Michelle Obama 'Always Embraced Her Natural Hair' Says Stylist

Former first lady Michelle Obama received a significant amount of praise this week after a picture of her surfaced wearing a low ponytail in its natural state. The internet went into a frenzy because the public had never before seen Obama’s natural hair throughout her eight years at the White House—and it wasn’t because she was ashamed of it either. In fact, her longtime stylist, Johnny Wright told Refinery29 Obama "always embraced her natural hair."

"I’m very particular about the health of her hair. I’ve always called myself a texture specialist, and I work well with keeping hair on the head," Wright said, adding Obama went back to her natural hair texture during Barack Obama’s first year in office.

"She has no relaxer anywhere on her hair, not even on the tips," he said.

Read: Where Is Michelle Obama? Former First Lady Surprises Cultural Exchange Students With Visit

Wright continued: "When your natural hair is growing out, that line of demarcation between the natural hair and your relaxer tends to break and pop. I made sure I kept it very soft and moisturized so she could keep her length as much as she could when she was going through that transition. I trimmed every four to six weeks, as I normally do, and that was it."

The trusted stylist said Obama doesn’t necessarily have a reason why she doesn’t showcase her natural hair to the public.

"She’s always embraced her natural hair. For the looks she was going for and the stories she wanted to tell, I styled her hair straight. There wasn’t any lack of embracing her curls. It’s just what she wanted to do... You have people who are going to love them, hate them, or be indifferent," Wright told the publication.

Also, the picture was very much recent, most likely during the Obamas’ recent vacation, Wright said.

"She just got back from vacation, I think, on Friday. I'm not sure if it was her going to the airport or coming back. But that is her, and it is recent."

In an August interview with Channel 4 News in the U.K., Nigerian-American author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said the public wouldn’t be as accepting if Obama wore her natural hair. In fact, she said, it would have prevented Obama, who was a senator at the time, from being elected as president.

"I’ve often said that if Michelle Obama had natural hair when Barack Obama was running for president, he would not have won,” Adichie said. "Because her natural hair would have signified certain things to people. It would signify that she’s some sort of militant, Neo- Black Panther, frightening …"

Since the photo surfaced, Wright seemed to think more women will actually start to embrace their natural state. "I do think that a woman of her complexion, with her figure and her hair texture, has given a whole lot of other women a chance to look in the mirror and say ‘I am beautiful, too’ because I have somebody representing me," he said.