NEW YORK – First, she gave fans Disco Beyonce. Then, she gave them Cowboy Beyonce. And now? Get-Ready-With-Me Beyonce.

American pop star Beyonce recently shared a rare glimpse of her wash day routine in an unpolished video to promote her new haircare line, shocking many with an in-depth look at her real hair.

In February, the 42-year-old announced the line, Cecred, a collection of eight haircare products that uses luxury ingredients and encourages a ritualistic practice to achieve healthy hair. Inspired from her childhood experience of growing up sweeping inside her mother’s hair salon, Beyonce said she wanted to bring her mother’s “teachings to life”, according to the brand’s website.

News of the brand was met with excitement from fans, but also scepticism from some who felt as if she lacked credibility. While performing and in public appearances, her hair is almost always tucked away in wigs or supplemented with weave extensions.

Apart from its function as a commercial for the products, the video also appears to be the singer’s way of addressing some of the backlash and doubt she has received.

What happened?

On April 22, a video was posted on Beyonce’s Instagram profile featuring a close-up of the star’s long, curly hair being washed, conditioned, straightened and styled using Cecred products.

In the video, which was shared about two months after the brand’s debut, she said she was finally ready to show how it has helped her hair. (The name of the brand is a portmanteau combining the end of her name with the word “sacred”.)

“It has been such a special experience seeing all of your #cecredwashday rituals all over my timeline,” she wrote in the caption. “I just had to join in with something I had in the archives.”

In the clip, Beyonce’s long-time hairdresser Neal Farinah parts and combs her hair in different directions, showing up close that it is indeed sprouting from her scalp.

“The stigma and misconception is that people who wear wigs don’t have long and healthy hair,” she said in a voice-over, adding that the belief was not true.

Why are people obsessed with the length of Beyonce’s hair?

Beyonce’s hair has been scrutinised for years. Usually spotted in wigs and braids, the singer has mostly styled her hair with extensions, as many celebrities do. But her long-time use of weaves has made it hard for some to believe that her hair is as long as it appears in the video.

These claims have driven her fans, her hairstylist and even her mother, Ms Tina Knowles, to attest publicly that Beyonce is wearing weaves by choice, not out of necessity.

In a since-deleted video shared on Instagram in 2019, Ms Knowles combs through her daughter’s dark brown, waist-length hair in an effort to shut down rumours. The video was reposted by Mr Farinah, who captioned the video: “What weave what wig. Yes yes all natural.”

And in 2017, Ms Knowles posted a photo on Instagram showing her daughter’s real blonde hair in a low ponytail.

Do you need to have long hair to have a credible haircare brand?

While it certainly can help, no. For example, the founder of Sundial Brands, which is the manufacturer behind popular beauty brands such as SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage, is bald.

Why is it so hard to believe Beyonce has long hair?

There is a long-standing stereotype that black women’s natural hair can grow only so long, leading some to believe that black women wear weaves because they are pretending to have long hair or are assimilating to white beauty standards.

In reality, many black women can grow long and healthy hair just fine, but the stigma persists.

Black women have long been pioneers of hair innovation, leveraging natural textures whose versatility can be used to create practically limitless different hairstyles. Weaves and braids are also protective styles, since Afro-textured hair can take time and attention to style and maintain.

Braids and weaves can make visits to the pool or the gym more manageable, for instance, and having a protective style requires fewer hair products to pack while travelling, saving luggage space. When properly cared for, these styles can result in length retention by reducing daily hair manipulation.

What did Tina Knowles have to say about these latest developments?

Ms Knowles later reposted a video featuring audio of American comedian Katt Williams bragging about his long, natural hair without the use of a perm. The clip, which she shared on her Instagram account with a cheeky caption, included an image of Beyonce and her natural hair. NYTIMES