My Time at the Think Like a Man Too Hollywood Premiere and the Motions Gold Carpet

Did you guys go see Think Like a Man Too this weekend? Wasn’t it great! I was out in LA with the Motions Hair team for the movie’s premiere (Motions is the Official U.S. Hair Care Product Partner of the film) and had a great opportunity to get all dolled up and hit the #MotionsGoldCarpet to interview the stars of the movie. Not only that but I also got to chat beauty, men, and the movie with Taraji P. Henson as she was getting glammed up for the premiere by Motions Celebrity Stylist Ursula Stephen and celebrity makeup artist Ashunta Sheriff. Oh and of course some gold carpet selfies with the hot guys in the movie ;)

Photo: Sylvia G

Photo: Sylvia G

I ordered my dress ahead of time via Rent the Runway and the Motions team had it delivered to my hotel room so the first thing I did (right after marveling about how cute the hotel room was) was try on my options. I wound up wearing a Helmut Lang cut out dress and added some accessories to give it a little edge. I wanted something that was me but comfy (even though it’s a red carpet event, press is mostly in jeans and sneakers so I didn’t want to be overdressed—it’s not like I was IN the movie…lol). For hair I wanted to switch things up and go long with clip-ins. Hairstylist Tiffany Daugherty used Motions Light Hold Working Spritz to give me moveable curls that would hold up for the night and smoothed down my edges with Motions Shine Enhancing Pomade.

Photo: Sylvia G

Photo: Sylvia G

Then for my face, I asked makeup artist Brandy Allen to contour and highlight my face and to give me a bright cheek and a glossy nude lip. I LOVED everything about the look they gave me! Then after I put on my dress it was off to TCL Chinese Theatre to hit the #MotionsGoldCarpet!

With Kala from The KG Lifestyle and Karen from the Motions team

It was such a great experience being on the gold carpet! I along with the wonderful, amazing, and super cool Kala of The KG Lifestyle got to interview and snap pics with Michael Ealy, Jenifer Lewis, Mary J. Blige, Michelle Williams, and so many more. Make sure you check out my Instagram for tons of short video interviews from the gold carpet like this one:

Doesn’t Taraji look amazing and #fearless? Her makeup artist Ashunta Sheriff gave us the breakdown on her gold carpet look:

Skin:

Dior Lor DeVie Serum
Dior CC Spray Primer
Nurturing Force Eye Primer

Face:

Perfect Blend in Tan
Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Palette
Inglot Blush in #62
Magnolia Makeup Glo highlight

Eyes:

Naked Purple shimmers
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in black
NYX Gel Liner in Black
Cover Girl Bombshell mascara
Ardell lashes in wispies stacked

Brows:
Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow

Lips:

Black Opal Whim and Posh lipgloss

More Christian Dior…

On the inspiration for Taraji’s makeup look:

The inspiration was the color patchworks in the beaded gown. There was purple, mahogany, cream and pewter in the dress. I wanted to give her a look that was vibrant like her dress and play with color. Instead of a simple smokey eye with black, a jewel toned smokey eye was refreshing and looked new for Taraji. The skin was fresh and radiant which is a look for Taraji regularly. She’s a grown woman who has a hot career and holds down her own in Think Like a Man as her character Lauren and she’s not far off at all from her character’s work ethic. So we kept with the “Do You” theme of the night because Taraji truly is a woman who Does Her well!

How to Get “Lauren” hair:

If you’re looking to get that enviable “Lauren” hair (remember that FIERCE bob from the first Think Like a Man?), Motions Celebrity Stylist Ursula Stephen who glammed Taraji for the premier gave me these tips:

First every woman should invest in great at-home hair care. You go to the salon maybe once every two weeks so at the end of the day you spend more time with your hair than your hairstylist does. You want to basically keep going with the foundation your stylist has laid for you. So you need to baby and protect your hair—people don’t realize your hair is not as strong as you think it is. It needs to be covered at night—you must wrap your hair every night—even if you braid it up—you should still cover it. If you can’t do a head scarf, get a silk pillowcase. Heat should be used in moderation—your hair doesn’t have to be bone straight everyday. Conditioning is another important thing—your creams, your lotions should always say “hydrating” or “moisturizing” those are the keys things to look for.

How to get that amazing volume and body that Lauren has in the movie:

Roller sets. A lot of people think it’s old school but it’s the foundation to every hairstyle with great bouncy hair. Skip blowdrying as it can be too drying and go for a roller set. You can have straight hair but it still has body in it.

