The relationship between a person and their hairstylist is sacred — even more so when that stylist is your mom. In this week’s episode of Hair Me Out, Zharia McRoberson gets 25-inch knotless braids courtesy of her mom, Lena Jaye, a celebrity hair artist. 

The captured style sesh was one of many regular appointments McRoberson has in her mom’s chair. “I mainly get my hair done by my mom for free because I’m her daughter,” McRoberson says. “My mom does my hair, like, every month.” This time, the style involves jumbo braids with wooden beads at the end. “I feel like hair and braids are a form of expression,” Jaye says. “I teach my daughter that her hair is beautiful in all stages. It can enhance her beauty, but it doesn’t define her beauty.”

To start, Jaye pre-sectioned her daughter’s hair before stretching it with a heat-powered brush. “Pre-sectioning the hair is my road map to protective styling,” she explains. Once Jaye separated her daughter’s hair, it was time to start braiding. McRoberson helped her mom by braiding the ends to complete each plait. When all of the jumbo braids were installed, Jaye decorated the ends with wooden beads. 

In an adorable moment, the teenager — already thinking ahead — envisioned an adult life where her mom wouldn’t be able to style her hair frequently. “When I leave home, it’s going to be a lot harder to find someone to do my hair because she’s not always going to be there to do it,” McRoberson says. “This is a bonding time for my mom and me.”

McRoberson’s final look is super-cute braids made with extra love. “I had really high expectations,” she says of her mom’s skills, “and she lived up to that.” Click play to see her style come to life. 

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