Sarah-Jane Crawford Talks Non-Toxic Curl Care As Her Brand Launches In Superdrug

Originally published in Popsugar UK: https://www.popsugar.co.uk/bea...

Sarah-Jane Crawford is a British TV icon, kickstarting her career in the hit reality TV show "Shipwrecked", which saw a group of castaways struggle to survive on a deserted tropical island while competing for a huge prize. She went on to host Channel 4's "Freshly Squeezed", chatting with A-Listers like Nicole Scherzinger and Usher, presented at one of the biggest festivals in the world "T in the Park", and hosted the iconic "Mobo Awards". To British millennials, Sarah-Jane is a household name in entertainment, but to the new generation, the 40-year-old is making waves for bringing clean, non-toxic living to the curlspace.

Her haircare brand, Clean Curls, launched in Superdrug on February 12, and it celebrates Afro hair and curls in every form. The line also focuses on education, inclusivity and affordability, all while promoting the use of non-toxic ingredients. "I wanted to create an inclusive Afro hair range that celebrates natural hair and teaches you about maintaining your hair as well as defining your curls," Sarah-Jane tells POPSUGAR UK over Zoom.

Her personal natural hair journey started after three decades of chemically straightening her hair. "Essentially, I never gave myself the opportunity to learn about my hair texture at all," she reveals. "It wasn't even a case of me wanting to have European hair, I had seen it so much in Black culture from artists that I loved, like Monica."

"I never gave myself the opportunity to learn about my hair texture at all"

Indeed straight hair was a major part of the mainstream beauty standard in the early 2000s, and some felt pressure to wear silk presses or straight weaves in order to fit in at the workplace, Sarah-Jane included.

"I was already in my weave era, but in the world of TV, it was the unspoken rule to have long, swishy hair," she shares. "There was a little bit of undercover racism going on, not that anyone necessarily said anything, but there were microaggressions from people trying to make you more palatable."

Outside of her work, Sarah-Jane's health was taking a turn for the worst when she was hit with an endometriosis diagnosis, she found a lump in her breast, and a scan revealed that she had a "large, grapefruit-sized fibroid" in her stomach.

"Everything just seemed like it was getting worse for my health. I had the lump in my breast removed and the fibroid. When they removed [the fibroid] in surgery, they said, 'You've got this window of opportunity before it grows back. If you want to have kids, you should try soon because you've got all these things to worry about, endometriosis, fibroids and all the rest of it.'"

"I had an epiphany in 2015 where I was like, 'I need to clean up my life.'"

Her health concerns triggered an epiphany to "clean up her life" and kickstarted her clean-living journey. "I went strictly vegan. I'm not as strict now, but I'm still vegetarian. I haven't eaten meat in years. I stopped drinking alcohol in 2017 and then also stopped relaxing my hair. And funnily enough, since I stopped everything, the fibroid never grew back."

Sarah-Jane went on to have two gorgeous daughters, Summer, three and Bonnie, two, who are key members of the Clean Curls advertising team and part of the reason why she started the brand in the first place. "When I got pregnant with my daughter Summer, I knew I wanted to breathe life back into my own curls so that when I have her and she looks at me, she won't think: 'I want to be like my mum, but my mum's got straight hair so therefore I have to straighten my curls'," she says.

"I had all this knowledge of non-toxic living paired with my desire to build confidence in my children, and there we have the two pillars of the brand - detoxifying your body of all of the parabens, sulphates, endocrine disruptors, and detoxing your mind of feeling like you can't be your true self."

For Sarah-Jane, it's a dream come true to have Clean Curls join Superdrug's "insane selection of hair products for the coils, curls and waves." It's also a step in the right direction in terms of representation on the high street. "As someone who grew up in Peckham, obsessed with Black hair shops, sometimes, you just want to go to the high street shops and grab what you need. Retailers should take note and proactively look at ways they can bring in smaller, independent brands, not just to make their portfolio diverse, but to branch out to organic, healthier, and unique products."

"Retailers should take note and proactively look at ways they can bring in smaller, independent brands, not just to make their portfolio diverse, but to branch out to organic, healthier, and unique products."

The range, exclusive to Superdrug, includes complex curl products like a Detangling Water & Curl Refresher (£7), Super Shine & Define Curl Custard (£12) and a Multi-Use Vitamin E Oil (£7), to your basics with a twist, a Super Softening Shampoo (£9), Super Slip Detangling Conditioner (£9) and a 2 In 1 Leave In & Curl (£12).

The brand can be used by all ages and it's already loved by celebrities like Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Loose Women host Brenda Edwards, singer Rita Ora, and Peloton instructor Hannah Frankson. It caters to natural hair pros and beginners alike, as it offers education for people who are unsure of where to start with their curls. "I've had mums come up to me and say 'I still don't know what I'm doing with my kids' hair' so there's been an education void that I'm hoping Clean Curls fulfills."

Shop the Clean Curls range at Superdrug, in stores and online.