Alexus Haynie is a beauty entrepreneur who founded the Made Gentle hair care brand during the pandemic. The brand specializes in hair oil that is infused with lavender, rosemary and eucalyptus. With a bachelor’s in neuroscience and a master’s in medical science, she used clinical research to come up with the best formula.
Haynie opened up about how the pandemic reignited her passion for hair.
What is the light bulb moment you had with this new product?
So for me, it was really during COVID when the pandemic came [and] the world pretty much shut down. … I’ve always had a passion for hair since I was a little girl, so when I was home, I had some time to really tap back into some things that just interested me naturally and that I was passionate about. Then science was [also] a passion for me, but that came more in a traditional route. So, I decided to kind of create my own thing. Just like many other women who have created from our kitchen, I did pull different ingredients from my kitchen, pantry, and things like that. But having a science background really allowed me to kind of tap into it a little differently from more of a research perspective. So, although I was adding things from my kitchen, I was researching each of those ingredients and trying to understand how that would impact the hair, as well as if it would cause any irritations to the scalp [and] to the skin. So at first, it was really just a fun thing. I would create something and make hair butter, I’d make shampoo, and then over time when COVID was happening I was like, “OK, I kind of really like this.”
How did you incorporate your STEM background while building a major brand?
With Made Gentle, I wanted to be true to myself, as far as science and having a research background. So, doing my due diligence, and really studying each piece. So, when we went through the testing … I wanted it to be tested for yeast, bacteria and mold. I also wanted it to be a passion, as far as the hair portion of it goes, because I think we don’t have to have one or the other. I think a lot of times when you’re a science person, they think you’re rigid [and] that’s all you do. But really, we’re diverse in a lot of ways.
Where can people buy Made Gentle?
So you can get it from our website, which is madegentle.com. Right now, we actually have a really great 15 percent off sale happening for Earth Week and Earth Day. So we’re celebrating early, but you can get it on our website. You can also follow us on social media. We’re on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. We will also eventually be launching on Amazon so you’ll be able to purchase from there. Our goal is that [we] will eventually be in some local stores, so you can pick it up from there as well.
