Kinky-Curly Part 1: Q & A with Shelley

Hi ladies, I'm back. This time we're talking about Kinky-Curly products, and how much I love them. I recently talked with Shelley, the owner of Kinky-Curly. I asked her a few questions, and I thought that I'd share her responses with you gals. Coming soon, I'm going to do a review on Kinky-Curly Curling Custard! I would've put this all into one post, but as I was writing I discovered that I had so much to say, it would be a ridiculously long post, so I'm going to break it up into two.

On with the Q & A:

I know you get a lot of questions about what's in the Curling Custard, and how you formulated it. I promise I don't want any information like that, but what gives the Curling Custard the ability to have such fantastic hold, yet when I rinse it out, my hair is really soft and moisturized?


lol, yes we do get a lot of questions like that... basically people underestimate the power of herbs and natural ingredients. The Curling Custard truly is an innovative product. We are so used to products that contain alcohol or synthetic polymers to create a hairstyle. Or silicones to create a shine. We use this blend of herbs to create the same effect. We use natural ingredients that nourish the hair shaft as opposed to coating & suffocating it with plastics.

If someone doesn't use the entire line together, what ingredients in other products should they watch for, that will cause unfavorable results when used in conjunction with the Curling Custard?

Because the Curling Custard really is this pure natural product and it is water based it doesnt mix well with oils, silicones and butters. Any greasy product buildup must be washed out of the hair before using the Curling Custard. We encourage customers to use the COME CLEAN + KNOT TODAY + CURLING CUSTARD as a system when they first try Kinky-Curly in order to see what the products will actually do for your hair..then if they desire, feel free to mix and match from other product lines.

When I get emails from customers saying help them get better results. I ask them to explain to me what they did step by step. When they go on to say that they did a pre-poo with olive oil , then they did a wash with castile shampoo then an avocado and mayo deep treatment followed by a co-wash with VO5 and sealed with an oil rinse THEN they applied the Knot Today & Curling Custard it drives me a little crazy. Hair care doesn't have to be complicated. With ANY new product line customers should just follow the manufacturers directions and suggested use first. That is the only way to see true results.

If I used Come Clean for my initial cleanse before using the Kinky-Curly products, could I use Knot Today as a cowash? I have used the entire line together, and it's fantastic, but I have to restyle my hair everyday, and I love cowashing.

Yes, the Knot Today can be used as a co-wash. Me personally, I don't do co-washes but everyone is different and since many women swear by co-washes I don't discourage it if it works for them.

What gave you the inspiration to start a company, and where did the idea come from for the Curling Custard?

The Curling Custard was created one summer when I traveled to my native homeland, the island of St Vincent in the West Indies, and lost my bag containing ALL my makeup and hair products. I was already natural and used a cocktail of several products to get my hair looking just right, Needless to say I couldn't find any thing on St Vincent besides some DAX hair grease and Revlon relaxer. I was freaking out trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do with my hair for 2 weeks. A family friend took me in her kitchen and cooked up some aloe and some various roots and herbs from her yard. The resulting concoction looked disgusting (to put it nicely) and my initial reaction was "there is no way I am putting that in my hair" but since desperate times call for desperate measures and with the humidity and my hair rising each minute I tried it and was pleasantly surprised. She instructed me to keep it refrigerated and for the balance of my trip this was my stand alone styling product.

When I returned back to the States all my co-workers and friends kept commenting on how healthy my hair looked. It was then I realized the value of herbs & natural ingredients.
I set out on a mission to re-create the "brown colored sludge". I took some courses in cosmetic chemistry (my background is Marketing) and met with a chemist to help me create an elegant formula that was all natural and that would perform to deliver results. About a year later I put up a website and said let's see.....

Now, 6 years later we are in salons, beauty supply stores and Whole Foods Market which means a lot to us. Whole Foods being the leader in natural & organic products confirmed that we stayed true to our goal of keeping the products natural.

Today, all products start out in my kitchen. I work out what I want and then sit down with my chemist to help me do things like preserve it and ph balance it. It is a lot of hard work but since I am so passionate about healthy hair I couldn't see myself doing anything else.