As this writer nears her 15th birthday sporting natural hair, Strength of Nature Global is also lighting their 15 candles. The beauty brand established in 2000 commenced their 15th anniversary celebration with a host of journalists, beauty editors and bloggers during the Ultimate Jamaican Getaway 2015, held the first weekend in March. It was a welcome journey to paradise in the midst of a brutal winter in the States.
Sisters from Atlanta, New York/New Jersey and Los Angeles with varying hairstyles and textures were intimately tied during what organizers, SON Global and Finn Partners, dubbed simply as a press trip to launch Strength of Nature Botanical’s new products. It turned out to be an opportunity to do more than raise awareness of the brand as we bonded, gleaned insider tips, were educated and rubbed elbows with celebrity stylists Felicia Leatherwood and Pamela Hogan. And, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cultural charm: Montego Bay, Jamaica.
“I am excited to have you here. It is testament to what we do. As I look around the room, everyone here is so uniquely beautiful, gorgeous in their own right. At Strength of Nature, we make sure we’re not single-minded or single-focused. We have 12 tremendous brands, domestic and global. It’s our goal to touch every woman, because every woman has the right to choose their beauty their way. We believe she should be able to do it affordably and she isn’t compromised. We are a value-based leader,” shares Charlene Dance, global marketing director for Strength of Nature
The five-star treatment and member’s only privileges at the Royalton White Sands Resort where we flashed our Diamond Club wristbands was only the beginning of a weekend filled with an arrival night performance by reggae singer Etana and exciting excursions, including cruising Jamaica’s exotic coastlines on an Island Routes Catamaran and tubing down the Martha Brae River – activities I’d traditionally balk at because I feared my fate, an impending natural hair war.
SON’s beauty catalog includes African Pride, Dream Kids, ElastaQP, SoyOYL, Profectiv, Relax & Refresh, GrowthRenew, MegaGrowth, SmartPerm, Strong & Healthy, Soft and Beautiful and Profectiv Professional which are sold primarily in beauty supply stores and leading food, drug, and discount retailers and moderately priced.
During this girls’ weekend, in between sipping Bob Marleys, rum punch and taking beach selfies, we had our pick of products including my faves — Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter, Soft & Beautiful Botanicals Ultra Nourishing Oil Treatment and Beautiful Textures Edges to Ends Silkener — that kept my hair soft and manageable and allowed flexibility to cornrow, flat twist, or simply rock my natural coils.
“This has been an amazing experience,” adds Dance. “We are very excited and have to thank the Jamaica Tourist Board, Finn Partners and Helen Shelton for their partnership.”
Follow my fun in paradise diary on social media using the hashtags: #SoBeautifulInJamaica, #IAmRollingOut, #BeautifulTextures, #MyPrideMyWay
