Finally! Oprah brought her curls and kinks out to play on the cover of O Magazine’s September 2012 Makeover Issue. Her editorial team explained the decision on Oprah.com:
For the first time ever, Oprah’s appearing on the cover of O without blow-drying or straightening her hair. She says that wearing her hair naturally—as she often does on weekends and on vacation—makes her feel unencumbered. But there was a time when she wanted to just cut it all off. “I wanted to wear it close-cropped a la Camille Cosby but her husband Bill convinced me otherwise. ‘Don’t do it,’ he said. ‘You’ve got the wrong head shape and you’ll disappoint yourself.’ I took his advice,” she says. Although, never one to shy away from a style update, Winfrey is a firm believer that changing your hairstyle can change what we see and feel is possible.
Oprah made a splash back in April 2009 when she revealed on Twitter that her thick, long hair is not a weave and posted this photo as proof:
It’s really cool to see Oprah rock her natural hair for a professional shoot, something she’s rarely done in the past. Ladies, what do you think of the magazine cover?
I love it!! Her hair looks full and healthy–go O! ;0)
Beautiful.
yes! absolutely amazing!
Love it. Can’t go wrong with big hair.
Whoa! Her hair looks beautiful, no matter how she rocks it, but I definitely do think she looks best on this cover with a head full of curls. I also understand her decision to straighten/flat iron often, especially with the busy schedule of her talk show back in the day.
what? I think blowdrying and straightening it would have been much more time consuming than wearing it natural. And let’s be real. Most times in the past O has rocked a weave. I wouldnt be surprised if she has a few tracks in her hair. But she indeed looks lovely.
Gorgeous! My sister kept telling me that she saw an episode of Oprah getting a relaxer on her behind the scenes show. I’ll have to show her this post and I may have to buy the issue. Relaxer or not, that is a gorgeous mane!
He stylist Andre Walker said he relaxed her hair on occasion, which to me is not natural, but it is beautiful nevertheless.
She looks absolutely fabulous! I’ll definitely be grabbing a copy of this issue off the racks.
Oprah has a relaxer her stylist just didn’t use heat(blow dry or flat iron). I think she looks great!!!
Jai, that’s exactly what I thought it looked like. It immediately reminded me of my relaxed days when I was too lazy to blow dry with the comb attachment.
This reminds me of when Tyra claimed she was showing her “natural” hair without the weave but she had a fresh perm lol.
Tyra kinda gets side-eyes from me when she preaches self-acceptance yet she CLEARLY has had one, if not more, nose jobs. Usually I don’t entertain stories like that but when I saw her younger pics compared to now, even Stevie Wonder could see the difference.
Also didn’t like how she chewed Yaya out as being “overly-defensive” when Yaya retorted to a white editor about “exaggerating her Black-ness” on Top Model.
tyra never meant natural in the terms that we mean it. she was just talking about her hair without a weave.
Both Tyra and Oprah mean natural hair as in hair without a weave. Oprah definitely has some relaxer in her hair (her hair is essentially texlaxed). Her stylist Andre does not believe that kinky hair can be styled easily without a relaxer (His version of styling is basically heat straightening and curling).
Both of these women made it clear that they use relaxers. They did both say however that they were showcasing their own hair which they refered to as natural hair.
Wow,nice breakdown JC. It seems the word natural means soooo much things it good to know which one is intended.
Oprah’s stylist is the one we havE to tahnk for for the Hairtyping we soo often debate on here O___o.
Wrong head shape my eye.
Love it! But then I am kind of an Oprah stan…so I love most things Oprah.
Very beautiful! Oprah looks very regal. She has inspired me to wear my hair out this weekend, which will be a break from my two-strand twists and braids.
And, she is right, a change in style can change your perspective and how you feel about yourself.
I feel more bold when my hair is wild and free.
