LUPITA NYONG’O ROCKS HENNA TATTOO ON NEWLY-SHAVED HEAD

Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o surprised her fans on social media with a new bold look. 

Lupita shared a series of photos wearing a colourful saree and rocking a stunning henna tattoo on her newly-shaved head during the opening of Monsoon Wedding Musical, which follows two Indian families as they come together for a wedding.

“I met @hennabysabeen last year at a wedding in Pakistan. She did the #HennaDesign for the bride and I was astounded by the intricacy and beauty of her work. There was something unique about the way she expressed herself in henna art. And I promised myself, “One day I will have a reason to work with Sabeen.” 1.5 years later, when I got the invitation to attend the opening night of my dear friend, Mira Nair’s @monsoonmusical, I was scrambling at the last minute to find something to wear.

I borrowed a sari and jewellery from @mishajapanwala, the bride from Pakistan, but the look didn’t feel complete. And then, in the middle of the night, an image shot into my mind of a henna design covering my bald head! I could do something special and different, to celebrate the culture using the canvas readily available to me! I was so excited by the idea that I could not go back to sleep. Misha connected me to Sabeen, and we were on our way.   

Sabeen had never designed for a head before; I had never done such a thing before either. My only prompt to her was that I wanted a widow’s peak (homage to the bindhi, borla / maang tikka), the rest was all her innovation. She suggested #jagua, a natural dye from the jagua fruit of South America that would be dark enough to give good contrast to my dark skin. “

Nyong’o said she was terrified at first and scared of looking funny, “We were both excited and terrified. What if it went wrong or looked funny? Well, I thought, I can always wear a head wrap. But Sabeen brought it! We stopped now and again so that I could give her feedback because she was determined to leave me a happy client. And Sabeen was meticulous. She did not stop until it was perfect. When we looked at the finished head. we were both grinning!”

She added, “It takes about 24 hours for the dye to really show up. And when it came in, in full contrast the next day, I was simply moved. It was beautiful. It was bold and elegant; it had a point of view. We had not played it safe, and it had paid off. And I had found a new way to express myself without hair! So the moral of this story is: Dare yourself to seek out beauty in new ways. And, Sabeen, thank you for bestowing on me the beauty of your hand and history!”