In the early 2000s, Mahisha Dellinger was transitioning from a relaxer to natural hair and found that the niche was fairly small and the quality of the products being marketed for textured hair left a lot to be desired. Seeking the perfect product, Dellinger began crafting and testing innovative product mixtures for her hair.
As a mother, organic products were important, and she took part of her savings to hire a chemist, and began crafting the perfect product for her own hair that could also help other women with natural hair.
“I was a newly natural and I was looking for organic products that could give me the moisture, body and not weigh my hair down. What I was looking for at that time, wasn’t available but products like Jeri curls, activators, that we used growing up were readily available,” said Dellinger.
After successfully creating the first product, Dellinger launched Curls in a small niche market in 2002.
Dellinger was recruited and presented with the opportunity to expand the brand through product placement in 2007, with four competitor brands in select Target stores seeking to rebrand their ethnic hair care selection. Solidifying and excelling through the trial period, she was guaranteed the partnership of further access and placement of Curls products in other stores and markets.
The Curls brand continued to evolve and change the way companies approached natural hair care products, and helped enlarge a niche that hardly existed.
Curls is currently available at retailers such as Target, Sally Beauty, Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid.
“We’ve currently launched our latest collection, Blueberry Bliss Curl Collection, and our latest release in January was our Blissful Length Liquid Hair Growth Vitamin,” said Dellinger.
The Curls brand uses technology to effectively target their audience and interact with consumers. After moving her business to Dallas for better support and growth opportunity, Dellinger utilized her mentors and background in marketing to continue to build awareness around her products.
“I’ve used technology in a strong way to support the Curls brand, and really target and interact with my consumers,” said Dellinger. “Although our products are organic, we use a hands-on approach and use technology to remain active on different platforms speaking to millennials and meeting our customers where they are.”
After noticing an increase in interest in hair vitamins, Dellinger added the Blissful Length Liquid Hair Growth Vitamin to the array of products the Curls brand offers.
“I wanted to offer women of color something alternative than a tablet vitamin because studies show that you have 98 percent absorption from a liquid and 20 percent from a tablet, thus creating better results in hair growth,” said Dellinger.
Since launching in January, Dellinger has amassed a large number of interactive consumers taking the “Grow and slay the blueberry way challenge,” confirming the importance of consumer marketing and organic consumer interactions.
Understanding the Curls audience has allowed Dellinger to continue to expand and grow.
