ve learned when it comes to affirming their beauty and owning their unique hair texture.
Tolu Oye’s love of her Nigerian culture is apparent throughout her work. Oye is the co-founder of Oye Green, an African beauty and wellness brand which carries products like shea butter, specialty hair combs, and Cowrie shells. Most recently, she launched Oye Green Prints, an initiative selling prints by Black artists—60% of the proceeds go towards organizations and individuals working to end SARS in Nigeria. She also has a clothing brand, Meji Meji, through which she recently launched a hair protective, silk-lined bucket hat and face masks. “My inspiration is rooted in my identity and culture. It is displayed in everything I do,” Oye says. That includes her ever-inspiring beauty and hair looks, too: Oye rocks braids of all kinds; from those that are green dyed and cheekbone-length to cornrows that cascade into a billow of coils.
“I am inspired by the beauty of Nigerian culture,” the Lagos-born, New York-based entrepreneur says. “I use my hair as a moodboard to share a story about the past and the present. My hair is a form of art and my way of channeling my inner being.”
It took time for Oye to feel completely comfortable with herself, and her hair. Growing up in Ohio, “I was often the only person of color in the room, and when I wasn t, I was the darkest shade,” she recalls. “I had to toughen up really quickly. For so long, I did not identify myself as beautiful. I hated the skin I was in.” In the 6th grade, her teacher made her read The Skin I m In. “I saw myself in the main character, Maleeka. That book was a turning point for me. From that day forward, I spoke with my head up,” she says. “To this day, I always hear my mother s voice in my head, saying, ‘Tolu, you re Black and shine!’ I had to learn how to love every piece of myself.”
Her mother, a cosmetologist who worked in a braid shop throughout Oye’s youth, has been a strong pillar throughout her hair journey as well. “It is through her that I found my love for braids,” Oye says. But around 6th grade, Oye began dreading getting her hair braided, wanting to assimilate into her Ohio surroundings. It wasn’t until she went back to Nigeria in 2016 that she found her love for traditional African braid styles again. “I started expressing myself through braids. I started yearning to learn about conventional Yoruba braid styles and Nigerian culture as a whole. A [missing] puzzle piece within my life was finally here.”
