[soft music plays]
- Hey, it's Griff.
I am gonna be talking through, basically,
my show-ready look.
Everything from my ball braid, to my skincare, to make-up.
First, we start with dividing my hair into pieces.
I've got, like, an extortionate amount of hair.
I get a really flakey scalp,
and one thing that's really helped me is this hair food,
and it's, like, a paste, like this.
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I've just had a big hair crisis.
I got advised to do a keratin treatment,
and it went completely wrong.
I was told it was semi-permanent,
and that it would grow back, and it hasn't,
and basically it's ruined my whole curl pattern.
I'm gonna moisturize with Shea Moisture. It's a classic.
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I use, like, a heat protectant as well,
and I've got, like, quite coarse hair, I think,
for someone who's mixed race.
It should be like an afro, like, really coarse,
but it's got a lot of treatment damage on it.
You always need, like, a nozzle like this,
because it just helps comb through the hair.
[soft music plays]
I'm gonna take another piece,
and basically do it all over again.
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People say that they know black hair, and they don't.
Countless times, where people don't really know how to,
like, nourish and care for, like, curls,
and so I've had to definitely go through that journey
of figuring out how to love my curls,
figuring out how to look after them, and now,
I'm going through the journey of, like, regrowing my roots.
[soft music plays]
I grew up in a very, like, white area,
and I was like the only really, like,
mixed, or, like, colored girl,
and so I really had to learn from, like, scratch,
and I remember my mum always said, like, when I came out,
'cause I've got two older brothers.
So obviously, she would just shave off their head,
and then suddenly I came out, and she's the Chinese one.
My dad's Jamaican, and she was just, like,
"What on earth do I do with this hair?"
Honestly, you learn by trail and error,
and you do some crazy, crazy shit.
But it was always just, like, YouTube and stuff.
I have learned to definitely, like,
love my natural hair a bit more.
But it was definitely a big thing for me growing up.
Like, I just wanted straight white hair.
Yeah, I wish I didn't, but I look back and I was, like,
I would do everything I could
to try and make my hair straight.
I definitely think pursuing music has helped me, like,
love it a bit more.
It was, like, a selling point for me to be individual,
for me to be, like, half Jamaican, half Chinese,
and so suddenly, it was, like, a good thing.
But even still, I think, like...
One day, I want to be able to just, like,
have my hair natural as I look.
We're still a bit behind in the beauty industry,
in terms of, like, showing up to set with my natural hair.
I don't feel confident yet that someone can really, like,
nurture it and love it.
I remember, like, it would be on weekends.
It would be a big weekend hair day where my mom would, like,
figure out how to braid my hair,
and it was definitely an emotional journey.
It was bonding for us.
I think she definitely learned a lot about...
Yeah, what it is to be mixed when you're, like, every day,
trying to braid your, like, mixed girl's hair on the floor,
and I'd be, like, crying,
and she'd be like, "It's okay."
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There's still a bit of puff, as you can see,
so I'll usually go, like, around, like,
the top and the bottom with straighteners.
But I try not to do the whole thing,
just 'cause I don't want to always, like,
again, put heat on it.
I have the L'Oreal Steampod,
and you basically fill it up with water,
and it's supposed to use steam to straighten your hair,
and it's supposed to be healthier for it.
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It's skincare time.
I'm gonna give you the very stripped back version
of my routine.
I'm on tour in a tour bus with a bunch of lads.
I just need to keep it quick and easy. First, we cleanse.
I've been using this one.
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I got my skincare routine in lockdown
because my skin was getting so bad,
and I was getting such bad spots.
Also, I just am criminal for picking.
I'm just obsessed with this.
I'm using this Glossier one.
My makeup just is always 10x better when my face feels,
like, fully, fully, like, borderline wet. [laughs]
Like, very, very hydrated.
Moving onto makeup, I'm gonna prime.
This is the flawless filter Charlotte Tilbury.
Charlotte Tilbury brush to buff it in.
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Foundation.
I use this Dior one, just 'cause it's a good color match.
I feel like if you get a good color match,
that's half of the job.
Growing up in a very white area, I just think I...
I didn't feel that beautiful ever.
As soon as I could,
and as soon I realized I could access makeup, I was like,
"Damn, I can make myself way prettier here,"
and I'd just get whatever makeup I could find, [laughs]
and I'd watch Tanya Burr and loads of those kinda channels
and figure out how to do makeup, and I loved it,
and I guess it was, like, a bit of a safety thing for me.
Like, I look back and it looks terrible, but I did love it.
Concealer. This is the Tarte one.
If I'm just in the studio or whatever, I won't...
I won't do all these steps.
But if I'm going out with my friends,
or if I'm going for a dinner,
or if there's something worth putting makeup on for...
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Eyebrows, I'm gonna do next. I won't lie to you.
I just really use my three year old, crusty mascara,
'cause usually it means that they're empty,
but they've got enough product on them to kinda slick them,
and this is just mainly out of laziness.
Like, should I buy a proper brow gel? 110%.
Can I be bothered? No.
Asian eyebrows are quite sparse, as you can see,
and I've kinda given up on them.
But when I was eight, I was like, "I hate it."
So I got my dad's razor, and I just...
In the middle, straight down.