Taraji’s Gold Carpet Look

Photo: Brian To/WENN.com

“We were going for an effortless, just-woke-up look. I wanted to keep it polished and sexy but with movement to play off the sexy vibe of the movie.”– Ursula Stephen

How To:

• CLEANSE Start with clean, dry hair. For natural girls, use the Motions Straight Finish Cleanser

• CONDITION Use Motions Straight Finish Leave-In Conditioner for added shine and movement

• TREAT Seal the hair’s cuticle using the Motions Straight Finish Sealer and flat iron smooth

• FINISH Mist hair with Motions Light Hold Working Spritz and loosely wrap small wefts of hair around a 2-inch barrel curling iron

• STYLE Let hair cool, then shake out and separate curls with fingers to loosen the look

Products Used:

• Motions Straight Finish Cleanser

• Motions Straight Finish Leave-In Conditioner

• Motions Straight Finish Sealer

• Motions Light Hold Working Spritz

More Motions…

My Interview with Taraji:

My chat with Taraji was so much fun AND she’s a fellow Virgo! :)

In Think Like a Man Too the ladies go out for a bachelorette party in Vegas. What are your must-haves for the best girls night out?

First of all it has to start with my crew because we ARE the party. So I have the right girls together and we can go anywhere—all of the friends I have I’ve had since childhood so we’re really, really close. For us we always like to go somewhere tropical where cute men from different cultures wait on us hand and foot. And some champagne and mojitos. And chile once we get that rum in our system… {laughs}

Beauty must-haves for a girls night out—I definitely have to have whatever lip I’m wearing in the purse. I must have my oil blotting papers because I’m thinking the purse is very small. And I must have my phones and I think I would be good with that. That’s after Ashunta beats my face with her Perfect Face Perfect Blend foundation—because once you put that on you don’t really need anything.

In the first Think Like a Man, your character Lauren gave Dominic a bit of a hard time about his profession and then after a while she opened up to him and they were able to have a great relationship. What advice would you give to women who are dating and in a similar situation–there’s a lot of young women who are going after career and also want to date and get married but they run into those obstacles [perhaps meeting a guy who isn’t on their “list”]?

I mean—seeing as how I’m single, I don’t know if my advice is really going to do anybody any good, so here goes nothing. I guess you have to look for your friend. And sometimes they don’t all come perfectly neat—they won’t come with the perfect job, maybe they’re aspiring to get to the next level. I think once you both understand where you are in each other’s lives and if in fact you want to even work on the relationship, then you begin to work on it together. I mean—would I date a guy who didn’t make a lot of money…

[hilarious—one of the camera guys stopped doing what he was doing to listen INTENTLY for her answer and Taraji caught him…lol]

I can’t say never to anything but if we meet and he’s not making a lot of money but he does other things for my soul and for my spirit, I think I should explore that. I would be a shallow person not to because I could meet the next guy who makes a quadrillion dollars and he’s an a—-. It all depends on how the person nurtures or feeds your soul and that’s all we’re looking for as humans at the end of the day.

So everyone kept talking about how great Lauren’s bob was in the first movie and she has amazing hair because you have amazing hair. But as someone who is a busy actress who has to be on the red carpet, on set, and on magazine covers—how do you keep your hair so fabulous?

I’m into haircare. So even if I have a weave I’m taking care of my scalp and my hair as it’s braided under the weave. I wrap my hair when I have my hair out—even the weave hair I take care of because that stuff is expensive! So if I’m doing a straight look whether it’s my hair or the weave, I always make sure to wrap it. It’s less maintenance and less damage on your hair because it’s less heat to apply. Also when I’m wearing my natural hair I try to stay away from my edges as much as possible. I try to not use heat. I work out, too. You shouldn’t make any excuses not to work out because if you don’t have health, you don’t have healthy hair. Usually when I work out I wear a ponytail or top bun and that way when my edges get a little bit curly I just put a little bit of product on them so I’m not stressing it everyday with heat.

What’s your favorite Motions product?

My favorite Motions product would probably be the Light Hold Working Spritz–Ursula uses it on me. I don’t like a lot of alcohol on my hair, I hate a lot of product but that Light Spritz seems to work [so my hair isn’t weighed down].

Isn’t Taraji just wonderful? She’s even kinder and more beautiful and fun in person—if that’s even possible. And her full look at the premiere was just gorgeous! Celebrity stylist Wouri Vice dressed her in this to die for Kayat gown. She looked fantastic from head to toe.

I asked Michael Ealy what are three things he notices about a woman’s look

This was another incredible experience and sometimes I just have to pinch myself when opportunities like this come my way. Thanks SO much to the Motions Hair team for being so great and wonderful and inviting me along for this experience. One thing I also loved about being out on the gold carpet was being able to witness firsthand all the camaraderie amongst all the female stars—you know women–especially Black woman often get a bad rap for being catty and competitive but every time I’d interview any of the women and another female star passed by they would give them a hug or a kiss and tell then how much they love them. Warms my heart!

With the Motions team at the after party

Well that’s a wrap (and um—make sure you do like Ursula and Taraji mentioned and WRAP your hair…lol). Be sure to go out and see Think Like a Man Too if you haven’t already. It’s a hilarious movie for EVERYONE so be sure to check it out opening weekend. And in case you missed it, check out how I packed for this trip plus my LA photo diary :)

Disclosure: This post was created in sponsorship with Motions® Hair Care, a product line by Unilever.