She Tried the Teyana Taylor Pixie — Then Teyana Pulled Up

When Teyana Taylor debuted her now-iconic curly pixie, it was the kind of cut that makes you pause mid-scroll. Short. Sculpted. Feminine without looking too fussy. Chanell Sykes, a content creator known for her humor and DIY beauty attempts, did publicly what many of us have done in private. She tried it. Almost immediately, she knew it was not going the way she imagined.

“Honestly, [I knew] about three seconds into that first curl I combed out,” she told MadameNoire with laughter. “The vision was there but the execution started humbling me fast. The curls were doing their own thing, it was just…sad. I remember looking in the video while recording thinking…yeah, this is not giving what I thought it was gonna give. That’s when I laughed and just leaned into the moment.”

The internet did what the internet does. The clip traveled. It sparked commentary. Her husband, Dother, jokingly asked if she was going for Teyana Taylor in Hidden Figures because the look skewed more 1960s than modern glam. What could have been embarrassing became a turning point for Chanell.

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The Look That Started It All

When Chanell first saw Teyana Taylor rocking the curly pixie, it felt personal.

“It was bold but soft at the same time,” she says. “It felt effortless, confident, feminine, and unapologetic. She has always been one of my hairstyle inspirations as a fellow short hair queen.”

There is something distinctly communal about Black women and hair. We see it. We screenshot it. We try it. We tweak it. We claim it as our own interpretation, but when you attempt a look inspired by someone whose glam squad includes some of the best in the business, you’re stepping into a different arena.

Chanell knew her community would laugh with her. She did not anticipate what happened next.

“I posted it thinking my community would laugh with me and keep it moving. Seeing it travel that far felt unreal. I kept thinking, is this really real??”

It was.

The clip went viral. It was picked up by The Sherri Shepherd Show. Along the way, Teyana commented that she’d just come to do it herself.

If you’ve been online long enough, you know that celebrity comments are often just that. Comments. Supportive, kind, fleeting. Chanell wasn’t naive.

“I definitely thought it was one of those moments where you smile, say thank you, and don’t expect anything else until the second comment came,” she says. “At that point I felt something may really come from this. I appreciated the gesture but I didn’t fully let myself believe it until it actually happened.”

Teyana and her glam squad, hairstylist Nikki Nelms and makeup artist Yeika Glow, showed up.

“[It was] very sisterly. Just women in a room laughing, talking hair, sharing tips so I can go home and love my pixie,” Chanell says. “They were so welcoming and gracious. It felt safe…not intimidating at all. Plus, my husband Dother was with me too and he is always my comfort and safe space.”

Teyana reinforced something Chanell needed to hear in that room.

“She really reinforced the idea of standing ten toes down in who you are,” Chanell says. “Sharing beauty and hair tips to help complete and look and for me to learn for myself. Just owning your presence and letting people catch up to it.”

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The Architect Behind the Pixie

The pixie that inspired the viral moment didn’t materialize out of thin air. Behind it is celebrity hairstylist Nikki Nelms, who shared some behind-the-scenes moments of achieving this look for Taylor’s recent Saturday Night Live appearance with MadameNoire.

For the SNL look, Nelms leaned into what she describes as “very her — a cool and chic pixie.”

“Although there aren’t as many flips as we have been doing lately, it was still super cute,” Nelms explains.

If you’ve ever wondered how celebrity hair looks sculpted but not stiff, the answer is both technique and product.

“It’s SNL, so everything was super-fast,” Nelms says of styling under pressure. “I finger styled more with this look and made sure to keep the fly aways to a minimum.”

Her go-to products for defining and maintaining shape on Teyana were KISS Colors & Care Edge Fixer Gel Max Hold and the KISS Colors & Care Hair Edge Fixer Wax Stick Max Hold.

“Both helped me with those defining pieces, especially the ones that framed her face,” she says.

Nelms is clear about what she enjoys most about working with Teyana.

“We have worked together for a bit now, and I enjoy the collaboration and creativity we find in each look. This is also a major moment, and I love experiencing huge moments with my clients.”

For Nelms herself, “This is another huge moment I can proudly say that I was a part of!”

Viral But Earned

There’s a difference between a fluke and a breakthrough. Although this moment has catapulted Sykes in front of a new audience, she has been diligently working as a content creator, sharing a heartfelt video about her journey just last May. Since then, Chanell has kept busy reaching her goals. In addition to other well-performing content–and even a fragrance launch–she has steadily checked things off of her list of goals. As a result, she doesn’t consider this shift in her life a lucky break.

“It feels surreal but also earned,” she says. “I stayed when it was uncomfortable, confusing, and quiet. This moment feels like God’s timing and alignment. I just kept telling myself, ‘Whatever it is, I’m believing God for it.’”

That confidence wasn’t always attached to validation. Sharing what she had to believe about herself before the external validation showed up, she said, “I was enough without it. My voice, my humor, and my community mattered even if nothing ever went viral. Once I believed that, everything else followed.”

When her clip appeared on national television, Chanell felt the weight of it.

“Overwhelming in the best way,” she says. “It was one of those moments where you pause and really say thank you. To God, my husband, kids and mom for always supporting me, and to myself for continuing to show up.”

Her advice to her past self is simple: “Post the video. Even when it’s messy. Matter of fact…especially when it’s messy,” which might be the thesis of this entire moment.

Sometimes, if you keep the camera rolling, the person who inspired the look pulls up, sits down, and makes it right.

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