Sisters Makenzie and Malia Fowler Effortlessly Combine Pop Culture With Haircare

Meet Makenzie and Malia Fowler—the sister duo taking the internet by storm. Born a year and a day apart from each other, the Fowlers have spent their later teen years and now early 20s sharing their natural hair journey through everything from detailed tutorials to "get ready with me" videos across social media platforms, including TikTok and YouTube.

Most recently, the two have become the new faces of Briogeo's 10-year anniversary campaign and started their podcast Big Sis Energy, where they talk about everything from curly haircare to the importance of staying true to yourself. I caught up with Makenzie and Malia ahead of the premiere of their first podcast episode and learned just how much more these two have in store for their followers. Keep reading for the sisters' favorite protective styles, beauty tips, product must-haves, and more. 

How and when did you learn how to take care of your curly hair? Looking back, would you have done anything differently?

Malia: Oh my gosh, this is such a good question! I learned how to do my curly hair from YouTube and social media. Growing up, because our mom has different textured hair than we do, she always straightened it. She couldn't teach us how to do our hair since it was so different from hers.

I took it upon myself to do some research online, which really helped me become confident in wearing my curls because I saw that I could actually do it! It was hard because I used to straighten my hair a lot when I was younger and decided to start my natural haircare journey as a sophomore in high school. I'm really glad I did!

Makenzie: We're five years deep now. (I was 15, and she was 16.) We straightened our hair from sixth grade until the end of our freshman year of high school and were using heat consistently. A big part was learning how to get rid of that heat damage, which was hard, but I'm glad we did because here we are with our curls now. 

I remember straightening my hair every day before school to make sure it was pin straight. Because I was always around peers who had straight hair, I didn't feel confident in my own hair because I felt different. But now, I think it's so cool to be different. It's beautiful!

Coming from those experiences, what led you to your decision to share your hair journeys using social media?

Makenzie: We learned how to do our hair on YouTube! There were three "curly girls" that had similar textures to us, and I was like, "Oh my gosh, they rock their curls! Maybe ours could look good one day." Being that person for somebody else could save them time and money while they try different products.

Malia: It's so cool because when we started our hair journey, we didn't really have anybody. So being that person for other people and saving them time is all I really care about. If I could help somebody out, then that would be amazing.

Makenzie: With curls, it's trial and error. Malia and I are very similar looking, and we may use the same products, but our hair is still very different! We have to figure out what works for ourselves.

With so much discourse online over natural hair, what do you hope your viewers will take from your platforms?

Malia: The main thing I hope they take away from what we do is that natural hair is beautiful, and you can embrace it. I know sometimes it can be scary because taking the next step in your natural hair journey may not be what you expect. Once I actually took the time to learn how to do my curly-hair routine, I realized how good they can look! 

Makenzie: Malia and I also do protective styles. I love some knotless braids, Fulani braids, and cornrows to switch it up. For me, the key has been finding ways to play with my look without damaging or changing the state of my naturally beautiful curly hair.

It was a big learning step for me because I used to straighten my hair to fit in with other people. Now when I want to change my hair, it's for me. Maybe I don't want to do my curly hair for the next month, so I put in a protective style! It's not to please other people.

Have you learned any helpful beauty tips from each other?

Makenzie: She uses a lot of brushes to get more defined curls. I've always had some problems with definition and volume. Malia uses the Denman brush to style as well as the new Bounce Curl brush that just launched—it's amazing! I learned that from her.

Malia: A go-to tip that I've learned is for my eyebrows. They're so thick and always move around, and I can never find an eyebrow gel that slicks them up so they'll stay put. I started using the Göt2b styling gel on my edge brush to shape them, and they'll stay high and dry all day.

Since we're talking about beauty tips, is there anyone you look to for beauty inspo?

Makenzie: We have the same person—Rihanna! She's a music icon but is such an inspiring businesswoman. She started Fenty Beauty and offered so many different shade ranges, opening up the industry to be inclusive to everyone. That's something we need. 

Malia: We've always looked up to her because it's something we want to do someday. She also did that black-lipstick look. It was so iconic, bold, and beautiful! She takes risks knowing not everyone may think it looks the best, but she's not afraid to go big and make it work.

You have five minutes to leave the house. What are your biggest beauty must-haves to take with you?

Makenzie: I always do a leave-in since sometimes my hair is frizzy! I'll spray my hair with some water, then use the Curl Charisma Leave-In Defining Cream from Briogeo and throw it in a messy bun.

Malia: If I have five minutes before I go, I'm either going for a ponytail or a claw clip before grabbing Briogeo's Farewell Frizz Leave-In Conditioning Spray, which gets it wet enough to slick it back and pull it up, leaving out some face-framing pieces.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Makenzie: Little Kenzie would not believe she's wearing her hair curly right now or that we make videos about it. A big tip I would give my younger self is that your hair is beautiful, and you don't have to change it to please other people. I would tell myself to put down the flat iron and let the curls thrive.

Malia: I had a terrible eyebrow phase. I plucked my eyebrows, and they were super thin, and I was worried they wouldn't grow back, but they did! I would tell my 10-year-old self to not pluck them and to avoid using a razor down the center of them for the unibrow.

Do you have advice for anyone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Makenzie: My biggest advice is to be genuine and authentic to who you are as a person. I hate when people say how saturated social media is. It's not too saturated because no one has experienced life like you have. If you're able to put yourself out there and share who you are, the right people will find you. And maybe you'll make besties on the internet! 

Malia: Not being afraid to be yourself, post content, and put yourself out there. When we first started, that was the biggest barrier for me. Once I got over acting based on what other people thought about me, it got us where we are today.

Congratulations on your podcast! Is there anything you can tell us about what's planned?

Malia: We do a lot of short-form content on TikTok, and it's really fun, but people haven't gotten to know our true personalities yet. I really wanted to show that on a platform and felt like doing a podcast was the best way to go because we can share more about ourselves while getting to know our followers. We wanted to go for a slumber-party vibe, where we could give our advice and open up conversation.

Makenzie: When I think about my younger self at 14 going into high school, I truly needed some advice because I was so insecure. Now that we've gone through it, I feel like we have a different perspective. If you're not staying true to who you are, then none of it matters because you're compromising your character. We want to touch on our experiences and give advice based on them, which is why we called our podcast Big Sis Energy.

Malia: We are so excited for Big Sis Energy, and it comes from the heart. We have a younger sister, and we always have such genuine conversations. It's just the girls, and we're talking about everything from boy drama and relationship advice to toxic friendships and maintaining certain boundaries in your life. Creating a safe space is what Big Sis Energy is all about.