Despite her A-list status and staggering net worth, Rihanna has always been one to keep it real. Most recently, she opened up about her experience with postpartum hair loss after she gave birth to her sons RZA and Riot.
When speaking with Refinery29, the singer shared that she experienced postpartum hair loss, explaining that it took her by surprise. “That was not on the pamphlet,” Rihanna says in the video. “And I did not expect it to happen in waves either. I thought it would just happen and grow back.”
“But it went this spot, then this spot, then this spot,” she continues in the video, gesturing around her head. “And at this point you’re just like, ‘alright, enough is enough.’”
Many mothers can relate to what Rihanna described—in fact, most people who give birth experience postpartum hair loss, according to a 2013 article published in the journal BioMed Research International. Due to hormonal fluctuations, it’s common to experience reduced hair shedding during pregnancy, but then deal with hair loss two to four months after childbirth, according to the article.
It’s also common to notice hair loss in chunks, as Rihanna described. “Some new mothers may notice ‘clumps’ of hair loss around their scalp, beginning as early as six weeks postpartum,” New York dermatologist Dhaval G. Bhanusali, MD previously told NewBeauty.
All facets of hair care have surely been top-of-mind for Rihanna lately, and not just because she personally went through postpartum hair loss. The singer recently announced that her beauty brand Fenty would expand to include Fenty Hair, which launched yesterday. The brand is focused around catering to all hair types and repairing damage.
Fenty Hair was four years in the making, meaning it was well underway when Rihanna went through her postpartum hair loss. At the time, she took it as an opportunity to become imaginative. “I also tried to embrace [the hair loss] in and of itself,” she said in the Refinery29 interview. “That actually just made me get a little more creative and clever with my hairstyles.”
