Hair attitudes - actress Halle Berry

Take a close look at Halle Berry and see if you recognize her from Jungle Fever. Was she one of the sisters sympathizing with Flipper Purify's wronged wife? Noooo. How about the screaming, cursing crack addict just surviving till her next encounter with the pipe? Believe it or not, that was Berry, in one of last year's most hellish roles--one that a lot of actresses wouldn't even consider. Currently, you can catch Berry in two costarring roles: She's an aspiring dancer and the love interest of Joseph C. Phillips in Strictly Business and an exotic dancer in The Last Boy Scout with Bruce Willis. Berry has also won a leading role in Eddie Murphy's upcoming comedy Boomerang, now in production, and you can see her frequently on television if you tune in to CBS's Knot's Landing. (The rumor mill also tried to cast Berry in the role of Mrs. Christopher Williams, but her publicist categorically denies that she has married the hot, hot singer.)

Halle Berry's recent work has established her as one of Hollywood's most seasoned young actresses and not just another pretty face. "I came into this business from beauty pageants, where I relied on my physical self," she says. "But I came out of Jungle Fever understanding a different level of myself. I gained more confidence in myself and in being an actress; I realized the importance of my spiritually."

Part of Berry's new confidence has to do with having found a way to deal with the industry's concept of Black beauty. "Hair is an issue in this industry," she says, "and I've suffered from too many hands, too many people who don't understand Black hair. Most people in television and film want our hair smooth and bone-straight." But Berry points to a number of Black actresses who resist the straight look: "Joie Lee, Lonette McKee, Rae Dawn Chong and Whoopi Goldberg are just part of a small group of working actresses who have their natural hair."

Berry has her own personalized lists of "wills" and "will nots" when it comes to her hair. Berry will not color her hair because she's found that process very drying, and she refuses to get a hair weave. She will only relax her hair for a job, but will not go bone-straight because it leaves her hair limp and very fragile. "When my hair is straight," she says, "I have to work harder, blowing it out all the time. And it requires more time for styling and conditioning." Instead Berry prefers her hair natural, saying, "It's stronger and sturdier and can take more." And she finds the length she's wearing on our cover this month just right for her. "I became a whole different person when I cut my hair short," she says. "This is a whole new look for me; I feel people see me now. I will never grow my hair long again!"

Caring for her hair is relatively easy. She washes it twice a week with a mild shampoo (and every day to get rid of product buildup when she's working), then follows with a strong conditioner and an oil treatment. When Berry is filming, she wraps her hair for a pixie look. Otherwise she wears it in a variety of ways (see photos, right).

VIVIAN SCOTT believes that dreadlocks are regal and spiritual: "They're something special, something private, something that is difficult for people of other races to emulate." Scott, who is the national director of A & R, Black Music Division at Epic Records, also chose locks to give her daughter a hard-core role model. "My hair says I'm proud of my heritage," she says. Scott's locks are tinted cinnamon-brown, and she's careful about conditioning them to counteract dryness. As far as convenience goes, Scott says, "I wake up in the morning knowing which way my hair will fall." Her hair was styled by Roland Copeland at Joseph Cione Salon in New York City. Body Jewelry, Eric Beamon at Showroom Seven. Ring, Mignon Faget at Metropolitan Design Group.

NIAMANI RICH says the style in which she wears her thick, soft hair is a reflection of her life: clean, healthy, natural. "I love the dynamics, energy and motion of my hair," she says, and has worn it natural for most of her life. A former dancer and a mom-to-be, Rich now managers a New York composer--musician and in her spare time makes jewelry and does beading. Rich finds natural hair versatile and wears hers in braids, cornrows and sculptured styles that she shapes with pins. She washes her hair once a week with Nexxus Therappe and conditions with Nexxus Humectress. She deep-conditions once a month with a cholesterol conditioner and regularly uses an oil she mixes herself, combining vitamin E, olive oil and other nourishing ingredients. Her hairstyle, called a twist-out, is by Diane DaCosta at Turning Heads Salon, N.Y.C., using Aveda Energizing Oil and Sebastian's Molding Mud. Earrings, Shimoda. Necklace, Billie Beads for The Loom Company.

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