The Transformer: Celebrity Hairstylist Ursula Stephen Knows How to Turn Heads

By Maiysha Kai via https://theglowup.theroot.com

There are hairstylists, and there are “architects of style.” Ursula Stephen is the latter. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-born hair maven earned her cosmetology license even before her high school diploma, honing her craft early while working in salons after school and on weekends.

Brooklyn is now the site of Stephen’s eponymous salon, a boutiquelike gem nestled in the center of the New York City borough’s rapidly gentrifying Fort Greene neighborhood (recently immortalized in 2017’s She’s Gotta Have It reboot). It’s where you’ll find Stephen when she’s not jetting around the world to cater to one of her celebrity clients.

What celebrity clients, you ask? Well, Kandi Burruss, Keyshia Cole, Remy Ma, Mary J. Blige, Kerry Washington, Serena Williams, Anita Baker, Laverne Cox, Nia Long, Jill Scott, Keke Palmer, Naomie Harris and Zendaya, to name a few. And then there’s this little-known singer named Rihanna, whom Stephen worked with for about a decade, crafting many of the chameleonlike star’s most famous transformations.

The two first met when both were on the verge of major breakthroughs; Stephen had recently signed with her first agent, and Rihanna was just …

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