Q: Give us an insight into Your Quest to Focus on Coily Hair?
A: In my mid-30s I came to the realization that I never really knew my very Coily Natural Hair. It has always been transformed either by the hot comb or a relaxer. At a very young age the care of my natural hair has been the combination of both joy and pain. It was the memory of some of the best moments with my mum, sister, cousins, and friends of actually sitting in-between one’s legs, or on a stool/chair with undivided attention paid to combing or greasing of the scalp all while sharing ideas, jokes or just reflecting on life. It was also some of the worst memories which consisted of relentless pulls and tugs, tight braids or cornrows, the occasional slip of the hot comb causing minor or serious burns, or the discomfort of a relaxer once you were a little older with the burning sensations or actual burns on the scalp all for that desired straighter more manageable hair.
Over the years I became increasingly frustrated with trying various products and brands to get the combination that worked the best for me. I also found it frustrating to apply those products that stated they were a "wash-n-go", which worked well on some folks but never worked well on my very Coily Hair. Through years of research and development I realized that the combination of good healthy products and practices yielded the best results. That is what we accomplished with KelCie Nu Genesis (KNG).
My objective was to seek a better method in a wholistic way of bonding over more Joy than Pain when dealing with our very Coily Hair and building more confidence with less destructive manipulation of our hair. It became a quest to develop healthy products and practices that is best for our type of hair. We developed a line of 4 products that works nicely with each other by laying one on top of the other and absorbing into the Coily Hair strands leading to softer, healthier, and more manageable hair. In addition to developing more wholistic products, the goal is to recommend healthy practices to reinforce these products and deliver optimal results.
It became my ultimate desire to create more confidence with my Coily Hair with healthy products and limited manipulation, which has led to more confidence in myself and my self-expression. Also greying at an early age and almost platinum in my early-40's, I wanted to contribute products that would not aid to the deterioration and thinning that naturally occur with age and may also be heightened with excessive chemicals and manipulation that we are known to put our hair through.
This is more important now than ever with the prevalence of studies indicating that hair straighteners like relaxers can lead to certain forms of cancer, and that even the continuous use of extensions/tight braids/weaves may cause self-inflicted Alopecia.
My greatest goal for our generation and the next is to simply have more confidence within ourselves through our hair without the dependency on relaxers, extensions, or weaves. At some point of our lives these may be options but not dependencies or reflection of self-worth.
I hope that these products and practices convince you to join the crusade of better self-awareness, outlook, and confidence through our Natural Coily Hair.
Q: So, this whole thing about finding solutions for Coily Hair goes way back?
A: Yes. It’s such a deep seeded part of who I am, and maybe subconsciously was pulling me to it all along.
I’m so excited about launching KelCie Nu-Genesis (KNG) after over 20-years of going from mixing up formulas and batches in my kitchen and bathrooms, to reading as much as possible about Coily Hair, attending conferences and connecting with people in the industry, and understanding the science behind healthy Coily Hair, while working with product developers to translate my formulas into small-scale high-quality production. It has been a tremendous process, and we do hope you’ll give KelCie “The opportunity to become Your Forever Way to Care for Your Coily Hair”.
Conclusion of Interview:
Thank you for sharing a little more about the founding of KelCie Nu-Genesis (KNG) and your Quest to help people with Coily Hair today, and for generations to come.