“I wanted to wear it close-cropped a la Camille Cosby but her husband Bill convinced me otherwise. ‘Don’t do it,’ he said. ‘You’ve got the wrong head shape and you’ll disappoint yourself.’ I took his advice,” she says.
So help me, I can’t stand that “wrong head shape” line. It’s too often used to scare women away from natural hair styles by playing into insecurities about our looks. Anyone with any shaped head can wear natural hair – even a close cut. It’s all in the quality of the cut, keeping one’s hair conditioned, and having the confidence to carry the look. Telling someone, “You’ve got the wrong head shape….” is a confidence drain. How can what you’re born with be wrong?
+1
Not sure why you’re so defensive of Cosby’s reply…he’s a comedian….a comedian. I’d trust that if she truly wanted a males opinion, she’d ask her stylist or her boyfriend Stedman..#ijs
Mr. Cosby may be “a comedian”. But he’s also a respected, learned man, and Oprah’s friend. His comments influenced the way Ms. Winfrey wore her hair. I see nothing wrong with disagreeing with what he said.
Looks nice! But um, I gotta few questions:
How in good gracious did Oprah prevent heat damage, I mean 90% if not most of the time we see her she has straight hair, so she is getting it flat-ironed or blow-dryed I assume. Or does she wear wigs or pieces to protect her natural hair. It must be one or the other, no matter how careful you are I would think there’s bound to be a mishap with constantly wearing it straightened.
I don’t think Oprah would lie about her hair not being relaxed, however.
Ah maybe my brain is working too much. Back to work I go…
I’m not certain, but I think some hair is just more susceptible to heat damage than others. I’ve seen some people use heat on a regular basis that never get the kind of damage I get from a few tries with the blow dryer or flat iron. My hair is super kinky, coily and extremely resistant to heat or chemical changes. When I used heat, I had to use super high heat to get my hair straight. And it still was never really, really straight. Maybe some hair doesn’t need as much heat to straighten, hence less heat damage? Or maybe it’s just genetics? Anyhow, never assuming what works for someone else will work for me is what I try to keep in mind.
I think her hair does not get straightened as often as we think. She used to record like 5 shows a day, which means she could’ve done like 25 a week.
Which means if we watched her show for 5 weeks straight, it could have been her hair was only straightened once.
I think she looks great!!!
My first two years of being natural I wore my hair flat ironed. But I went to a professional who had a large natural clientele. It was not heat damaaged. When I decided to wear it it completely natural it just took some training and the right product.
Her blow out is GORGEOUS. I want her regimen.
Abuse of adobe photoshop should be a crime.
Wow!
I’d love to have seen it in person!
You go Oprah!!!! Love her hair!!!:)
At first I was distracted by the exteme photoshop on this cover but I do like the overall effect(very Diana Ross!!). the hair looks nice and full it kinda reminds me of relaxed hair that got wet and frizzy…lol I am confused…but then again there are so many ways to manipulate natural tresses.
I think this is a weave.
I have to call out ignorance when I see it. Oprah is not one to lie or hide things about herself. Why do some people always jump to say weave when you see a black woman with thick long hair like hers?
Basically all the beautiful women featured in this blog with similar hair must all therefore be rocking wigs and weaves?
So… Why in the world would she lie about it being her hair? This is a woman who openly admits to being raped as a child, and being promiscuous and having an abortion etc very personal and controversial things.. You are telling me she would lie about her hair after all that?? Really?
venus : WRONG. Oprah only shared her child promiscutiy and child bc her cousin revealed it. She didnt share it willingly.
Yes Oprah looks gorgeous as usual , but a part of me believes that there are a few extra pieces in their somewhere. I know it sounds kinda bad to even say that especially after she took a leap in going “natural” in the this picture. I saw the video of this photoshoot and the hair looked completely different then how it does in the actual photo. In the video her hair looked very much like a weave. Their is absolutely nothing wrong with weave I just don’t think it’s all her hair . . . Just my opinion