As a natural girl of five years and entrepreneur in the beauty space for two, Kim Lewis realized the benefits of making her own hair care products first hand. After researching recipes for hours, shopping for ingredients for another hour and then mixing ingredients together, she found the entire process taxing. That’s when she realized something had to be done. She put a few ideas together and birthed CurlMix, a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) box for curly hair.
“Each mix will have a bonus element,” says Lewis. “This element can be mixing and matching ingredients for different treatments, or the hair product may double as something for the skin, or we may include an all-natural product from a company that pairs very nicely with the mix. It all depends on the ingredients in that month’s box.” Sound like fun? Tap into your inner chemist and get on the list to subscribe now at curlmix.com.
ESSENCE.com: What’s the inspiration for the launch?
Kim Lewis: I thought for sure there would be a subscription box that packaged natural ingredients for naturalistas to mix their own hair products. When I saw that there wasn’t, I considered starting it myself. I knew I had to validate the idea and discuss its viability with a few industry experts. I reached out to Erica Douglas of SisterScientist.com for logistical and sourcing input, Francheska of HeyFranHey to narrow down the target market, and Mae of NaturalChica.com to add value to the box. After such an incredible response from heavy hitters in the industry, I knew I had to make CurlMix.
ESSENCE.com: What can we expect from the box?
Lewis: CurlMix is the DIY box for curly hair. Because this product is in the DIY space, we know that naturals can research, shop, and mix it themselves, without us. However, CurlMix is for the aspiring DIYer. It is for the naturalista who doesn’t have the kind of time or money DIY projects usually consume. It’s also for the naturalista who doesn’t want to assume the risk with buying up the whole grocery store for products she may not like. CurlMix allows you to test several recipes before hand.
ESSENCE.com: Why do you think the DIY for natural hair concept taking off?
Lewis: Natural hair women are more educated than ever about their hair. After giving up the “creamy crack” we began to wonder what other chemicals are we unknowingly putting into our hair. As a result, we began to read more labels and realize that often times we are being bamboozled. As the natural hair industry grows, it gets harder to trust companies who care more about the bottom line than our scalps. In an effort to know exactly what’s in our products, we resort to the DIY projects because it provides the peace of mind we need. There’s no guessing involved in the ingredients, you know exactly what is going into your hair.
ESSENCE.com: What makes CurlMix so unique?
Lewis: CurlMix is unique because we aren’t just providing you with popular products in your local grocery store. We are providing naturals with an experience, the power of truly knowing what’s in your product, while saving you several hours, a couple hundred dollars, and the risk associated with DIYing. We are the only subscription box that allows the influencer of the month to take a real stake in the process and allow them to choose what ingredients are in the box. It’s almost as if they are personally sending you one of their favorite recipes. Knowing that they have tested it, approved it, and recommends it, provides so much peace of mind. You can’t beat that!
