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Jenny Strebe of Scottsdale, Arizona, knew her daughter, Magnolia Skye, had an interest in hair when she was just 2-½ years old—as many girls do, playing with her Barbies’ hair or combing and styling a mannequin head.

But  recently, Magnolia’s skills have come front and center—and on newsfeeds and media outlets left and right. And for good reason: At just 5 years old, Magnolia can whip up impressive braided buns, perfectly curled swoop updos, textured triple-flower buns and playful ponytail bun braids (what, you didn’t learn these styles in beauty school? That’s because Magnolia named them herself!)

When @modernsalon shared Magnolia's work on our Instagram page, the gushing comments came poring in. “That will be my future daughter!” “Wow, her updos are way better than mine!” “This is unreal!” “How is a 5-year old so good at updos?” Strebe knew her daughter’s hair skills were something special—and that’s exactly why she’s helping to share those talents with the world.

Strebe has spent the past four years building up a loyal fandom on Instagram and YouTube, and she is best known for her updo skills and braiding. She’s deep in building out a space for her YouTube tutorials and had all of her mannequin heads at home.

“I was practicing some new techniques, and Magnolia wanted to as well,” Strebe says. “I gave her a doll head and some bobby pins and continued to do my thing. The next thing I knew, I looked over and she was actually doing some cool hairstyles! I said, ‘Hold on. I’m grabbing my camera!’ and started recording her.”

Because Strebe has an Instagram following now at 321,000 (@theconfessionsofahairstylist) it wasn’t long before her fans took notice of Magnolia’s talents and wanted to see more. Magnolia’s skills have received so much attention that Strebe launched a dedicated Instagram profile to showcase her daughter’s work. In the first two weeks, the aptly named @confessionsofaminihairstylist already has a following of more than 15,000.

And her love of beauty doesn’t just stop at hair; Magnolia loves makeup, fashion and nails too.

“She doesn't pay too much attention, but I like to think she dresses herself a little like Punky Brewster,” Jenny says. “She's always mixing and matching. She loves any excuse to wear makeup—which is usually just lipgloss—and goes to the nail salon regularly with me.”

Although Magnolia will never let her mom style her hair (“She only wants to wear it down and plain. But I do too, so maybe that rubbed off on her.”), Strebe says she is obsessed with Disney’s Princess Belle’s bun and soft curls down the side.

“She has her first hair gig this weekend,” Strebe says. “My friend launched a kids clothing line, and Magnolia is going to do the hair for it. It’s like a dream come true for me. This fashion designer friend, Tiffe Fairmaint, used to do adult fashions, and I used to do the hair for her big shows, so it’s only suiting that Magnolia does the hair for this one.”

Magnolia recently started playing around with rollers and has shown an interest in haircolor—so who knows what the future will hold for her. If her mother’s skills can provide us any glimpse into the future, Magnolia is just getting started.

 

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