Sweden’s Natural Hair ‘Trailblazers’ Elizabeth And Victoria Lejonhjärta Landed A

I have been curious about these two for a long time, mostly because their pictures are stunning and their background is also quite interesting.

Elizabeth Lejonhjärta and Victoria Lejonhjärta, are identical twins from Sápmi, Sweden, who you can find on social media showing off hip length locs and inspiring photo’s of their twin life.

Then the ultimate thing happened; they got interviewed by Vogue Magazine and we got a chance to get to know them just a little better. Vogue took the time to really get to know the girls and touched a lot on their locs and what the natural hair scene is like in Sweden.

About their background:

To begin, we’re curious about your backstory: Where are you from? Where did you grow up? What do you guys do for a living? You seem to be constantly traveling and always outdoors, whether camping or surfing!

We call ourselves Afro-Sami, since we are from a lot of places: Sweden, Sápmi, Gambia, and Senegal. Our family has spread out through the world, but we grew up in the northern regions of Sweden, accurately Sápmi, in a household that was semi-Caribbean. We like to think we’re from earth—in spite of occasional doubts.

Vogue also asked them about their locs:

How long have you been growing your gorgeous locks? What was the impetus behind you locking your hair?

We’ve grown them since we were ten. Our mum, who shaped them, and our father were both ’locked, so it came naturally.

We thought it would make us look cool, which it did—only other kids didn’t quite realize that. We are fortunate enough to have lots of siblings, mostly brothers, all on different continents. Our youngest brother, Malcolmx Lejonhjärta, outgrew our lock game a long time ago.

How do you take care of your locks? Do you have a daily/nightly routine? Any products you swear by?

We have a very simple routine: We wash without additives and we moisturize. Raw coconut oil*, shea butter*, and jojoba oil* are our closest allies, and have pledged their allegiance to us in the war against climate. Winter is coming!

The girls have a serious eye for art and photography which is what makes their Instagram very interesting and definitely worth exploring if you need some inspiration. Many of their pictures are done fresh faced and together which often illustrates their unspoken twin connection.

In the Vogue piece they talked about their twin connection saying that they felt sometimes that they have three minds, one each and then one that is mutual between them both.

The girls also talked a little bit about the natural hair community in Sweden, mentioning that it is definitely up and coming. They attribute its growing popularity to fact there is very minimal black representation there and that most of the ‘stuff’ that surrounds natural hair is pretty much a grass roots movement linked to social media.

The minimal representation of black people in parallel with a distinct beauty norm has resulted in us barely even knowing what to do with our own hair.

Although the community has been growing a lot recently—much due to a forum on Facebook called “Afrotalk,” created by Sofie Bariamikael. People share their hairstyles, tips, products, questions, et cetera. It’s a grassroots movement. We love it.

The girls also mentioned the women that they admire, which includes the Quann sisters, Willow Smith and like many of us they like Zendaya and were particularly impressed with how gracefully Zendaya handled the backlash she received about her own faux locs earlier this year.

This year we saw the whole controversy surrounding Zendaya’s dreadlocks at the Academy Awards, and she handled the backlash beautifully.

Have you ever experienced any backlash towards your locks, and if so, how did you handle it?

Locks, as well as many black hairstyles and even hair types, are often stigmatized and deemed unsophisticated. To break free from this, to embrace one’s natural hair is to embrace one’s individuality. Beauty and power lies there.

To be honest we are proud of these girls, they are very creative and it isn’t often that you hear about the natural hair movement in other Northern countries so it was refreshing to read their piece.

In addition to that we have to mention that Vogue isn’t known for this type of expression (if I can call it that), they tend to touch the natural hair movement only from the perspective of women who typically do not have afro textured hair.

How many times have you seen an article about women with locs in Vogue? This was my first time, and they handled it well if you ask me, they still have some growing to do but this was a great addition to the conversation.

Pretty soon we might see some women within our own shores who are not the typical celebrity featured in Vogue in all their natural glory . If you want to learn more about Elizabeth and Victoria, read the full article here.