Kaavia James traded her Shady Baby title for a princess tiara, and she couldn’t be more adorable. The 5-year-old daughter of Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade reached a big girl beauty milestone recently, and she celebrated by dancing like royalty.
“I think i’m ‘pressed’ ???? #firstsilkpress,” the Bring It On alum captioned a video of her daughter. The clip shows Kaavia getting her hair shampooed, conditioned and pressed for the first time! (In case you aren’t aware, a silk press is a process of straightening a Black woman’s hair without the use of chemicals, leaving it silky smooth.)
After washing her hair with her mom’s Proudly products, Kaavia then sits in a chair and shakes her head to show off her natural curls. She has bright pink-and-white eyeshadow on with little flowers under her eyes, and pajamas from Disney’s Wish on. She smiles for the camera as the stylist runs a flat iron through her strands. By the end, her hair is straight and shiny!
“Ready?” Union asks her daughter, holding one hand over her eyes as they stand in front of a mirror. When Union removes her hand, Kaavia lights up, instantly reaching out to touch her hair. “I love it!” she declares with a smile.
She shakes her hair back and forth and gives her mom a huge hug. At one point, she slides a plastic gold tiara in her hair and twirls in front of the mirror, clearly too excited to stand still. “Now I don’t have to put my old wig on!” she says. I know that’s right!
“You can always go to your curls,” Union reminds her. But Kaavia is already focused on her smooth hair. “Coco doesn’t have natural hair, she has like tangled hair,” she tells her mom. The camera cuts to show Coco, a doll with a rat’s nest head of hair on top of her head. “Yeah, Coco’s hair … We might need a different session for that,” Union responds, making the stylist laugh off camera. Oh Kaavia, you always know how to keep it real!
In the comments, people were praising Kaavia’s first silk press. “A girl’s first press is so special! Thank you for sharing! From shady baby to little lady ❤️????,” one person wrote. Someone else encouraged, “
That’s right babygurl put on your rcown ????????????”
“Beautiful! She said she don’t have to put her old wig on no mo! ????????❤️” another said. One person pointed out the shade Kaavia threw to her doll. “Not Coco catching strays for her tangled hair ????????????,” they wrote. Even with a tiara on, Shady Baby is still Shady Baby!
The Space Cadet star has been teaching her daughter about body confidence and loving her natural hair since she was a baby. “Teaching @kaaviajames to love every part of herself is a full time job with no days off but I approach it as an act of love,” she wrote on Instagram in July 2022. The video shows her and Kaavia with their natural hair, with her praising her daughter’s “puffy” hair and calling it beautiful.
“From the time Black girls are born, folks are checking our ears and nail beds to see how dark we might be or the incessant commentary about what ‘grade’ of hair our kids might have,” she continued. “All our parts are up for discussion and often times, scorn. I want Kaav to feel beautiful and powerful in EVERY room she walks into no matter who is standing next to her. Her beauty, her power, her love, is HERS. I want her to be free of Eurocentric beauty ideals and embrace all our glory.”
Union continued, “She will know that loving all of herself in no way diminishes the love that others have for themselves. Being unique and amazing arent qualities reserved for a few, they are our birthright and we claim it. ????”
I absolutely love that! Whether her hair is straight or curly, Kaavia will know that she is beautiful from the inside out because her mom has made sure to instill those thoughts in her head. Way to go!
Before you go, check out Kaavia James’ very best ‘Shady Baby’ moments.