Down, and I gave them a bit of a shaper,
and I thought no one would notice,
and then I'm there at a family event, and my mom's like,
"What have you done to your eyebrows?" [laughs]
And I'm like, "Oh, here we go." [laughs]
So I've been using this, like, crayon as well,
which is brown.
Then I just take a little angled brush.
Just get in and go for it.
[soft music plays]
Contour time.
Okay, I take the Age Rewind concealer.
You obviously don't wanna look too harsh.
You want it to look natural, so you can take water,
or this is the, like, Charlotte Tilbury setting spray,
and I just spray it on my wrist and on the brush.
If you bring it high, it's nice.
If I wanna, like, sharpen up,
I'll just go in with a smaller brush
just to make myself properly chiseled. [laughs]
Is my American accent terrible?
I'm doing highlighter now.
I was always terrified of highlighter because I remember
when it, like, really blew up, like,
girls be walking around with, like, metallic cheek bones,
and I was like, I just don't wanna be like that.
But this one, I think, I've really fallen in love with,
because it's more of a glow.
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I'm just gonna take, like, kinda a brown-y brown.
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Liner time. I don't really know what the technique is.
I'm usually, like, very, very close to my lash line.
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At some point, the key is you've just gotta learn to stop.
It's the classic "they're sisters, not twins."
I'm using Ardell. Okay, we're gonna grab a longer one.
A big, old long one.
We're maybe gonna do two long ones on the outside,
and then go smaller.
This is, like, the most intense part.
Like, right now I'm in the tour bus. It's pretty dark.
I can hear the lines are queuing. I'm onstage pretty soon.
Manager's like, "Come on, you need to go in, like, 10,"
and I'm like, "Ugh, the lashes aren't on,"
and you just gotta stay composed.
I'm gonna powder. We're gonna use the Charlotte Tilbury one.
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I go over my little, my little mole.
This is the Givency one.
I'm gonna give them, like, a little quick,
a little quick pinch,
just so that they are all unified in one direction.
Work, okay, mascara.
Yeah, this is the one that everyone had in year seven,
so it's just for nostalgia's sake.
Get some lips on. Just some Glossier.
I use, like, a brown crayon.
This is actually the same one I put on my brows.
[soft music plays]
This is Charlotte Tilbury Cover Star.
I always use nudes. I've never done a red.
I'm scared of a red. Glossier, oh my God.
There's nothing worse than a gloss
that you've had for a little too long,
and it's just looking dirty in there.
[soft music plays]
Hair time now. We're gonna slick it into a ponytail.
Take one of them. I nixed this from my friend, Denise.
So thanks, Denise. I never gave it back to you.
But just part your hair.
It takes a minute to figure out
where the middle of your face is,
and then I kinda do, like, a triangle here,
like, diagonally at the top.
So we're kinda just gonna get these two bits,
and then we're just gonna hover
in the middle of your face for a minute.
That is the first step of the signature ball look.
Day to day, I'm actually quite boring.
But if it's an opportunity to, like,
be fun and it's an event or something, like,
why the hell not?
I'm gonna take this Blue Magic Conditioner,
and let's just make sure it's, like, all smooth.
Take some hairspray, either to here or to my actual hair,
and just start brushing it.
Shiny Jam. It's just, like, another gel.
It's stronger.
It's important to, like really get it on your palms,
'cause otherwise, it gets really streaky.
Tommy is my amazing hair stylist.
I showed her, like, a picture of what I wanted
the balls to look like about two, three years ago,
and then she, like, whipped it up in this,
like, amazing way.
I had an idea of what I wanted to do.
I did a bit of a sketch, and I had a few references.
That's kinda usually what I always do.
So basically, you just get braiding hair.
So the hair kinda comes like this.
So take the tie, and then kinda, like,
put it under the hair, the half hair.
You push one of them through. [laughs]
I don't know if I'm explaining this right,
so that basically, you made a loop,
and then you just put it over your own ponytail.
People are always like, "What's inside?
If it's actually your hair, how do you get it super sized?"
We use polystyrene balls.
First all. I should probably re spray paint these.
But it's just so that if they do show a little bit,
you can't really see.
So you just kinda put it in,
and then you just figure out how to just wrap your hair
and the fake hair around it.
Now I'm gonna go for a bigger size.
[soft music plays]
It was one of my first ever festivals this summer.
Dan from Bastille was nice enough to invite me up,
and I'm like, "I'm at a festival post pandemic."
I'm head banging, and then I definitely walk off stage,
and I'm like...
There's a ball gone,
and that was probably the most amount of people
I've ever sung in front of.
There's three things about getting un-ready after a show
that are just the best.
It's taking out this, taking off my lashes,
and taking off my bra.
You just...
You feel like a free woman.
I'm gonna do edges.
So this is, like, the strongest cream, gel.
A little mini toothbrush. Just take it.
Like, a bit on your finger.
[soft music plays]
Okay, taking out these guys.
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The chop.
We need the blunt edge, 'cause we can't make it like that.
It's not cute. Wow.
[soft music plays]
This is the first time I've ever shown how I do the hair,
so I hope that was, like, enlightening.
Usually now,
I will panic, put on some kind of dress in my suitcase,
and go do a show.
[kiss]
Bye.
[soft music plays]